The game is changing for anyone who uses a credit card. Gone are the surprise rate increases you don't notice until you open your statement, and something called "double-cycle billing," which you may have noticed if you paid off a card one month and you still had interest left over the next.
"The law does explicitly outlaw these type of practices," said Ben Woolsey with creditcards.com.
He says with the old tricks outlawed, watch out for new ones. He suspects your issuer might be adding a little something like extra fees - fees you pay once a year or you pay for not using your credit card, possible even for using paper bills and who knows what else.
Wait! There's more bad news.
"If you're late on your utility bill, or your credit score drops, or just because they want to, they can jack up your rate on new purchases," he warned.
The good news, if you can call it that, Woolsey says, card issuers have to give you 45 days' written notice.
Don't like the changes? Two options: Close your account and pay off the card at the old rate, or shop around. But, as Woolsey figures, it's not going to be pretty.
"We really do expect new types of fees to crop up as well as overall interest rates are going to creep up for everybody," he said.
The new law takes effect February 22.
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