Posted by Molly Nelson - The House passed a bill
on Wednesday by a vote of 361-64 that limits the ability of credit card
companies to raise fees and interest rates for credit card holders.
The Senate voted in favor of the bill by a vote of 90-5 on Tuesday.
President Barack Obama is expected to sign the legislation by the end
of the week.
While the bill offers protections for consumer credit cards, protections may or may not extend to small business owners depending on how your business is incorporated and the type of card you have.
The legislation doesn't apply to corporate cards, so under the legislation you should be covered if:
-You use your personal card to make business purchases
-You have a business card based on your personal credit (like many sole proprietors do)
The regulations for traditional corporate cards remain the same
under the bill. Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Olympia Snowe
(R-Maine), the Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship, respectively, proposed an
amendment to the legislation that would have extended protections to
any businesses with 50 or fewer employees. However, that amendment was
not included in the final version of the legislation.
Hat tip: CNNMoney.
Will this legislation apply to your business? Do you think this
legislation will help or hurt your business? Let us know in the
comments.