Obama on Credit Cards: 'Enough is Enough'
President Barack Obama Thursday pushed Congress for immediate action on steep rate hikes and predatory fees that credit card companies are imposing on card holders.Saying that "Enough is enough; it's time for strong and reliable protections for our consumers," Obama told a town hall meeting in New Mexico.
He called for the Senate to pass the credit card legislation and combine it with the House bill. "I am calling on Congress to take final action to pass a credit card reform bill that protects American consumers and send it to my desk so I can sign it into law by Memorial Day (May 25)," Obama says.
The "Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights" seeks to shield consumers from misleading small print in card contracts, empower cardholders to set their own credit limits, and require companies to fairly allocate payments.
The measure also targets practices such as marketing credit cards to minors, unfair rate hikes and charges and improves transparency for people shopping around for credit cards.
"You shouldn't need a magnifying glass or a law degree to read the fine print that sometimes doesn't even appear to be written in English or Spanish," Obama says.
Obama also cautioned customers need to control spending after an era of easy credit, which he blamed for help causing the crisis.
The Federal Reserve reports the average American holds $7,300 in credit card debt balances.
Obama met top credit card executives at the White House late last month and vowed reforms to purge their industry of abusive rate hikes and fees and to restore consumer protections.