House Approves Accleration of CARD Act Effective Date
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday voted 331-92 to pass H.R. 3639, the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009, which would accelerate the effective date of the Credit CARD Act of 2009.
The provisions of the Credit CARD Act become effective in three stages: the first provisions took effect in August 2009; the remaining provisions take effect in February 2010 and August 2010. The Expedited CARD Act would make all provisions effective immediately on enactment, with the exception of small card issuers with fewer than 2 million cards and gift cards, which would be subject to the February 2010 effective date. The Expedited CARD Act also permits card issuers that adopt a moratorium on interest rate increases on current balances and new balances incurred before February 22, 2010, to be exempt from the earlier effective date for a provision that requires an issuer to apply customer payments to the highest rate balance.
CARD Reform Acceleration Moves Forward
Efforts to move up the effective date of the Credit CARD Act of 2009, to December 1, 2009 from February and July 2010 are moving forward, approved by the House Committee on Financial Services. In a unanimous vote, the Committee approved HR 3639, the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009. Under the version approved by the Committee last week, prepaid gift cards would retain the February 2010 effective date, as would credit card issuers with fewer than 2 million accounts.
