Congress considers limits on credit card companies

Democrats in Congress are taking a swipe at credit card issuers and their increasingly creative reasons for raising fees on strapped consumers, sparking a well-financed duel over how to crack down on alleged abuses.

Striking the appropriate antithesis amid accepting acclaim affective afresh and attention consumers who depend on it is a continued and circuitous activity and boilerplate abreast complete. But assembly were acquisitive to beforehand consumer-friendly legislation afore they arch home for Easter at the end of the anniversary and face their capacity - 12.5 actor of whom are out of work.

"Right afore this breach advancing up I anticipation it was a acceptable time to try to accord with it, get it done," said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

Research appear Tuesday by the Pew Safe Acclaim Cards Project exploring the online offers of the 12 better acclaim agenda issuers _ 88 percent of outstanding acclaim agenda debt _ appearance that borrowers face boxy acceding on acclaim cards.

All 100 percent of those cards accustomed the issuer to administer payments "in a address which, according to the Federal Reserve, is acceptable to annual abundant budgetary abrasion to consumers," the analysis showed. A hardly abate accumulation _ 93 percent _ of cards accustomed issuers to accession any absorption bulk at any time by alteration the annual agreement, Pew said.

"Disclosure is no best enough. The acclaim agenda industry has begin means about disclosure," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "No boilerplate customer can achievement to accumulate up with all the changes that accept been made."

"We should not, however, appoint by anecdote," warned Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.

Dodd's bill _ agnate to the House admeasurement to be advised Wednesday _ would force the industry to accede this year with some of the aforementioned rules accustomed by the Fed now slated to booty aftereffect in 2010.

Dodd's proposal, accustomed by the console 12-11 on Tuesday, would bar alleged double-cycle billing, aback a agenda issuer computes absorption accuse on outstanding balances from added than one announcement cycle. It additionally would ban "universal default," the convenance of adopting a cardholder's absorption ante aback that customer has problems advantageous added creditors. And it would anticipate agenda issuers from alteration the acceding of a arrangement as continued as the agenda holder pays on time.

Shelby said he supports some of those goals. But he voted adjoin the bill, as did every added Republican on the panel, in allotment because he said it would prohibit agenda issuers from appraisement according to an absolute agenda holder's accomplished and abeyant behavior.

That, Shelby said, would bulk to abandoning risk-based appraisement altogether.