Large U.S. credit card-issuing banks are shifting their card offerings in advance of the remaining card law changes scheduled to go into effect in February.
Bank of America and J.P Morgan Chase have announced the launch of simpler cards which generally carry a slightly lighter fee load and have a few less complications than their previous offerings.
BofA announced in a press release that its new Basic Visa card, available in October, will carry the same interest rate for purchases, balance transfers and cash advances. The one interest rate will be the prime rate set by the Federal Reserve plus 14% and it will only change if the prime rate changes. The card will carry no over-limit fee and will charge one flat fee for late payments of $39.00. It also boasts a single page of disclosures written in "easy-to-understand" English, the bank said.
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Chase has launched its Blueprint card platform, which it will apply to several different cards. Blueprint appears to borrow a bit from American Express as it allows consumers to designate purchases that they will pay for in full each billing cycle and those for which they plan to carry a balance. Further, cardholders will be able to set a date for when they want to have a purchase completely paid for, and the bank will calculate the monthly payment necessary to meet that goal.
Card industry analysts credit both the new card law and Americans' willingness to turn away from cards for the new card offerings. According to the Federal Reserve, Americans pulled back from revolving credit, mostly credit card debt, by $6.1 billion in July.
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