WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. credit card companies may be dodging a consumer protection law by sending solicitations for professional-class cards, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said.
The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act has different laws that cover professional or business credit accounts and consumer accounts, MarketWatch reported Thursday.
Schumer, in a letter to the Federal Reserve, said he feared a 256 percent surge in solicitations for professional credit cards in the first quarter "is motivated by credit-card issuers seeking to bypass the tough and smart consumer reforms recently enacted."
Anuj Shahani at research firm Synovate said card companies shifted their focus from consumer credit accounts to professional accounts "as the CARD Act had no impact" on the professional accounts.
In the second quarter, the trend shifted again with solicitations for consumer credit cards up 104 percent compared with the second quarter of 2009, while solicitations for professional cards declined, Synovate said.
