As you may know, a new credit card consumer protection law came into effect in 2010. The concept behind the law – known as the Credit CARD Act of 2009 (it was signed into law in 2009, but became effective in 2010) was to prevent banks and credit card companies from using certain business practices, and assessing certain charges, which Congress believed were keeping borrowers in debt for longer periods of time. The new law has a number of different provisions that may change how you do business with your credit card company, and may end up saving you...

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Credit card companies find ingenious ways to get extra money out of cardholders — and they're all legal. If you haven't reviewed your account statement lately or read the fine print on the fee-disclosure booklet, you may be surprised to know how much you're really paying. For example: Pay the bill one day late and you could incur a penalty of $25. The same thing could happen if you go over your credit limit. (If you're a good customer they won't decline the transaction, they'll just charge you extra for it.) Such minor "transgressions" can also bump you to a...

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