II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 131 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide for enhanced disclosure 

under an open end credit plan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide for enhanced 

disclosure under an open end credit plan. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Credit Card Minimum 

5 Payment Notification Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE UNDER AN OPEN END 

7 CREDIT PLAN. 

8 Section 127(b) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 1637(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
2 

•S 131 IS

1 ‘‘(13) ENHANCED DISCLOSURE UNDER AN

2 OPEN END CREDIT PLAN.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A credit card issuer 

4 shall, with each billing statement provided to a 

5 cardholder in a State, provide the following on 

6 the front of the first page of the billing state7 ment, in type no smaller than that required for 

8 any other required disclosure, but in no case in 

9 less than 8-point capitalized type: 

10 ‘‘(i) A written statement in the fol11 lowing form: ‘Minimum Payment Warning: 

12 Making only the minimum payment will in13 crease the interest you pay and the time it 

14 takes to repay your balance.’. 

15 ‘‘(ii)(I) A written statement providing 

16 individualized information indicating the 

17 number of years and months and the total 

18 cost to pay off the entire balance due on 

19 an open-end credit card account, if the 

20 cardholder were to pay only the minimum 

21 amount due on the open-end credit card 

22 account, based upon the terms of the cred23 it agreement. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
3 

•S 131 IS

1 ‘‘(II) For purposes of this clause only, 

2 if the open-end credit card account is sub3 ject to a variable rate— 

4 ‘‘(aa) the creditor may make dis5 closures based on the rate for the en6 tire balance as of the date of the dis7 closure and indicate that the rate may 

8 vary; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) the cardholder shall be pro10 vided with referrals or, in the alter11 native, with the toll free telephone 

12 number of the National Foundation 

13 for Credit Counseling (or any suc14 cessor thereto) through which the 

15 cardholder can be referred to credit 

16 counseling services in, or closest to, 

17 the cardholder’s county of residence, 

18 which credit counseling service shall 

19 be in good standing with the National 

20 Foundation for Credit Counseling or 

21 accredited by the Council on Accredi22 tation for Children and Family Serv23 ices (or any successors thereto). 

24 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF OPEN-END CREDIT

25 CARD ACCOUNT.—In this paragraph, the term 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
4 

•S 131 IS

1 ‘open-end credit card account’ means an ac2 count in which consumer credit is granted by a 

3 creditor under a plan in which the creditor rea4 sonably contemplates repeated transactions, the 

5 creditor may impose a finance charge from time 

6 to time on an unpaid balance, and the amount 

7 of credit that may be extended to the consumer 

8 during the term of the plan is generally made 

9 available to the extent that any outstanding bal10 ance is repaid and up to any limit set by the 

11 creditor. 

12 ‘‘(C) EXEMPTIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) MINIMUM PAYMENT OF NOT LESS

14 THAN TEN PERCENT.—This paragraph 

15 shall not apply in any billing cycle in which 

16 the account agreement requires a min17 imum payment of not less than 10 percent 

18 of the outstanding balance. 

19 ‘‘(ii) NO FINANCE CHARGES.—This 

20 paragraph shall not apply in any billing 

21 cycle in which finance charges are not im22 posed.’’. 

Æ 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS