by Joseph Kenny | 09/3/09

There are several new rules for credit cards that are scheduled to take effect in the next year that will have an impact on you.

Luckily, these changes are positive, but you should still know about them so that you can be prepared to take advantage of them when they happen or just so that you know what's going on. These rules have not gone into effect yet, and you should keep that in mind too.

Retroactive Interest Rate Raises

Retroactive interest rate raises are being done away with in most circumstances. Credit card companies will no longer be able to retroactively raise your interest rates on your current balance. From now on, credit card companies will only have the ability to raise rates for future purchases, not past ones.

This means that you will not have to pay as much because your raised insurance rates will not be affecting all those things you bought before you found out about the raised interest rates. This is great news for anyone who carries a large balance because raised interest rates that go into the past can make you pay a lot when it is already too late to do anything about the purchases in the past.

Still, there are some instances in which they will still be able to raise rates retroactively, such as when your account is over 60 days late.

Highest Rate Will Be Paid First

Another change that will be instituted in the next year is that the money you put toward your account will pay off the highest rate portion of your total balance first. In the past (and in the present), credit card companies could put the money that you pay on your account toward the portion of your balance with the lowest rate. This was a bad deal for you because you know that you want to pay off the highest rate whenever possible.

These changes will ensure that every cent you pay over your minimum payment will go to paying off the highest rate portion of your account. This is another big change that will save you money. Even better, it will save you money as you pay off your credit cards without you having to do anything differently.

Fixed Credit Limits Put In Place

Credit card holders can pay great sums of money over time on over limit fees. Instead of being able to charge an amount that is greater than your limit and then making you pay a fee, now credit card companies will be required to ask for your consent to put a charge through that would put you at an amount greater than your limit.

These credit card changes could mean great things for credit card holders. Credit card companies will no longer have as much leeway in using the rules of the credit card game against credit card holders. These rules will help people to get into better financial positions or at least not to get roped into worse ones.