May 21, 2009 – Randy Kamp, MP for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, welcomed strong new consumer protection rules with respect to credit cards announced today by the Conservative Government as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. Among the new proposed rules:
- Clearer Implications of Minimum Payments by improving consumer awareness of the time it would take to fully repay loans if only the minimum payment is made each month
- Summary Boxes on Contracts and Applications will help improve disclosure to consumers by clearly stating key features such as interest rates and fees
- Timely Advance Disclosure of Interest Rate Changes to protect consumers from sudden and poorly disclosed interest rate hikes
In addition, the proposed new rules will limit other business practices not beneficial to consumers, including:
- Minimum 21-Day Grace Period: all new purchases made within that period to remain interest free if the consumer pays the balance in full by the due date
- Lower Interest Costs with mandatory allocations of favoured consumer payments
- Express Consent Required for Credit Limit Increases
- Limits on Debt Collection Practices
- Prohibit Over-The-Limit Fees by restricting fees due to merchant holds placed on credit cards, protecting the consumer from inadvertent fees they are not responsible for or are not aware of
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