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 | February 01 2010
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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 | February 14 2010
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