With a vote of 361-64, the House of Representatives approved the credit card legislation which passed the Senate yesterday. The bill is expected to be signed by President Obama on Friday, and will go into effect 9 months later.

We are reaching the final stages of a process which was kick started last May by the Federal Reserve when they solicited comments from credit cardholders and credit card companies about potential regulatory changes in the industry. After cardholders submitted a massive number of comments complaining about the unfair and misleading practices of the industry, the Federal Reserve adopted credit card regulations which were to go into effect in July 2010. Due in part to the economic downturn and the bailout of our financial institutions by the government, the House and Senate are in agreement that additional measures to protect consumers from the credit card industry were needed.