With the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, which took effect on Monday now in play even more loopholes are being brought to light. With the constant talk of payday loan lenders corrupting the financial industry, I wanted to take an article or two and focus on the new credit loopholes being exploited by bankers, financial firms,.. whatever you would like to reference them as. To keep you, the consumer up to date we wanted to show how bankers have already found ways to get around these new laws.

Listed below are some the the loopholes and key information that you may not be fully aware of.

• The law does not cap interest rates or prevent card companies from closing accounts at will.
• They can still lower credit limits or raise minimum monthly payments with virtually no notice.
• Some banks now charge an inactivity fee, as high as $36 a year, if you don’t use the card enough.
• Some will now start charging for a paper statement.
• Some now have a minimum finance charge, meaning you could owe a couple of cents but be billed a couple of dollars.
• Annual fees are being added to cards, and existing fees are going up.
• You could be charged as much as 4 percent addition for a purchase made in another country.

And the one I love the best, these laws specifically target fixed rate cards only and do not apply to variable rate cards.  So in the past 6 months most card companies have done their best to move everyone from a fixed rate to a variable rate, so there is a good chance these new laws will not protect you at all.

And everyone wants to shut down Payday lenders while allowing large corporations with political and financial influence continue to run you all into the ground.

Related posts:

1. New Credit Card Law, Same old failing system
2. Debt dealing in the new year