After years of predatory lending practices, even by some of the major credit card companies, the US Government will enact new rules regulating credit cards today.

One of the changes will be a cap on penalty fees charged by the credit companies. Past fees were between $35 and $39, while the new regulations cap them at just $25, which can rise to $35 only if the customer repeats the violation within a six month time frame. There will also no longer be inactivity fees associated with any credit card, and any annual fees which are waved for customers being active, are also no longer permitted.

One of the bigger changes will be concerning interest rate hikes. If a bank raises rates on a credit card, they must review the rate hike every 6 months, and if the conditions have reverted which caused the rate hike to begin with, the credit card must lower the rate back to what it was before.

All these measures should continue to help some of the predatory lending practices that have been hurting Americans.