WILMINGTON, Del. — JPMorgan Chase, the second largest card issuer in the country, has announced that its “clear and simple” cards will abandon the practice of hiking the interest rates of card holders whose credit scores decline. The practice, which industry analysts say is mostly confined to the nation's top 10 issuers in terms of the number of cards, has drawn increasing fire from consumer groups, regulators and lawmakers.

This move follows Chase's announcement that it will switch to the average daily balance method of calculating finance charges on all of its cards, eliminating the two-cycle method of calculating interest which has also drawn a lot of consumer anger and regulatory attention.

In March, Chase announced the “Clear & Simple” initiative made the card resemble a CU issued product by including consumer management tools; financial literacy and education; and clearer disclosure of terms and conditions, including automatic payments, free alerts, paperless statements, and payment calculators.