Leadpile’s Blog

Changes to fees and terms may be positive for many consumers struggling to pay their bills! New rules obtaining to overdraft protection requires consumers to specifically request it, rather than being automatically enrolled in it. According to the Credit CARD Act, should the consumer enroll for overdraft protection, fees can only be applied once during a billing cycle and the card company must notify the consumer of the amount. These new overdraft rules only apply to debit cards, not checks or electronic transfers.
Consumers now are given 21 days to send credit card payments in, rather than only 14, and if changes are made to terms, 45 days notice must be given instead of 15. This change does not apply to reducing your credit limit, the credit card company can do this at any time without any warning!
One new change might be scary for many consumers to see, but after the initial shock sets in, the overall perspective will hopefully ultimately help consumers in the long run. Effective starting February 22, credit card bills must make it clear how long it will take the consumers to pay off the balance, and how much interest will be paid if the minimum amount is all that is paid each month.
While there is no current cap placed on increasing interest rates, credit card companies are required to give customers 45 days notice on changes and may not raise the current interest rate on customers existing debt unless payment is more than 60 days late on payment. Additional help to consumers trying to pay off debt, additional fees for paying over the phone, electronic transfer, or mail are no longer allowed and universal default for existing credit card balances may no longer be practiced. The Credit CARD Act has now made is more difficult for college students to obtain credit cards, someone under 21 may not be offered a credit card without a co-signer or proof of proper income.
LeadPile matches consumers in debt with Debt Consolidation, Debt Settlement and Bankruptcy companies daily. Debt is a huge source of stress for many people, hopefully the new Credit CARD Act will help get people back on track and become more aware of their own debt, and make plans to get things paid off!

FDIC has rolled out some new programs for consumers. Some selected banks feel that low to moderate income consumers don’t have enough options. Therefore, some banks that are participating in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp programs are offering some “special” types of loans to consumers. These loans are for those that don’t necessarily have good credit (because their credit is not pulled) and are not able to get a standard type of short term loan. Wallstreet Journal Online is reporting this great news for some consumers that are not able to get quick cash and are considered “under-banked”.
Some statements that some might question are comments such as, “Fees and interest paid to payday lenders and banks for overdraft protection contribute to a larger problem for low-income individuals–those types of loans don’t help build credit scores.” Are even some banks now trying to come up with programs that compete with the payday loan, and are they really trying to find some alternative options for consumers? I guess we will never know, but the one great thing is we are seeing some alternatives being offered to our nation’s consumers that need short term cash. This is exciting for Leadpile to see, and hopes all other banks will follow.