Good News On The Mail For Credit Card Holders

Credit card holders know that credit card mail rarely brings good news. Therefore, it is going to be very pleasing for a lot of them to see the new notices coming in their mail about their credit cards. Due to the upcoming Credit CARD Act of 2009, the one that activates on February 22, credit card holders are going to see some very welcome changes in their policies.

Companies are going to be spreading information about the new credit card terms they will be implementing to conform with the requirements of this new law. A majority of these rules are activating on February though some already went live last year. Consumers will want to be informed of these changes as it makes a lot of impact on their payments and penalties.

One of the major changes in credit card terms that consumers can expect from the mail is a longer notice for any interest rate changes. Previously, consumers were given a 15 day notice of any interest rate changes. That has now been changed to 45 days. What’s more, consumers must now be informed of their right to waive any changes, though waiving an interest rate hike could mean that the card will be canceled.

The way companies hike interest rates is going to change dramatically as well. It will no longer be as arbitrary as before. With this new law, consumers will soon receive notices that credit card companies can only hike interest rates if the holder is behind in his or her payments by 60 days. What is even more encouraging is that companies are required to return the interest rate to the previous, lower value, if the card holder makes payments regularly for six consecutive months.

Those risky shortened grace periods are also going to go away. Credit card companies will give holders a fixed, 21 day grace period from the date the bill is mailed. The due date for credit card bills are also going to be the same every month to keep it predictable for card holders. Payments made during non business days must also be considered and not marked as late.

The new rules are going to provide opportunities for companies to make a number of changes in their policies, a few of which may be beneficial to consumers. An example is Bank of America’s announcement that cardholders who are late in their payment for a few days only will not get penalized by late fees and interest rate hikes. However, payments later than that small window of several days will mean fees will be assessed.