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The Congress has been coming down hard on Wall Street and most of the legislations the Senate has passed in the recent past have been to curb Wall Street and help consumers. The 200 proposed amendments reached the senate out of which dozens were to solve issues consumers had in the past. From bills to give other people less access to credit reports to control over debit card transactions.
CREDIT REPORTS FREE
The amendment that was passed to give consumers free credit reports from each of the three credit bureaus along with their free credit scores annually is one of the biggest amendments this year.
COVERAGE LIMIT PRICE TO BE MADE PERMANENT
In response to the financial crisis in the U.S. the government raised individual coverage from Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to $250,000 from $100,000. The bill is supposed to be in existence till January 2014. The government is planning to make the limit permanent.
CREDIT REPORT CHECK FOR EMPLOYMENT TO BE STOPPED
Employers can no longer check the credit scores and credit report of potential employees even if the individual allows the process. Only certain jobs which make it absolutely vital for employers to see credit reports like jobs related to national security etc can check reports.
MERCHANTS TO BE COVERED
Bills which have been passed now make it easier for money lenders who are not banks or credit unions. The bills passed also gives an exception to retailers of smaller car dealer companies. Only one business can be cover by the law. Auto mobile or money lenders
CREDIT CARD RATES
The bill which was passed to limit credit card interest, limits the interest by 15% more than the current rate. Banks cannot make changes on the interest rates and other factors will effect it to a maximum of 15%. All costs which are not considered part of the finance charges cannot be charged.
DEBIT CARD TRANSACTION FEE LIMIT
The bill says the banks must bear the cost of transaction through debit card which are consider insignificant to charge in order to make sure they stay within the 15% cap. Banks must “bear a reasonable relation to the cost of processing the transaction,’’ at ATMs and will be covering 50 cents per transaction. This would lead banks into losses but will help consumers.
