While the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act brought some additional protections for consumers, there were also fears that it could cause issuers to change up some of their tactics.
In fact, some consumers saw their credit card rates increase in the months leading up to the effective date of the new rules. Issuers did this to offset the potential profit losses they could experience from the act.
With the new restrictions, including limiting the ability of issuers to raise rates – some felt as though the firms may bring back old fee structures, such as annual charges tied to accounts.
However, a recent study from Mintel Comperemedia noted that the percentage of credit card offers with annual fees actually declined during the second quarter of this year when compared to the same time in 2009.
American consumers also saw the number of card offers they received increase from 419 million to 1.1 billion when comparing the two quarters. This may be an indication that issuers are feeling a bit more confident in the state of the economy, as many cut back on credit card accounts during the recession in order to mitigate losses.
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