By the New rules some protection against sudden interest rate hikes and payment changes is being given to credit card holders .
It would be starting from Thursday, before raising their interest rates credit card companies would give you 45 days notice instead of the current 15 days.
Cardholders would be able to choose to pay off what they owe at the original rate, but they won’t be able to use the card for new purchases.
Congress wants that it should be harder for the people under-21 to accumulate a mountain of credit card debt.
Credit card holders shall be affected by a new federal law and it will also affect people of all ages who want to have credit cards. But due to the reason that several provisions don’t take effect until February, so for many college students this could be the last semester of truly easy credit.
A recent survey that has been conducted by student loan manager Sallie Mae elaborates that the average amount of debt that is being carried by undergraduate cardholders is $3,173 which has increased up to 46% from five years ago. And the average number of credit cards that are being carried by these students is five.
This often happens that credit card holders get surprised when they get socked with some fees that they have never expected, or it mostly happens when first statement comes than the card holders find that their interest rate isn’t what they have expected.
Late fees. Overdraft charges. Unannounced increases in rates and it seems that there is no cause behind that increase. Old debts mysteriously emerging on new credit cards.
Whether you like it or not, these surprises that you get from credit card companies are usually completely legal as the card issuer in advance have warned that they had the right to do so.
So here the question that arises for card holders is, how can I avoid all this and protect myself from unexpected charges, rate increases and the like?
The answer to this question is the same that you’ve undoubtedly heard before — read the fine print!