A new study from the Pew Charitable Trust has found that every one of the credit cards offered by the country's 12 largest credit card issuers are bad deals for consumers and have practices the Federal Reserve has defined as "unfair or deceptive."
The Trusts' Health Group's Safe Credit Cards Project, titled STILL WAITING: "Unfair or Deceptive" Credit Card Practices Continue as Americans Wait for New Reforms to Take Effect also compared credit union card programs and found them sharply better.
"Although credit unions control only a small portion of credit card outstandings, comparisons between credit union and bank product models illustrate options available to consumers and potential benchmarks for future regulatory rulemaking efforts," the organization said.
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The observed credit unions presented a distinct alternative to credit card pricing and other practices of the observed banks, the report said.
"In July 2009, median advertised interest rates on cards from the 12 largest credit unions were between 9.90 and 13.75% annually, depending on a consumer's credit profile-approximately 20% lower than comparable bank rates," the report said. "Meanwhile, credit union penalties were generally less severe than those of banks."
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