Credit CARD Act of 2009

The Card Act was passed in 2009 to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices. But some stay-at-home parents complain that one part of the law has made it harder for them to get credit cards.

In tonight's State of the Union, President Obama faces a tough crowd: Millions of Americans unsure about whether he should keep his job. He'll be aiming to win hearts and minds, and at least part of that will be an appeal to our wallets. With that in mind, here are three key points that he is likely to hammer home tonight:

Now that consumer protection laws have pushed back against some of the methods banks devised to make excessive profits at your expense, the financial institutions are trying new techniques. Here's one that at first glance seems like a benefit: Taking away your credit limit.

Cheap credit is making a comeback, at least for some people: Credit card companies' fierce competition for new, low-risk customers has them ramping up their 0% interest rate offers again, and offering those teaser rates for longer. So if you have the FICO score to qualify, it's time to take advantage.

It appears that complaints from consumers and regulators about the lack of credit card transparency at banks have not fallen on deaf ears. According to CardHub.com's 2011 Credit Card Application Study, the 10 biggest issuers of plastic have significantly improved transparency this year.

To nobody's surprise, credit cards are still imposing fees on their customers. It wasn't necessarily supposed to be quite this bad, however. The Credit CARD Act, which goes into effect on August 22, is aimed at making credit cards more transparent, fair and a little less fee-heavy. But while some...

My recent credit card statement came in the mail, as it always does, and I opened it, as I always do, but this time...well, if I were a cartoon character, my eyes would have bulged out, my jaw would have dropped to the floor, and then exploded into a million tiny fragments. That's because, just as...