Bank of America says it won’t raise fees ahead of new regulations

October 7, 2009 – 10:39 am – No Comment

Bank of America Plaza; Dallas, TX

Of all the bad that Bank of America has done in the past, at least it is trying to make up for it in the future, or at least they say they are. With the new regulations, Bank of America has decided that it would not hike credit card rates or increase fees before the new law is to go into effect.

New regulations are set to take effect in February. The new laws are meant to reform practices in the credit card industry including limiting banks’ and other lenders’ abilities to raise their fees and rates. It also requires that they give borrowers a greater understanding of the lending process and the costs associated with borrowing through greater disclosure.

The regulations may actually be moved up two months. Lawmakers in Congress have introduced some legislation that would cause the new laws to go into effect on December 1st instead of in February. The reason for the move is that credit card companies are raising rates and charging higher fees ahead of the new laws. Unfortunately for the borrower, the bureaucratic process takes longer than a credit card company’s decision to increase the interest rate on their card.

Some credit card companies have taken it upon themselves to change the terms of their agreements with their borrowers. Discover cards decided that it was going to “transition” some of its fixed interest rate card holders to a less-than-ideal variable rate. It is business practices like this that caused the government to take action against the companies and to set new laws and regulations for the industry.

Bank of America has done a lot in the past to make their customers leave in droves. The company has really taken a more consumer oriented approach in an attempt to gain back some of the customers that it lost when it started the shady business practices that are now being regulated against.

Bank of America was once one of the worst offenders. It was raising rates for customers who never missed a payment and would even pay more than their minimum payment.