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In fact, representatives of big-time retailers like Wal-Mart and Target have already said they plan to skip the surcharge, and MasterCard itself told FoxBusiness.com that it predicts very few merchants will add the surcharge.
So, should you freak out about the new 4% surcharge option on credit card purchases? The answer is, 'Probably not.'
As a result of a recent settlement between Capital One Financial and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, many of the nation's largest lenders are getting rid of credit protection plans, which have been common for years, according to a report from USA Today. Under the recent settlement, the lender had to refund about $150 million it collected from roughly 2.5 million customers past and present, as well as pay $60 million in penalties.
Richard Cordray, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, recently spoke before the U.S. Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and said that the agency has made significant progress in adding protections for consumers and bringing greater clarity to various types of lending, according to prepared testimony.
U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Charles Schumer of New York, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Sherrod Brown of Ohio recently wrote a letter to federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray asking the agency to look into medical debt reporting, according to a report from Menendez's office.
Republican officials on the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee recently grilled CFPB director Richard Cordray over what they called his agency's inability to improve lending conditions since the end of the recession, according to a report from the news site Politico.
The credit reporting industry is one that has remained largely unregulated by the federal government, but that will soon change thanks to a new initiative from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency recently announced. In the past, only federal law enforcement agencies had oversight of credit reporting companies, which are privately owned, and there was no single entity in charge of writing rules for the industry.
The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will launch the beta version of a database containing borrowers' complaints about their credit cards, with an eye toward expanding the service by the end of the year, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. However, many experts within the financial industry say that such a move might actually be quite harmful because of the way the agency vets information.
Everything from credit cards and mortgages to student and auto financing now fall under the purview of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the agency is committed to continuing to increase protections for borrowers over the course of time, according to a report from USA Today. The CFPB's efforts have led to a number of appreciable and tangible benefits for consumers.
One provision of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 states that consumers over the age of 21 applying for a new account must provide proof of independent income sufficient to cover the costs they might incur on their card, according to an editorial by American Bankers Association president and chief executive officer Frank Keating for the Huffington Post.
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