We commend the U.S. House of Representatives for taking this important step toward ending credit card industry practices that Americans across the board find unfair. Interest rates and fees should be transparent, reasonably related to risk and presented to cardholders up-front. And credit card companies should not be allowed to arbitrarily change them, especially retroactively. Today's bipartisan vote is encouraging, and we hope the Senate will act quickly to pass similar legislation now before it. Reforming credit card lending practices is long overdue. Making those reforms effective as quickly as possible is an essential ingredient for economic recovery.
For more information: Kathleen Day at (202) 349-1871 or kathleen.day@responsiblelending.org; Ginna Green at (510) 379-5513 or ginna.green@responsiblelending.org; or Charlene Crowell at (919) 313-8523 or charlene.crowell@responsiblelendin.org.