Credit Cards Overview
The Card Game
In The Card Game, FRONTLINE correspondent Lowell Bergman and the New York Times talk to industry insiders, lobbyists, politicians and consumer advocates as they square off over attempts to reform the way the industry has done business for decades.
Progress, Not Perfection: Credit Card Reform
The total amount of credit card debt in America is close to a trillion dollars. Middle-class wages no longer keep pace with the cost of living. A combination of job instability, shaky benefits (chiefly health care), and uncertain retirement, has unraveled the worker’s safety net. Credit card issuers step in to the breach, as Americans reach for their credit card to borrow for basic living expenses.
Starting in 2008, CRL research began to expose hidden and abusive tactics designed to hike cardholder debt such as late fees, credit card pricing, and other common industry tricks and traps. Fortunately for consumers, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 outlawed some of the more outrageous practices, providing welcome credit card relief. CRL continues to stay abreast of credit card reform legislation and regulatory activity to ensure that families get a fair shake and ongoing issuer abuses are stopped.
Quick Links
Highlights of the New Credit Card Rules: What They Do and Don’t Do
Credit Card Bill is Good Progress, But It Pays to Remain Alert to Tricks, Traps, and Any Changes In Your Statement
Dodging Reform: As Some Credit Card Abuses Are Outlawed, New Ones Proliferate
