WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell today praised the U.S. Senate's passage of a bill that would help protect consumers against unfair and deceptive credit card practices.

"This is another important step for a bill that will provide many key protections for consumers in Arizona and across the nation," Mitchell said.  "Credit card companies provide a valuable service, but consumers deserve protection from arbitrary rate increases and the misleading gimmicks and penalties that have become too common in the industry.  In these difficult economic times it is more important than ever to guard against unfair and predatory practices."

The Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights, H.R. 627, would protect cardholders against arbitrary interest rate increases and prevent unfair penalties for cardholders who pay on time.

Mitchell cosponsored the House of Representatives version of the bill which overwhelmingly passed the House on April 30 by a bipartisan 357 to 70 vote.  The Senate version passed the bill by a margin of 90-5.  The House is expected to take up the Senate version of the bill later this week, in time to have the final bill on the President's desk before Memorial Day.

The Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights would help Arizona consumers by:

• Stopping unfair retroactive rate hikes on existing balances and require 45 days notice for future rate increases.
• Letting consumers set hard credit limits and stops excessive "over-the-limit" fees.
• Protecting cardholders from due date gimmicks by requiring companies to mail billing statements 25 calendar days before the due date, up from the current 14 days.
• Requiring that payments made before 5 p.m. on the due date to be credited as "on time" to prevent lenders from cutting-off receipts of payment earlier in the day, declaring such payments late and then charging late fees.