After weeks of speculation that legislation was being developed that would make it impossible for credit card companies to arbitrarily alter terms, conditions, and interest rates associated with credit cards, the Senate voted Tuesday an overwhelmingly passed strict new rules related to credit cards. The House of Representatives will vote on the bill as early as Wednesday, and it could be on President Obama’s desk before the end of the holiday weekend.

Senator Christopher Dodd, the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, called the results of the vote, “a victory for every American consumer who has ever suffered at the hands of a credit card company.”

The details of the bill include rules that will force card issuers to post the terms and conditions associated with the credit card online. Customers will be able to make payments online or over the phone without any kind of convenience fee. If an issuer wants to raise a customer’s interest rate, it will have to provide 45 days notice and explain the reasons for the change. No one under 21 will be allowed to receive a card unless they either qualify financially or have a parent or guardian willing to co-sign.

Credit card issuers are complaining that the government is making credit harder to obtain at a time when loosening credit markets is essential. They also argue that because of the risks associated with lending to consumers, they should have the power to adjust the terms of the loans as they see fit.

Consumers have complained over the past several months after the issuers of their credit cards increased their interest rates without warning. Some issuers even lured consumers with promises of zero percent interest on balance transfers, only to increase the interest rates once the funds had been transferred.

Most of these changes were already slated to become law in 2010, but this bill will force the card issuers to adhere to these changes much sooner than they had anticipated.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Tags: credit card, legislation

• Obama Signs Credit Card Bill Into Law
• Politicians Fighting Against Credit Card Abuse
• $787 Billion Dollar Economic Stimulus Bill
• Bank Rescue Plan Lacks Specifics
• Bankruptcy Judges Won’t Have Ability to Modify Loans
• Obama Sides With Consumers In Credit Card Controversy
• Five Ways Credit Card Companies Can Still Abuse Customers
• 5 Benefits of Using Credit Cards