Are credit card rules changing tomorrow ?

[rfuerst911sc]

I received a letter in the mail yesterday from Lowes saying because of new rules effective 2/1/10 they will no longer be able to provide no interest no payment promotions as they have in the past. Has anyone else been told this ? I have done lots of home improvement projects using this service from Lowes and Home Depot. I always pay it in full when the 6 or 12 months is up. If this is true you might want to make your purchases today !

[Porsche-O-Phile]

What the new credit card law means for you - FOXBusiness.com

In general companies can't drop a promotional rate for six months. Because of this, I anticipate most companies won't offer them anymore. Not like anyone's even issuing credit lines these days anyway.

[Joeaksa]

Just another way to screw us...

[Scuba Steve]

No more double-cycle billing: Finance charges on outstanding credit card balances would be computed based on purchases made in the current cycle rather than going back to the previous billing cycle to calculate interest charges. So-called two-cyle or double-cycle billing hurts consumers who pay off their balances, because they are hit with finance charges from the previous cycle even though they have paid the bill in full.

So does this mean that with my card paid off every month, that if I do something like go to the store on the first day of the billing cycle it gathers interest up until the day the bill is due at the end of the month?

[m21sniper]

Yep, no more "free" membership rewards points.

[Scuba Steve]

WTF - that's stupid. You'd have to keep a positive balance in your account and have the bill reflect a credit so that nothing gathers interest in the couple of weeks between when you buy and the billing cycle is over. So now everything you put on a card will gather interest no matter if you pay the bill off completely every month or not.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Scuba Steve

So does this mean that with my card paid off every month, that if I do something like go to the store on the first day of the billing cycle it gathers interest up until the day the bill is due at the end of the month?

I don't believe this is the case. Nothing in that article says you will be hit with a finance charge if you pay your bill off in full and on time each month.

[Big Ed]

Originally Posted by Scuba Steve

So does this mean that with my card paid off every month, that if I do something like go to the store on the first day of the billing cycle it gathers interest up until the day the bill is due at the end of the month?

No, it doesn't mean that at all.

Certain cards had a feature where if you were carrying a balance, and paid it off, you'd still get an interest charge in the next month. This is no longer true.

For example, let's say I am carrying a $3,000 balance on a card that is accruing interest (balance was NOT paid in full in last billing period). I pay off the bill in full today -- next month, for these types of cards I would still have to pay an interest charge on next month's bill. The new rules prohibit this practice.

If you have an account with the typical 30 day grace period and pay your balance in full each month, you will continue to pay no interest charges.

[Scuba Steve]

Ahh, cool. I've never had a balance and didn't want to start paying interest on stuff for the time between the purchase and when the bill is due. I'd just as soon go back to cash and checks + only using the card for online buying than deal with that crap.

[m21sniper]

I guess i misinterpreted it too then.

[rfuerst911sc]

So do you guys think Home Depot will be ending the no payment no interest promotion also ? It is still listed on their website and signs are still in the stores.