Duties of Federal Regulators: Changes in Credit Card Laws

There are three regulators primarily responsible for regulating the activity of banks and the credit card industry, and they are, The Office of Thrift Supervision, The Federal Reserve Board, and the National Credit Union Administration. Together these agencies have approved changes within the credit card industry that are set to take place July 2010. These regulators make sure banks are in compliance with established rules and regulations pertaining to consumers.

The Office of thrift Supervision

The office of thrift supervision has the responsibility of supervising the majority of U.S thrift entities. They make sure the bulk of their resources are geared towards those institutions which pose the greatest risk to the economy. This agency has a team that represents or oversees the legal aspects of the agency. They make sure any type of ideas, programs or legislation is in order. They also pursue and instigate all legal matters of the organization. There are a number of regional offices staffed with attorneys that fall under the authority or jurisdiction of the office of thrift and supervision.

The Federal Reserve Board

The Federal Reserve System has a board of governors who have certain responsibilities and duties, to perform, relating to the banks and the industry in general. In order for the board to meets its goals and objectives they have three advisory councils that perform certain tasks and keep the board informed about various information. These agencies are the Consumer Advisory Council, the Federal Advisory Council and the thrift institutions advisory council. Each of these advisory councils provides information to the Federal Reserve Board about their perspective duties and responsibilities which pertain to consumer protection laws and the banking industry in general.

The National Credit Union Administration

The National Credit Union Administration is responsible for overseeing and governing the activity of Federal Credit Unions in the United States. There are three members within the board and they are given their positions by the President of the United States but they must also be approved by the Senate.

Just recently all three regulators approved some changes within the credit card industry. Credit card issuers have to give their customers a 45 day notice before they make any changes to the terms and conditions of a credit card. As it stands the time frame is currently 15 days. The longer time period is designed to give customers more time to absorb the changes in addition to making any changes of their own. They will now have more time to look over credit card offers from other issuers to see if they are more cost effective. Card issuers will also be required to give customers at least 21 days to pay off their balances. That means card issuers must mail statements in a more timely fashion to ensure this regulation is adhered to. Interest rates cannot be increased on a customer's current balance unless the account is past due 30 days. The changes will also affect how customer's payments are allocated. Payments can no longer be applied to balances with the lowest interest rate first which works to the card issuers advantage.

Source

http://www.indexcreditcards.com/creditcardnews/federal-regulators-rein-in-unfair-credit-card-practices-but-new-rules-dont-apply-until-2010/
Source

http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:PFcg9x80SxIJ:redtape.msnbc.com/2008/05/federal-regulat.html+credit+card+regulators&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Source

http://www.ots.treas.gov/?p=SupervisionLegal

Source
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20090929a.htm