Half of Americans interest rates hiked for holidays (no help from congress)

A congressional effort to enact swift rules to protect credit card consumers during the holiday shopping season is all but dead.

Americans want to go out and do what they can to help their families and celebrate this holiday season by taking a credit card out and making purchases, yet the credit card companies continue to raise rates and add hidden fees. New rules are set to take effect Feb. 22nd prohibiting banks from hiking interest rates on fixed rate cards unless the cardholder is considerably late. This does not protect consumers during the holiday season but congress seems to be pre-occupied with other issues such as health care and unemployment. In the meantime, credit card rates inch higher, according to a Government Accountability Office report released last week. So, this Christmas season, your better off paying cash. The banking industry says its recent rate increases are due to increased consumer risk in the economy."It's unfortunate that the economy is struggling during the holiday season, but credit card interest rates reflect the risk in the economy," said Scott Talbott, chief lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, a business group.

Sources and related articles:
Credit.com
CNN Money
NPR