Federal Reserve Finally Does What Congress Won’t Do
Thank God for our system of checks and balances. For the past seven years, Congress has been having an ongoing orgy with the banking industry. And now, finally, the Federal Reserve is about to step in and do Congress’ job for them. Somebody has to do it.
The “legislative” process has pretty much deteriorated into a giant whorehouse on Capitol Hill, with our Congressional
The Federal Reserve, the National Credit Union Administration and the Office of Thrift Supervision are working cooperatively to do what our
This will be the most far-reaching crackdown on the credit industry in several decades. They’ll be putting limits on some of the credit card industry’s favorite sleaze tactics that we’re all too familiar with:
Two-cycle billing, where there’s an interest charge even during a month when you aren’t carrying a balance.
Deceptive advertising — that bold 68-font headline screams “0% interest!” and the .01 font sentence on page 73 says “interest rate may go up to 999% after three months.”
Retroactively raising the interest rate on existing balances. (Under the new proposal, banks could still raise rates retroactively if the cardholder is at least 30 days late with a payment.)
This new law will also prohibit credit card companies from raising a customer’s interest rate for reasons unrelated to the account. A late payment on a different credit card, or even making a large purchase on another credit card that’s within the credit limit — these have all been popular (and legal!) excuses for jacking up a customer’s interest rates. No more.
Like any wealthy john whose expensive orgy was suddenly interrupted, the banking industry is indignant. The American Bankers Association has ordered their mascot, Ken Clayton, to tell reporters: “This is a very aggressive regulatory intervention in the marketplace that will lead to higher prices and less credit options for everyday consumers.”
The banking industry is concerned about everyday consumers — how touching.
cross-posted at Bring It On!
Labels: Federal Reserve credit card industry, Ken Clayton American Bankers Association, National Credit Union Administration, Office of Thrift Supervision, two-cycle billing
posted by Tom Harper @ 12:57 PM
9 Comments:
"Everyday consumers" my ass! The banking industry is only concerned about one type of consumer, and that's the "in debt" consumer.
They are making a killing nickel and diming us "everyday consumers" that they need us to need their money in order to survive.
I while ago, I inherited a sum of money. After letting it sit in the bank for awhile wondering what to do with it, I decided that the majority of it I would use to do some renovations on my house. Well you would have thought that I had killed the bank manager's mother when I tried to draw some of it out of the account! He was some pissed that I would actually "refuse" the bank's offer of a very low interest loan to pay for the renovations instead of using my cash!
We got into a screaming match in his office. He thought I was "crazy" to spend my money, and if I was "smart" I'd spend his instead!
Greedy bastards!
Parasitic vampires decry the use of crucifixes and garlic-what a surprise! It was deregulation that led to the subprime mess in the first place.
Vice: Wanting to use your own cash instead of borrowing money from the bank? The nerve of you.
Those people are unreal. They try to persuade you to take out a loan, and then they hope you'll go into debt just so they can soak you. And at the same time they'll go all righteous and say "look at this deadbeat. He just wants to milk the system and see how many handouts he can get."
Lew: "Parasitic vampires decry the use of crucifixes and garlic" -- LOL. Excellent analogy.
Thank God for your first paragraph. Now vomit-inducing images of Susan Collins, Ted Stevens, Dianne Feinstein and John Houseman are casting a darkness upon this day.
But at least the bankers care about me, the everyday consumer. Sniff. I want my credit options!
Randal: Yes, the good people of the banking industry really do care about the common folk. Those commies in the media have ruined the image of American capitalism with their slanted liberal reporting. Thank God we've been set straight by that spokesman for the banking cartel -- he's a voice we can trust.
I vaporized my credit cards a couple of months ago, and in spite of all the dire things predicted for me, I have found existence to be fairly easy without them. I have DEFINITELY found not paying membership, interest, etc. charges enjoyable.
JR: I agree credit cards are a trap. We still have ours but we've been totally paid off for awhile now. We don't use them that often and when we do we pay the total balance at the end of the month. It's amazing how much of a person's income can be siphoned off by interest and minimum payments.
I have been in bed with the banks and I got the short end of the stick every time.
I do not know if and when this will goes into effect but something should have been done long ago.
I sit here now watching the values of my homes go down and the lowering of the interest rate helping only the lenders and not the consumers.
I've watched as my credit card rates have stayed the same while they are given break after the.
Just who are our House, Senate, Federal Reserve and our leaders working for?
Let's Talk: Absolutely something should have been done a long time ago. Banks are running the show, so it's all about them. They can screw over their customers every which way, and then they get bailed out by the taxpayers; and millions of homeowners are left to twist in the wind because "they should have read the fine print."
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