President Obama on the Need for Credit Card Reform: "Enough is enough"
In his opening remarks at the Rio Rancho Town Hall in New Mexico, President Obama spoke at length on the need for credit card reform and new consumer protections. With more and more Americans turning to credit cards to help with essential bills, credit card reform has never been more urgent. The Senate is currently debating a number of measures, and Rio Rancho President Obama discussed both the need for reform and the principles such reform should embody:
I know that there are so many Americans who are hurting right now. You got hundreds of thousands who’ve lost their jobs just last month. Millions are working jobs that don’t pay enough to cover the bills. Millions more see increasing portions of their income going towards paying down debt. They’re Americans struggling to cope with the rising cost of putting things like their mortgage, their tuition, their medical bills — even their food and gas bills — on their credit cards, because they feel like they’re going underwater. But they’re quickly finding out that they can’t dig their way out of debt because of unfair practices.
…You should not have to worry that when you sign up for a credit card, you’re signing away all your rights. You shouldn’t need a magnifying glass or a law degree to read the fine print that sometimes don’t even appear to be written in English — or Spanish. (Applause.) And frankly, when you’re trying to navigate your way through this economy, you shouldn’t feel like you’re getting ripped off by "any time, any reason" rate hikes, and payment deadlines that seem to move around every month. That happen to anybody? You think you’re supposed to pay it this day, and suddenly — and it’s never on the end of the month where you’re paying all the rest of your bills, right? It’s like on the 19th. (Laughter.) All kinds of harsh penalties and fees that you never knew about.
Enough is enough. It’s time for strong, reliable protections for our consumers. It’s time for reform — (applause) — it’s time for reform that’s built on transparency and accountability and mutual responsibility — values fundamental to the new foundation we seek to build for our economy.
…We need reform that restores some sense of balance. We need a new equilibrium where credit is flowing, where lenders can succeed, where consumers don’t find themselves in a bad situation that they didn’t anticipate. This kind of reform is especially needed during this economic crisis. And as I’ve said all along, it should adhere to four basic principles:
First, there has to be strong, reliable protections for consumers –- protections that ban unfair rate increases and forbid abusive fees and penalties. The days of "any time, any reason, anything goes" rate hikes and late fees, that must end. That must end. (Applause.)
Second, all forms and statements that credit card companies send out have to be in plain language, in plain sight. (Applause.) No more fine print, no more confusing terms, no more hiding the truth. We’re going to require clarity and transparency from now on.
Third, we have to give people the tools to shop for a credit card that meets their needs without being afraid of being taken advantage of. So we’re going to require firms to make all their contract terms easily accessible, and we’re going to give consumers the information they need to do some comparison shopping. And we’ll require firms to offer at least one simple, straightforward card that offers the strongest protections along with the plainest terms and prices.
And finally — (applause) — finally we need more accountability. Instead of abuse that goes unpunished, we need to strengthen monitoring and enforcement and penalties for those who engage in deceptive practices that take advantage of families and consumers. (Applause.) And we also need to clean up practices at universities to protect students from getting stuck in debt before they even get started in life.
…It’s time to get it done. There’s no time for delay. We need durable and successful flows of credit in our economy, but we can’t tolerate profits that depend on misleading working families. Those days are over.
The Senate has scheduled a vote on the consumer Credit Card Bill of Right for Tuesday.
Read the President’s opening full remarks on credit card reform at the Rio Rancho Town Hall . . .
In his opening remarks at the Rio Rancho Town Hall in New Mexico, President Obama spoke at length on the need for credit card reform and new consumer protections. With more and more Americans turning to credit cards to help with essential bills, credit card reform has never been more urgent. The Senate is currently debating a number of measures, and Rio Rancho President Obama discussed both the need for reform and the principles such reform should embody:
I know that there are so many Americans who are hurting right now. You got hundreds of thousands who’ve lost their jobs just last month. Millions are working jobs that don’t pay enough to cover the bills. Millions more see increasing portions of their income going towards paying down debt. They’re Americans struggling to cope with the rising cost of putting things like their mortgage, their tuition, their medical bills — even their food and gas bills — on their credit cards, because they feel like they’re going underwater. But they’re quickly finding out that they can’t dig their way out of debt because of unfair practices.
…You should not have to worry that when you sign up for a credit card, you’re signing away all your rights. You shouldn’t need a magnifying glass or a law degree to read the fine print that sometimes don’t even appear to be written in English — or Spanish. (Applause.) And frankly, when you’re trying to navigate your way through this economy, you shouldn’t feel like you’re getting ripped off by "any time, any reason" rate hikes, and payment deadlines that seem to move around every month. That happen to anybody? You think you’re supposed to pay it this day, and suddenly — and it’s never on the end of the month where you’re paying all the rest of your bills, right? It’s like on the 19th. (Laughter.) All kinds of harsh penalties and fees that you never knew about.
Enough is enough. It’s time for strong, reliable protections for our consumers. It’s time for reform — (applause) — it’s time for reform that’s built on transparency and accountability and mutual responsibility — values fundamental to the new foundation we seek to build for our economy.
…We need reform that restores some sense of balance. We need a new equilibrium where credit is flowing, where lenders can succeed, where consumers don’t find themselves in a bad situation that they didn’t anticipate. This kind of reform is especially needed during this economic crisis. And as I’ve said all along, it should adhere to four basic principles:
First, there has to be strong, reliable protections for consumers –- protections that ban unfair rate increases and forbid abusive fees and penalties. The days of "any time, any reason, anything goes" rate hikes and late fees, that must end. That must end. (Applause.)
Second, all forms and statements that credit card companies send out have to be in plain language, in plain sight. (Applause.) No more fine print, no more confusing terms, no more hiding the truth. We’re going to require clarity and transparency from now on.
Third, we have to give people the tools to shop for a credit card that meets their needs without being afraid of being taken advantage of. So we’re going to require firms to make all their contract terms easily accessible, and we’re going to give consumers the information they need to do some comparison shopping. And we’ll require firms to offer at least one simple, straightforward card that offers the strongest protections along with the plainest terms and prices.
And finally — (applause) — finally we need more accountability. Instead of abuse that goes unpunished, we need to strengthen monitoring and enforcement and penalties for those who engage in deceptive practices that take advantage of families and consumers. (Applause.) And we also need to clean up practices at universities to protect students from getting stuck in debt before they even get started in life.
…It’s time to get it done. There’s no time for delay. We need durable and successful flows of credit in our economy, but we can’t tolerate profits that depend on misleading working families. Those days are over.
The Senate has scheduled a vote on the consumer Credit Card Bill of Right for Tuesday.
Read the President’s opening full remarks on credit card reform at the Rio Rancho Town Hall . . .