President Obama is scheduled to sign legislation this afternoon that will place tighter restrictions on credit unions and other credit card issuers.

The bill, which passed both the House and Senate this week by lopsided margins following months of intense behind-the-scenes negotiations, restricts card issuers' ability to raise interest rates and mandates that bills be mailed out at least 21 days before they are due.

Credit unions dodged a bullet in the bill because it did not include a provision to regulate interchange fees-a key source of revenue for credit card issuers–but instead authorized a study of the issue.