Consumers happier with credit cards, dealing with debt

Protections added for consumers as it relates to their financial accounts have generally led to Americans having better control over their credit card debt and, perhaps as a consequence, filing fewer complaints about their cards.

Data from the Better Business Bureau reveals that the number of complaints lodged over consumer credit card accounts slipped 28 percent in 2011 when compared with the previous year, according to a report from Reuters. Many experts attribute this shift in consumer sentiment to disclosures related to credit card accounts mandated by the federal Dodd-Frank Act, which passed in 2010.

Similar disclosures enforced for other products offered by financial institutions may have led to similar drops in complaints against banks, the report said. In all, those grievances dropped by about one-third in 2011.

Credit card disclosures are viewed as being helpful for consumers because they give a better idea of what the cardholder will have to do to find the kind of debt relief they're looking for, often by spelling out details related to how long it will take to pay off a certain amount of debt.