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The Federal Reserve Board finalized a rule on Tuesday that is designed to protect consumers from credit card fees and interest rates that jump suddenly.

Financial regulators in Brunei have set restrictions on how small the amounts credit card issuers can set for monthly repayment of credit card debts, according to a directive from the country’s Ministry of Finance. Cardholder incomes also now will determine credit card spending limits, the directive states.

Financial regulators in New Zealand are keeping a close watch on surcharges that some retailers have started to impose for credit card transactions.

Topco Financial Services Inc., an Everett, Wash.-based collection agency, settled a pending lawsuit with Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna's office by agreeing not to threaten, harass or curse at consumers. The agency will pay $5,000 in civil penalties and $33,000 in attorneys' fees and legal costs. An additional $70,000 in civil penalties and $12,000 in fees and costs was suspended provided that Topco complies with the terms of the settlement.

Lawmakers are scheduled to review a bill later this month that would set new curbs on credit cards by capping interest rates at 16% and late payments and overdraft fees at $15.

Congress continues its venomous assault on the credit card industry heedless of the consequences.

Federal regulators are expected to ratchet up the attention they pay to interest rate risk in the banking system amid mounting expectations that the prolonged period of low rates is nearing an end.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is urging the Federal Reserve Board to return credit card interest rates and fees to year-ago levels after banks raised them in response to new federal rules and surging credit costs, reports Dow Jones.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is urging the Federal Reserve Board to return credit card interest rates and fees to year-ago levels after banks raised them in response to new federal rules and surging credit costs, reports Dow Jones.

The South Korean government has changed the rules governing tax deductions for credit card spending, a spokesperson for the Korean National Tax Service tells PaymentsSource. To promote the use of payment cards, the government previously offered a 20% tax deduction to citizens who used credit cards to spend at least 20% of their annual incomes. The government has raised the spending threshold to 25% while offering the same tax deduction, the spokesperson says. The government also reduced the maximum tax deduction a citizen can receive to 3 million won (US$2,600 or 1,800 euros) from 5 million won. The Korean tax authority made these changes because it has achieved its goal of promoting the use of payment cards for retail purchases, according to an official from the Credit Finance Association of Korea, a trade group. “Now they have more room for pulling back these deductions,” a spokesperson for the association tells PaymentsSource.