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Credit Card Act

Credit cards | 328 Views | 2 Expert Answers | 1
By: alex_arm, February 01 2010

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I have seen some articles discussing stage two of the CARD Act coming into effect in February. I am also looking to sign up for a credit card at this time. Is there any real upside to waiting until this act takes effect to sign up? I think it takes effect in a few weeks on February 22.
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I would like to respectfully disagree with Dan. There is an advantage to waiting until after February 22nd, when the second round of CARD provisions goes into effect.
After that date, credit card issuers cannot change the interest rate on a new account for twelve months, unless the card is a variable interest rate card, a promotional deal (ie., "6 months 5% interest"), or you have failed to make payments. So, if you were to open a card in the next week, the issuer could conceivably offer you one rate, and then change it later, with the required advance notification, within the one year of the account opening.
The fact that credit card issuers have "gamed" the phase-in provisions of this legislation, by aggressively raising rates, closing accounts, cutting limits, before they encounter restrictions on these activities, suggests that this final last week before the next wave of provisions goes into effect is a dangerous time for consumers to be opening accounts.
By:   Eleanor Blayney  on February 14 2010
I can think of no real advantage to waiting to open an account until after the Act goes into effect.
That said, there is an advantage to shopping carefully when choosing a credit card account. Evaluate the fees and charges carefully to determine how they would affect the way you would use the card. Sometimes it helps to ask if any of the fees can be lowered or waived. It never hurts to ask and all they can say is "no."
By:   Dan Candura  on February 01 2010
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