Congress Targets Credit Card Fees

WASHINGTON – The Senate will make perceived abuses in the credit card market, including rising and hidden fees, one of its first courses of business when it reconvenes next year. Democratic Sen Carl Levin, who will become chairman of the Senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations next month, said he plans to hold hearings next year on credit card issuer ‘abuses’ and introduce legislation to correct them. Levin excoriated credit card issuers during a policy forum last week for charging fee piled upon fee piled upon penalty, which hinder good-faith efforts to pay off debt. Not surprisingly, the increased use of credit cards has helped put many families in debt. Due to the 2005 bankruptcy bill that the credit card companies fought so hard for last year, that debt is now even harder to discharge, said Levin, at a forum sponsored by the Center for American Progress. The center wants the Federal Trade Commission to develop an incentive-based credit card safety disclosure system, much like that for vehicle safety, and assign ratings that are printed on the card itself.