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Cash-strapped consumers in the United Kingdom will receive more "breathing space" to pay their credit card bills and more information about interest-rate changes under rules announced Thursday by APACS, a trade association that represents the country's issuers. Officials from the credit card industry and the UK government agreed to the changes, the trade group. One change calls for credit card companies to "suspend collection activity" for at least 30 days for cardholders working with debt-advice agencies to work out repayment plans for overdue credit card payments. The other change ensures that issuers will inform cardholders about interest-rate changes because of "risk-based repricing," which can result in higher rates for customers deemed more risky. The rules "are binding on all UK issuers," an APACS spokesperson tells CardLine Global. "The breathing-space [rule] takes immediate effect, and the new risk-based pricing principles will come into effect across the industry" starting on 1 Jan., the spokesperson says. The changes follow a meeting in late November between credit card and government officials that the UK Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform organized (CardLine Global, 27 Nov.).
