Credit Card Holders Beware

In the Washington Examiner, Daniel Ballon and Lawrence McQuillan criticize a bill pending in Congress that would lead to credit card companies reducing their rebates to credit card holders.  It would restrict the fees the companies can contractually charge retailers to process payments from their cardholders, leaving them with less margin to pass on to consumers.  Right now, I receive up to 5 percent in rebates from my credit cards for the purchases I make, but if this bill passes, those rebates will surely fall, costing me more for gas and groceries.  Ballon and McQuillan point out that if the bill passes, it “will result in fewer cards, higher annual fees, rising interest rates and the end of rewards programs.”  CEI’s Ryan Radia discussed this bill earlier.