“Greedy credit-card companies” are trying to bilk New Yorkers out of millions in hidden fees before tough new federal rules go into effect next year, two lawmakers said yesterday.
New fees for canceling cards and doubling the minimum monthly payments due are just a couple of ways companies are trying to cash in on customers, according to Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
Several months ago, President Obama signed a law limiting a company’s ability to raise interest rates on existing balances.
But the new rules don’t go into effect until February, and companies have been trying to get new fees in under the wire.
“The bottom line is that consumers are being taken advantage of by greedy credit-card companies,” Schumer said.
A recent study found that credit-card interest rates rose 20 percent in the first half of this year, in contrast with most other interest rates, which went down.
Schumer and Maloney are backing legislation to move up the deadline to Dec. 1 for companies to comply with the new rules.
