[richlevy]

Well, here's one example of change.

American Express and Discover will no longer bill customers who exceed their credit limits, according to company spokespeople. The creditors aren't eliminating the fees because they care about their customers. No, they're providing what American Banker calls "the first concrete examples of how a new law will restrict issuers' abilities to turn a profit." The new CARD Act that Congress passed in May requires consumers to opt-in before they can exceed their credit limits. Since overlimit fees, which can reach $39, aren't very profitable for creditors, they decided to ditch the fees altogether.

Before anyone comes to the defense of the credit card industry, there are two points to be made here. The law merely states that customers have to opt-in. This simply means that like in any normal business relationship, the customer must agree to a service that will cost him or her money. In other words the customer should be able to decide up front whether to have a card denied on each occasion when they are over their limit or be hit with a $39 charge each time, even if they make individual small purchases.

The second is that credit card companies have been lowering credit card limits without adequately informing customers. This means that even customers who diligently track their purchases may be surprised. At at possible $39 for each transaction, it could be a very large surprise.

The law does not prohibit the practice, it merely states that the customer must explicitly agree to the feature.