VIRGINIA BEACH -- "I really counsel everybody: Pull out your statements," said Amy Wisilosky. The Vice President of Marketing at Virginia Beach Schools Federal Credit Union explains, "So many of us use Bill Pay, we don't always look at our statements every month, so we might not have been aware of some changes that have started taking place."
Monday, legislation went into effect that is meant to protect and educate credit card users. Included in those changes is something that may be a "shell shocker," as Wisilosky describes it. Along with your balances on statements, companies have to list how long it will take you to pay off your accounts if you only make the minimum payments each month.
While measures such as disclosures are meant to help consumers, some parts of the law mean lost revenue for creditors. Because of it, several companies are finding other ways to make their money including increasing annual fees or adding them and drastically changing APR's.
"You're gonna see some rates jack up by 10 percent," says Wisilosky, " and you might be a great consumer or have good credit. You have a 750 Beacon Score. You've always made your payments on time, but you could see an increase of 10 percent in your regular rate."
In fact, Wisilosky is no exception. She caught a huge increase in the APR on the statement for January for one her credit cards.
"I work in the industry, and I asked the probing questions, and they still wouldn't answer me. They just said this is the way that it's gonna be. This is the way that it is," Wisilosky recalls. "Sorry to say that I'm not gonna be a customer of theirs for long, and it is too bad."
The VP of Marketing says some companies are getting around the legislation in making back money it may be stripping away.
"No one can have a definite floor rate. They can't say, 'We'll never charge lower than four percent.' They can't do that anymore, but they can base it (APR) on the Prime Rate," Wisilosky states. "The Prime Rate can do up and can go down, and, then, they tack on a percentage over the top of that Prime Rate."
Although there are pitfalls with some cards, Wisilosky advises there are many good ones available and companies willing to work with card users.
"Go to your trusted advisor at your bank or you credit union, whoever you have a good relationship with" Wisilosky recommends, "and ask them what's good, what's bad, or 'Is this a good offer for me?'"
