WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on April 21that credit card issuers do not have to disclose over limit andother fees as part of their cards' finance charges. The case pittedMBNA, a noted purchaser of credit union credit card portfolioswhich had inherited the case from a company it purchased, againstSharon Pfennig, a cardholder who maintained that because the feesare added to a cardholder's balance they should be included as partof the finance charge disclosures under the Federal Reserve'sRegulation Z. But writing for the court, Supreme Court JusticeClarence Thomas noted that the Truth in Lending Act "does not makeclear which charges fall into each category, [finance or fees] butits recognition of at least two categories establishes thatCongress did not contemplate that all charges made in connectionwith an open-end credit plan would be considered finance charges.And where TILA explicitly addresses over-limit fees, it definesthem as fees imposed in connection with an extension of creditrather than incident to an extension of credit."