Credit card clampdown: what does it mean for me?
The Government has announced a shake-up of the credit card industry. Our Q&A explains how the changes will affect cardholders.
政府已宣布改組信用卡行業，我們的答問解釋變化如何影響持卡人。
By Richard Evans
Published: 10:52AM GMT 15 Mar 2010
Credit card clampdown: what does it mean for me?
壓制信用卡：這對我是什麼意思？
我的卡公司在現有債務還可否提高利率？
Can my card company still raise the interest rate on existing debts?
Yes – the Government has shied away from banning this practice, which many consumers see as an unfair rewriting of an existing agreement. But it is giving cardholders more chance to avoid paying higher rates of interest.
可以- 政府迴避去禁止這種做法，許多消費者視之為這是一項不公平的現有協議重寫。但它在給持卡人更多的機會去避免付出更高的利率。
Cardholders currently have 30 days to tell their card company that they want to reject an interest-rate increase, close the account and pay off the outstanding balance at the existing rate. This notice period will be doubled to 60 days.
持卡人目前有30天時間去告訴他們的信用卡公司，他們要拒絕加息、關閉帳戶和在現有的利率付清餘額，這個通知期將提高一倍至60天。
In addition, consumers will be notified at least twice during the 60 days that they have the right to reject the rate rise. Card companies will also tell them how much their borrowing will cost at the higher rate, so they will be able to see the real impact of an interest-rate increase when making their decision.
此外，消費者將被通知至少兩次，在那60天內，他們有權拒絕利率上升。信用卡公司亦將告訴他們，他們的借貸成本在較高的利率是若干，因此當他們做決定時，他們將能夠看到加息的真正影響。
The Government also said it would ban rate rises on existing debt for consumers "at risk of financial difficulties". Card companies will work with debt advice agencies to agree how they will identify consumers at risk, according to a joint statement from the Government and the companies.
政府亦說它將禁止對“有財政困難風險”的消費者，所持的現有債務加息。信用卡公司將與債務諮詢機構工作，去同意他們如何識別有風險的消費者，根據政府和公司的聯合聲明。
我將仍然付清餘額但能否先清還廉價債務先？
Will I still pay over the odds by paying off cheap debts first?
No, under the changes you will be entitled to pay off your most expensive credit card debts first. 不，的在變化下你將要還清最貴的信用卡債務先。
Currently, customers often find their payments applied to balances that are not incurring interest (such as 0pc balance transfers) while parts of their balance on which interest is charged are not being reduced. If the credit card issuer applied the payment to the interest-bearing balance first, the customer would pay less interest overall.
The joint statement said: "Consumers’ monthly payments will always pay off their most expensive card debt first. This fully reverses current widespread practice."
聯合聲明說：“消費者每月付款將時常清還他們最昂貴的卡債先，這充分扭轉當前的普遍做法。”
Kevin Brennan, the consumer affairs minister, said that although the new rules would not be enshrined in law, the effect would be the same. He said they would be part of a binding code of conduct between card companies and the Government. "The Financial Ombudsman Service can take codes of practice into account when resolving disputes between customers and financial firms," he added.
The change will benefit around a quarter of all credit card accounts, according to the UK Cards Association, which represents issuers. More than 79pc of credit cards allocate repayments to cheapest debt first, according to Defaqto, the analyst.
沒有我的要求我的信用限額仍能否增加？
Can my credit limit still be increased without my requesting it?
Card companies will still be able to offer an increased credit limit, but they will have to give 30 days' notice and a simple means of "opting out" of future increases. They will be banned from increasing credit limits for consumers at risk of financial difficulties and there will be a new legal requirement to undertake a creditworthiness assessment before offering a significantly higher limit.
信用卡公司將仍能提供一增加信用限額，但他們將必須給予30天通知，和一個簡單的手段對未來的增加“置身度外”。他們將被禁止增加信貸限額給有財政困難風險的消費者，將有一個新的法律要求，在提供一個顯著的限額前，規定要進行信用價值評估。
All cardholders will also have the right to reduce their limit at any time – they will be able to request a lower limit online or through an automated telephone system.
我的最低還款額將會否增加？
Will my minimum payment be increased?
No, not automatically. Instead, card companies will contact customers who repeatedly make only the minimum repayment and make clear that this is the most expensive way of paying off a debt.
不，不會自動地。取而代之，信用卡公司將聯絡重覆作出最低還款的客戶，並明確指出這是最昂貴的償還債務方式。
But for new credit card customers the minimum repayment will always cover at least interest, fees and charges plus 1pc of the outstanding balance. This means that some minimum payments on new accounts will be higher in future.
這些變化什麼時候會發生？
When will these changes happen?
The "key consumer benefits" will come into effect by the end of the year, the joint statement said. This means that consumers will not have to wait for legislation to be passed to benefit from these measures.
聯合聲明中說，“關鍵的消費者利益”將在年尾生效。這意味著消費者將不必等待立法通過，才可從這些措施得益。
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/creditcards/7447138/Credit-card-clampdown-what-does-it-mean-for-me.html
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