News and Articles:

• Credit-card users face higher fees, rates, Wall Street Journal
  The Federal Reserve has slashed its benchmark rate to 1%, yet many people are getting hit with higher rates and fees on their credit cards. Normally, when the Fed cuts rates, credit-card issuers follow suit, resulting in lower monthly payments for cardholders. (11/20/08)
• Tightened credit terms could hurt credit scores, WenatcheeWorld.com
  In coming weeks, for instance, American Express is instituting a broad-based interest rate hike of 2 to 3 percentage points on card holders. (11/11/08)
• Why banks are boosting credit card interest rates and fees, USA Today
  In recent years, banks have sharply raised interest rates and penalty fees on credit cards. As the economy tanks and banks' mortgage-related losses balloon, some banks are stepping up such increases to boost revenue. (11/11/08)
• A case of balance as credit card rules change, San Francisco Chronicle
  The worldwide financial crisis and increased regulatory pressure in Washington are starting to reshape the lending system in ways that are making plastic harder to get and more costly to use. (10/26/08)
• Credit card terms takings turns for the worse, CBS Early Show
  The impact of ultra-tight credit markets is hitting your credit cards, and you might not even realize it. (10/14/08)
• Will Credit-Card Debt Be the Next Financial Crisis?, The Chronicle of Higher Education
  Is the credit-card debt crisis becoming the next housing-debt crisis? That prospect is raised by Robert Reich, a former secretary of labor, now a public-policy professor at Berkeley. (09/09/08)
• The Next Crisis: Credit Card Debt, ABC News
  The subprime mortgage mess may be grabbing the headlines, but the rapid growth of personal debt from mortgages, credit cards and other loans is part of a far larger problem facing millions of Americans. (09/09/08)
• Credit Card Use Surges, Risking Another Debt Crisis, CNBC
  Cash-strapped Americans are ringing up more and more purchases on their credit and debit cards, and there could be a steep price to pay ahead. (09/09/08)
• Comments show credit card rules must change, Dallas Morning News
  If you want an idea of how angry consumers are at credit card companies, get a load of the complaints e-mailed to the Federal Reserve about efforts to prohibit unfair practices by credit card companies. (09/08/08)
• Credit card proposal may get vote in Congress, CNN
  Legislation reining in credit card practices may get vote this year as Congress returns (09/08/08)
• Ask, and you might receive a lower credit-card rate, Seattle Times
  Pick up the phone, look at the latest credit-card offers and keep repeating this: The bank needs me more than I need it. (09/07/08)
• House panel backs curbs on credit card practices, Reuters
  Legislation aimed at curbing unfair credit card billing practices was approved on Thursday by a U.S. House of Representatives committee. (07/31/08)