New Credit Card Rules: What You Need to Know

Feb. 16, 2010— -- Next week new credit card provisions from the 2009 Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (CARD) will take effect, making it easier for consumers to understand their credit card bills and how interest charges are determined.

The new rules will affect millions of consumers. The average person has five credit cards and the average household with at least one credit card has more than $10,000 in credit card debt, according to a 2009 Nilson Report.

"Good Morning America" financial contributor Mellody Hobson explained what you should know about the credit card changes.

Overdraft fees generated $25 billion to $38 billion for banks last year, Hobson said. Consumers can be automatically enrolled in overdraft protection, but with the new Credit CARD Act, customers must now specifically request it.

Should a customer enroll, overdraft fees can only be applied once during a billing cycle and the card company must let you know how much it will be, Hobson said.

The customer has the right to opt out of overdraft protection at any time. But these new rules only apply to debit cards and not to overdraft fees from checks or electronic transfers.

Hobson recommended that consumers never ask for the overdraft protection for debit cards and opt out of it for checking accounts.

Two of the Credit CARD Act changes are already in place.

Consumers now have 21 days to send their payments in instead of 14 and credit card companies must give consumers 45 days notice if their terms change, instead of 15 days.

Although Hobson notes that one important exception to the 45-day notification rule is if your credit card company decides to reduce your credit limit – the company can do that without any warning.

Should this happen, Hobson said to call the company and ask for it to be reversed. If the company refuses, then pay any remaining balance as soon as possible since lowering your credit limit could affect your credit score.

On Feb. 22 another change will take effect that should help consumers better understand their credit card terms and debt, Hobson said.