New credit card protections proposed by Federal Reserve Board

The Fed announced that there are several proposed changes for Truth in Lending laws. The alterations to the rules are designed to further increase protections for consumers and to eliminate some ambiguity for lenders.

For example, the Fed proposed additional regulations for when a lender can revoke the terms of a promotional offer, it said. Now, when a bank promises no interest charges on credit card debt for six months after a new account is opened, it cannot change that agreement to the consumer's detriment unless the account goes delinquent for more than 60 days.

In addition, the Fed said application fees should be covered by the same limits it places on other charges during the first year of an agreement. Further, lenders must consider a person's individual income, rather than their household's, when setting limits on the amount of credit card debt they can accrue.

Many consumers have been able to successfully cut their total credit card debt in recent months, partly because of these federal protections.