Applause for Obama
President Obama did a very good thing yesterday. He took executives of credit card companies to the woodshed in a private meeting with them. The President then outlined a list of practices he wants to see credit card companies implement. Congratulations to President Obama for doing a very good thing.
Credit card companies have long used scads of small print to mislead consumers and to be able to change terms at a whim from those the consumer agreed to at the time of entering into the contract to borrow. These have included shortening payment cycles, raising interest rates, and imposing penalties. The result is that some Americans are deeper in debt merely because of these changes and not because of their borrowing habits.
There is a proper use for government regulation and this is it. President Obama has called for clear disclosure of credit card terms, ending the unilateral ability of credit card companies to change the contract terms with little or no notice and, most importantly, increased enforcement of these rules. The details of President Obama's meeting and the reforms he has called for are describe in the story that I have linked to below.
I hope Congress and the Regulators keep the rules as simple and straightforward as the President has laid them out and that they then enforce these vigorously.
Be well til next time.
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/43607527.html
Credit card companies have long used scads of small print to mislead consumers and to be able to change terms at a whim from those the consumer agreed to at the time of entering into the contract to borrow. These have included shortening payment cycles, raising interest rates, and imposing penalties. The result is that some Americans are deeper in debt merely because of these changes and not because of their borrowing habits.
There is a proper use for government regulation and this is it. President Obama has called for clear disclosure of credit card terms, ending the unilateral ability of credit card companies to change the contract terms with little or no notice and, most importantly, increased enforcement of these rules. The details of President Obama's meeting and the reforms he has called for are describe in the story that I have linked to below.
I hope Congress and the Regulators keep the rules as simple and straightforward as the President has laid them out and that they then enforce these vigorously.
Be well til next time.
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/43607527.html
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