The credit card industry is more like a ghoulish Shylock hell bent on extracting his pond of flesh from the hapless owner of the card. Maybe that is a harsh evaluation, but is unfortunately true.

Consider the actions of the Federal regulators who have tied the reins on lender companies disallowing them from raising the credit rates on older card holders and limiting the option of raising the credit limits to new card holders. The rules also put an end to the practice of allocating all payments to balances with lower interest rates when a borrower has balances with different rates. At least there is a semblance of fairplay Vis a Vis the customers.

The card industry reacted with dismay to these measures. The measures could not have come at a more inappropriate time. The industry is already writhing in pain in the worst episode of recession. The industry has been clamoring for a bailout plan to address to the issue of bad debt and given a free leverage to hike the interest rate according to the vagaries of the industry.

The Industry also talked of the fear that people with bad credit ratings will not be able to get a credit card. Of course these reactions are predictable keeping in view the fact that credit card companies are to lose their vice like grip on the customers. Companies would be racking their brains to find chinks in the rules. Worse the economic crisis

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