Schumer Wants Faster Action on Credit Cards

Sen. Chuck Schumer is putting pressure on the Fed and the Office of Thrift Supervision to enact restrictions on the business practices of credit card firms more quickly, the New York Daily News reports. The agencies have drafted new rules banning deceptive practices like hidden fees and retroactive rate hikes, but the measures don’t go into effect until July 2010.

Schumer and colleague Chris Dodd are worried credit-card companies will go on a gouging spree in the meantime. “As Congress works to pass this legislation, and before your rules become effective, issuers continue to operate using unfair and deceptive acts and practices,” Schumer and Dodd wrote. “Credit card providers have been aggressively raising rates on consumers now to avoid the ramifications of this rule.” (More Congress stories.)