Back in July, one of Kristy’s blog posts urged readers to speak up and comment on credit card rules. Well, it appears that at least some of your comments were heard, as the bill that would abolish unpopular credit card industry practices passed a key U.S. House committee test recently, moving it toward a vote by the full House.

In excess of 55,000 comments were submitted by concerned consumers regarding the proposed rules, the highest number of comments ever filed regarding a Fed proposal. Consumer advocates say the large volume of comments may be a reflection of just how frustrated consumers are about recent industry practices.

The bill targets credit card companies and seeks to ban practices such as retroactive interest rate increases, except under certain conditions, and limits “double-cycle” billing, which increases the ability of card issuers to impose interest charges. Consumer advocates support the credit card bill as an effective way to abolish some of the most arbitrary, abusive and unfair credit card lending practices that trap consumers and encourage debt.

Although this is good news and certainly a step in the right direction, there is much more work to be done. It is unlikely the legislation will make it through the House of Representative, the U.S. Senate and be signed by the president in the current year. In the interim, consumers need to continue the campaign by contacting the FTC and commenting, as well as your congressional representatives. There are online comment forms for US citizens to fill out and send emails to their specific representatives in both the House (click here) and Senate (click here). Another good source of information can be found at the Americans for Fairness in Lending website.

Consumers 1, credit card industry, 0 so far….

Popularity: 19% [?]