Albuquerque, NM – New Mexico U.S Senator Jeff Bingaman says he hopes congress will pass a bill to protect consumers from credit card companies.
The measure, known as the "Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009", would, among other things, force companies to notify consumers prior to raising their interest rates.
The bill would also set limits on fees and interest charges, and prohibit penalties on credit card holders who pay their bills on time.
Bingaman acknowledged that the restrictions wouldn't impact existing credit card contracts, many of which have increased interest rates to 30 percent or higher. When asked if new regulations would hurt credit card companies, as the nation's economy continues to struggle, he said he doubted it.
"The truth is that a lot of these companies are going to continue to push credit cards on American consumers, and they will be happy to do so even if they have to charge a lower interest rate to do so it's still a very substantial profit for those companies. So I don't I don't think there'll be any shortage of companies willing to provide new credit cards even even if we pass this new law."
Congress is set to consider the credit card act later this week or the next.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to be in Rio rancho on Thursday morning for a town hall meeting on credit card reform.