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Barack sets a standard that the UK government should follow
Many credit card holders in the UK have been shocked over recent years by the way that they have been treated. Some have seen their credit card interest rates hiked up by significant levels for no apparent reason. Others have seen various fees and charges slapped onto their accounts without warning. Still others have discovered that to their horror, and with no reasonable explanation, their credit card providers have either slashed their credit limits by thousands of pounds or in some cases have even decided to close their accounts.
With so many of us relying on the financial lifeline that credit cards can provide in the current difficult financial climate it seems ludicrous that banks can treat us in this way, particularly when you consider that many of these credit cards are from banks that have been bailed out using taxpayers' money! Whilst the government may have made some half hearted attempts to get the credit card industry to act more fairly it seems clear that by and large these attempts have failed.
Some months ago credit card firms pledged to act more fairly to customers in terms of fees, charges, and hiking up interest rates, but in most cases these promises have not been fulfilled. Credit card providers continue to hike up their interest rates, despite the fact that the base rate is at an all time low of just 0.5 percent, the number of introductory interest free credit cards available have almost disappeared and they continue to charge pretty much as many fees that they can so that they can get as much cash from their customers as possible.
Of course, this is not a problem that is confined to the UK. The United States, for example, has suffered the same lack of care from credit card providers for years. However, in the United States this could all be about to change. Just months after being elected to office the new president, Barack Obama, has done something that his predecessor, George Bush, didn't get done in all of his years of office.
Obama has recently signed a Bill of Rights for American credit card customers, and the aim of the legislation is to ensure that credit card firms are made to treat customers openly, fairly, and honestly. Both supporters and non-supporters of the new president are likely to welcome the new Bill of Rights with open arms, as it will take away some of the power from greedy credit card firms and help to empower the citizens of America.
The much welcomed move by Obama is certain to make other nations, such as ours, stop and think about why our credit card providers are getting away with so much, and why nothing is being to stop this unfair treatment of customers. Many will now be calling on the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and his Labour government to push through similar laws that will see the credit card holders of the UK being treated as fairly as their neighbours across the pond will be in nine months time, when Obama's Bill of Rights comes into force.
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