Make your credit card complaints count
July 20th, 2008 | by admin |By Gerri Willis, CNNJuly 10, 2008: 11:17 AM EDT
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — If you’ve ever had your interest rate jacked up on your credit card, it’s your turn to gripe. Here are top tips on how to make your complaints count.
1. Get the Proposals
The Federal Reserve is proposing some changes to the way credit card companies operate. And you have the opportunity to make a comment on these changes.
Here are some of the proposals:
- Banks wouldn’t be able to hit you with a higher interest rate on debt you already owe
- Prohibits "two cycle billing." This is a practice that computes finance charges based on previous billing cycles.
- Banks would have to apply at least a portion of payments toward higher-interest rate debt. In the past issuers put payments consumers made toward cheaper debt, like balance transfers that generally had lower rates.
- Banks would have to provide consumers a reasonable amount of time to make payments.
2. Know where to go
You have until August 4th to submit your public comment. So far more than 10,000 people have left comments on this issue.
Go to federalreserve.gov and click on "consumer information" at the top of the page. Then click on "Proposed Rules for Credit Cards and Overdraft Services" and scroll to the bottom of the page. Look for Regulation AA and click on submit a comment.
The Federal Reserve said it hopes to deliver a final ruling by the end of the year.
For their part, the credit card companies say these rules will result in less competition, higher prices and less choice for consumers.
3. All eyes on Washington
The credit card industry has come under tight scrutiny from Washington.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. has legislation that includes some of those same regulatory proposals and adds new ones such as preventing issuers from charging customers a fee to pay a credit card bill by phone.
And earlier this year, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. introduced a legislative plan dubbed the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights. Of course, we’ll bring you all the latest news 
