Credit card forms could be simplified thanks to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s release of a simplified credit card agreement for use by banks, Bloomberg reported.
Some changes under the proposed, standardized two-page agreement includes an online glossary of seldom-used definitions for banks to leave out of documents sent to customers.
In addition, the bureau is planning an “owner’s manual” detailing, among other things, what customers should do if they lose their credit card. More details about the credit card form simplification will be talked about at a press conference in Cleveland Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the American Bankers Association said that while banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Discover Financial Services support more disclosure, they are wary of the simplified card agreement.
“Whether it is disclosures or agreements, we are all for clarifying things for consumers so they can make their own informed decisions,” chief counsel Kenneth Clayton said in an e-mail to Bloomberg. He said credit card companies want to be able to offer many types of products because “we have a very broad public with diverse interests.”
CNN Money reported that credit card use is on the rise again, with more credit card users than debit card users. From the end of 2008 until recently, debit card use topped credit card use.
"Credit is back in favor," said Silvio Tavares, senior vice president at First Data, to CNN Money. "Consumers have spent the last couple of years de-leveraging and reducing credit card use, but during the past month -- and since April [of this year] -- they've been using their credit cards more and are starting to return to pre-recession buying habits."
