President Obama signed into law the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (The Credit CARD Act) on May 22, 2009. Only days earlier, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the legislation that would curb fees and interest rate hikes, as well as other practices associated with credit card issuance.
The vote was 90 to 5. But, under congressional rules, a House-Senate conference committee had to work out differences in the legislation before a final bill could be presented to the President. In passing SB 414, lawmakers declined to monkey around with interchange. However, the bill does request that the General Accountability Office study the impact of interchange fees on consumers and merchants.
Specifically, the congressional watchdog agency would be asked to review:
SB 414 passed despite inclusion of a nongermane gun control amendment that would prohibit the U.S. Department of the Interior from banning people who legally possess guns from carrying those weapons onto federal parklands.
SB 414, introduced by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., codifies regulations adopted last year by the Federal Reserve, calls for quicker implementation of those regulations and adds a few other requirements.
Key provisions include sharply restricting card-issuer efforts to raise interest rates on existing balances, limiting certain extraneous fees, imposing new disclosure requirements and banning card issuance to minors.
Efforts by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to cap card rates, as well as a push from merchant groups to include an amendment codifying the right to surcharge credit card payments, were shot down before the bill was passed.
Similar legislation - the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights (HR 627), introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. - passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in late April 2009, minus the GAO study and gun rights provisions.
"This is a victory for every American consumer who has ever suffered at the hands of a credit card company," Dodd said. Dodd has been pushing for credit card reforms for years.
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