CNN 2010-02-28

You can expect to have more money stay in your own pocket. That's the point of all of these credit¹ card new rules, and finally, they are here as of today. This is what the benefits should be for you. The design of it -- no rate heights on existing balances used to be. They could just raise your interest rate on the balance that it was sitting on your credit card. They are not going to do that anymore. They're going to have give you 45 days notice on any new rate hikes, and it will only apply to purchases you make from that point forward.

All and all, this is expected to save you, Kyra, about $10 billion annually², but what this means is there are billions of dollars in fees that the credit card companies are going to lose, and they are not going to do that very lightly, so watch out for some traps and also some places where you're going to be shout out from these new rules. Among them, company cards, small businesses that have a company card, this is for consumer credit. It's not for company cards, so remember that. Also late payers, if you are behind two payments³, forget about it. I mean, you are in trouble again here, and they're going to have the right to charge you more to use their money if you are late, and if you are a risky⁴ borrower, you could be shut out altogether.

They're just not going to be able to get the fees off the risky borrows that they used to. That also means, Kyra, if you're one of these people who put a lot on your credit card every month, you use it as a cash management tool; you pay your household expenses; you paid it all off, they're going to find some new ways to try to get fees out of you. You will probably pay more for your rewards programs or probably get fewer rewards and you could pay an annual fee, so people who did it all right and were not messy with their credit, you could end up paying a little bit of a price, too.

PHILLIPS: All right. Talk about being messy with our credit, did you have a credit card when you were in college?

ROMANS: I did. Did you?

PHILLIPS: You did...Yes, I did, but it didn't last very long. That was one of those things that I just was not mature enough to handle. I could not keep up with it, and then I remember not being able to balance my checkbook, balling (ph) at the bank. You know, you learn quickly as an 18-year-old, but things are going to change now, I guess, right, for college students in credit cards?

ROMANS: They really are. Look, now. I don't know about you, but when I went to college, when I bought my books, in the books there were credit card offers. There was a table out front where they were handing out, you know, free T-shirts and sweatshirts to sign up for credit cards. That's not going to be allowed anymore. It's going to be much harder for somebody under 21 to get a credit card. No more of these campus⁵ inducements.

You might need a cosigner with good credit. So look, if your parents don't have a lot of money and they don't have good credit and they cannot help you go to college, you might have a harder time getting that credit card that a lot of people have used over the past few years to help with their expenses. You might need to get a prepaid card if you can or a debit⁶ card. It's just going to be harder overall⁷ to get a credit card. If you have income, if you are lucky enough to be 19 years old and have some kind of job that's giving you steady income, you will be able to get a credit card, but the idea here is to prevent people from charging up all this stuff⁸ very young.

I mean, some kids don't really have an idea that this is borrowed money, and it's expensive to borrow money, and you have to pay it off. Kids are...

PHILLIPS: Because parents are paying for those credit cards and that's your first mistake. Parents should not be paying for kids to have credit cards. That's a whole nother issue.

ROMANS: And other kids are getting credit cards and their parents don't even know about it. It was awful easy to get a credit card, and you're parents don't even know about it. You are graduated from school, you know, and this was -- you know, our Romans numeral today, more than $3,000 is what kids have in college have in their credit card balances right now. If you don't have a job, I mean, just racking⁹ up interest rates and fees.

So the idea here is to promote responsible borrowing of credit card, but for -- I will say that for some young people who need a credit card to help them through school and all those expenses, it's going to be more difficult.

PHILLIPS: Yes. All right. Christine, thanks so much.

 

1 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

2 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

3 payments   

n.支付，付款，缴纳，报酬( payment的名词复数 )；付出的[要付出的]款项；报答，报偿

参考例句：

• Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job. 一旦就业，即停发福利救济。
• The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children. 这项法律可强制父亲定期支付子女的费用。

4 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

5 campus   

n.大学校园，学校校园；大学　

参考例句：

• They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
• The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。

6 debit   

n.借方，借项，记人借方的款项

参考例句：

• To whom shall I debit this sum?此款应记入谁的账户的借方？
• We undercharge Mr.Smith and have to send him a debit note for the extra amount.我们少收了史密斯先生的钱，只得给他寄去一张借条所要欠款。

7 overall   

n.工作服，工装裤；全面的，全体的

参考例句：

• The shop assistant was wearing a white overall.那店员穿着白色的工作服。
• How much will it cost overall?一共多少钱？

8 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

9 racking   

拷问的，痛苦的

参考例句：

• All night I have been tossing and turning racking my brains to think what could have possessed the young man to kill himself. 整整一晚我辗转反侧，绞尽脑汁，想弄明白是什么原因竟能促成这个年轻人自杀。
• He was racking his brains for a course of action. 他在脑子里拼命寻找一条行动的道路。