The following credit card debt facts regarding the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (the CARD Act) that’ll go into full effect next February 22nd show how your relationship with your credit card will probably change, and not necessarily for the best. Financial experts aren’t still sure about all the repercussions the new law will have on the lives of millions of American consumers, but some overall results are expected.
Read on to learn more about how the CARD Act will affect the way you handle credit. Only time will tell if the new law will do more good than harm or the other way around. In the meantime, be patient, and manage your credit as responsibly as you can.
1) Some Credit Card Issuers Will Lose A Large Amount Of Money
According to Marc Sacher, Managing Director at Auriemma Consulting Group, banks that rely on integral strategy and promotional offers to retain clients and attract new customers will be deeply affected by the new CARD Act. Among other things, the new law limits promotional offers, rate increases, and fees such as over-limit charges. As a result, banks that have heavily relied on these practices to bring in extra revenue, such as Citi, Bank of America, and Chase, will lose millions of dollars. Chase is expected to see a decrease of anywhere between $500 million and $750 million in revenue. Instead, banks such as Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank, which have relied on co-branding and relationship marketing strategies, won’t be affected much by these new regulations.
2) Less Access To Credit
As a result of the new regulations established by the CARD Act, credit card companies will find it harder to bring in more money. Hence, fewer consumers will have access to credit. This could be seen either as an advantage or a drawback. For instance, it could prevent consumers with little income from becoming deeply in debt. Nonetheless, in case of an emergency, people might not be able to use a credit card to get by until their finances improve.
3) New Fees
The credit card industry is a business, and if the new law will make creditors lose more than $50 billion, they must find a way to make up for it. Unfortunately, financial experts predict that consumers will be subject to new fees so as to make up for the loss in revenue. For example, some creditors have already added an annual fee to their credit cards, and more creditors will likely follow this trend. Other fees that will probably begin appearing include more costs for balance transfers, inactivity fees, and annual fees if your card isn’t charge for a certain amount of money a year.
4) Watered-down Rewards Programs
Rewards programs are another way creditors have found to cut corners. Thus, if you picked a credit card because of this feature, be sure the program won’t go through any changes that no longer make the rewards program appealing to you. Ask all the questions you need answers to so as to evaluate the new program’s features, and whether it’s still attractive to you or not.
5) Less Unfair Practices
Finally a clearly good piece of news! Thanks to the CARD Act, credit card companies must bill clients with at least 30 days in advance before a bill is due. This will help you avoid late payment fees, which, in the past, brought in $22.9 billion in revenue to the credit industry. Moreover, you’ll have a clearer idea of how much in debt you are. According to the new law, creditors must disclose financial details in each statement, such as how long it’ll take you to pay off your debt by making the minimal monthly payment. If, for example, you never sat down to think of it, but in your next statement the creditor explains it’ll take you over six years to cancel your debt, you might decide to take action to become debt free ASAP.
Use Your Credit Card Only When You Need To
These few credit card debt facts hopefully gave you an update on how the CARD Act will change the way you manage credit. Whether you find the new law appealing or not, unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about it. However, as a consumer, you’re most of the time in control of your financial life. Thus, I advise you not to use your credit card unless you really need to. Also, try to keep a credit with a fixed APR to avoid any future headaches and save some money.
Don’t lose hope. No matter how hard things appear to be, there’s generally a solution for everything in life, and your finances are no exception. Evaluate your situation, and research different debt options to get back on track. It might be easier than you think. After all, you’re not alone. Millions of consumers are in the same boat, and due to this fact, more financial alternatives may be available for you to begin your journey to financial freedom.
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