Obama Pledges Credit Card Reform

President Obama told senior executives of credit-card firms today that he supports congressional efforts to rein in some of their business practices, the Washington Post reports. Both the House and Senate are working on bills to codify new regulations by the Fed that restrict lenders’ ability to arbitrarily raise interest rates on existing balances or interest on debts already paid, among other practices.

The credit-card industry warned of restricting its business during a credit crisis: “The bill passed by the House Financial Services Committee today will have a negative effect on lenders’ ability to offer reasonably priced credit to consumers and may make matters worse for the broader economy,” said a statement from the American Banking Association. (More Barack Obama stories.)