Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Credit card companies face scrutiny

|
|
 
  
Published: Dec. 2, 2007 at 1:39 AM

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. credit card issuers are under pressure to change some profitable practices, like raising interest rates based on card-holders' other debts.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., plans a hearing next week, The Washington Post reported.

"It is becoming increasingly difficult for the credit card industry to defend this type of unfair interest rate increase," Levin said.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., plans to introduce legislation that would require card-issuers to provide more information for consumers on how interest rates and fees are set.

"This is a huge issue to the public because credit cards have become a way of life," Maloney said.

U.S. card-holders have racked up about $2 trillion in debt. Critics say high interest rates and fees have trapped many people who keep making payments without ever clearing their debt.

Topics: Carl Levin, Carolyn Maloney, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin
© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
It's a lie
The hot new baffling non sequitur: Marrying yourself, complete with vows and ceremony. Subby is...
Hutt robbery "cowardly." Oh, so I suppose hiring intergalactic bounty hunters is the paragon of...
Across America, more and more cities are trying to regulate garage sales. In other news, some people...
Bank robber caught hiding during a game of duct, duct, goose
Criteria for using sugar snap peas: Did someone get told? [Yes] Sugar snap peas