Credit Score For Dummies

Credit card companies seeking to lower their risk have several ways to go about it, and they’ll be using every one of them between now and February 20, when the new laws go into effect.
Some consumers are being hit with lowered credit lines – sometimes lower than their outstanding balances. This triggers over-limit fees and causes panic in those consumers who are unable to pay the balance down below the new credit limit.

Others are seeing arbitrary interest rate hikes – which not only makes it much more difficult to pay down a balance, but causes their minimum payment to increase. This one can trigger panic again, because many consumers have been barely able to make the current minimum.