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The Consumer Affairs Committee of New Jersey's General Assembly today approved a bill that would sharply restrict credit card issuers' marketing efforts on all of the state's college campuses. In recent years 18 states, including California and Texas, passed laws restricting credit card marketing on college campuses. The New Jersey bill, which assemblywomen Sandi Love and Pamela R. Lampitt introduced in June, would prohibit issuers from buying or renting students' names, addresses or contact information for marketing purposes and would prohibit using gifts or other promotional incentives to lure students to apply for cards. The law would require any issuers marketing to students to provide an educational course explaining the responsible use of credit cards and give full explanations of card terms and how issuers compute interest. The proposed legislation also would require students to certify they have completed the course before applying for a credit card. According to the authors of the bill, many New Jersey college students find themselves overwhelmed by crippling debt owed on cards they applied for because issuers were soliciting on campus. "Credit cards can be a great financial tool. Unfortunately, many college students do not understand how credit works," Love said in a statement issued today. The bill is now cleared to move to the House floor for a vote. An identical bill also introduced in June in the Senate was referred to the Senate Commerce Committee, which reconvenes next month.
