• A credit card offers several conveniences to its users.credit card image by feisty from Fotolia.com
  
  Credit cards are issued to applicants by banks and other providers. Alabama has credit card laws that protect consumers against credit card abuses, such as retroactive increase in interest rates, double cycle billing as well as excessive penalties and fees on their credit card bills.
  
  

Regulation on the Increase of Credit Card Interest Rates

• The Credit Card Act of 2009 prohibits the increase of interest on current balances if the credit card holder is not delinquent for more than 60 days, unless the credit card is under a variable rate or the promotional rate has already expired. Moreover, any promotional period for credit cards must last no less than six months to avoid credit card companies from doing a "bait and switch" tactic on new customers. Trying to lure new customers to accept the credit card by offering a one time low rate and changing the rate after a couple of weeks/months without prior notice is not legal as provided by the act.
  
  Title 5, Section 5-20-5 of the Alabama Code mandates that credit card banks or lenders should send the debtor a written notice 30 days before it attempts to modify any terms on the credit card account. The lender should likewise provide the debtor with the options to surrender the credit card and continue to pay the credit card account under the same terms and conditions or "to hold the credit card after the 30-day period has elapsed, or to use the credit card during such period, either of which shall constitute the debtor's consent to the modification."
  
  

Lower Fees

• The Credit Card Act of 2009 does not allow excessive fees and penalties in situations where consumers fail to pay their monthly credit card bills on time. This law mandates that if a credit card holder fails to pay for a two month period, the interest rate must be reduced back to its original rate instead of increasing it to an excessive and punitive rate. Furthermore, this new law prescribes that late fees and over the limit penalties should both be rational and appropriate to the credit card holder's violation. When calculating the interest for the present billing cycle, credit card companies are not allowed to use an earlier billing cycle. Best of all, consumers are protected against paying extra charges for using phone and online payments to credit card companies.
  
  

Payment Due Dates and Late Fees

• There are a lot of complaints from consumers regarding unfair and unreasonable payment dates that change without any prior notice to the credit card holder. This gives customers less time to pay their bills and puts them at a greater risk of incurring overdue fees. This law does not allow credit card companies to oblige customers to pay penalties and fines by using "gotcha" time traps, such as random cut off payment periods. The Credit Card Act of 2009 mandates that all deadlines set before 5 pm on the payment due date will be illegal. Payments that are due at such time or on weekends, holidays or days when the card issuer is closed will no longer require the consumer to pay for late fees or penalties.