H. R. 627 
One Hundred Eleventh Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE FIRST SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 
the sixth day of January, two thousand and nine 
An Act 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish fair and transparent practices 
relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Credit Card 
Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009’’ or the 
‘‘Credit CARD Act of 2009’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Regulatory authority. 
Sec. 3. Effective date. 
TITLE I—CONSUMER PROTECTION 
Sec. 101. Protection of credit cardholders. 
Sec. 102. Limits on fees and interest charges. 
Sec. 103. Use of terms clarified. 
Sec. 104. Application of card payments. 
Sec. 105. Standards applicable to initial issuance of subprime or ‘‘fee harvester’’ 
cards. 
Sec. 106. Rules regarding periodic statements. 
Sec. 107. Enhanced penalties. 
Sec. 108. Clerical amendments. 
Sec. 109. Consideration of Ability to repay. 
TITLE II—ENHANCED CONSUMER DISCLOSURES 
Sec. 201. Payoff timing disclosures. 
Sec. 202. Requirements relating to late payment deadlines and penalties. 
Sec. 203. Renewal disclosures. 
Sec. 204. Internet posting of credit card agreements. 
Sec. 205. Prevention of deceptive marketing of credit reports. 
TITLE III—PROTECTION OF YOUNG CONSUMERS 
Sec. 301. Extensions of credit to underage consumers. 
Sec. 302. Protection of young consumers from prescreened credit offers. 
Sec. 303. Issuance of credit cards to certain college students. 
Sec. 304. Privacy Protections for college students. 
Sec. 305. College Credit Card Agreements. 
TITLE IV—GIFT CARDS 
Sec. 401. General-use prepaid cards, gift certificates, and store gift cards. 
Sec. 402. Relation to State laws. 
Sec. 403. Effective date. 
TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 501. Study and report on interchange fees. 
Sec. 502. Board review of consumer credit plans and regulations.
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Sec. 503. Stored value. 
Sec. 504 Procedure for timely settlement of estates of decedent obligors. 
Sec. 505. Report to Congress on reductions of consumer credit card limits based on 
certain information as to experience or transactions of the consumer. 
Sec. 506. Board review of small business credit plans and recommendations. 
Sec. 507. Small business information security task force. 
Sec. 508. Study and report on emergency pin technology. 
Sec. 509. Study and report on the marketing of products with credit offers. 
Sec. 510. Financial and economic literacy. 
Sec. 511. Federal trade commission rulemaking on mortgage lending. 
Sec. 512. Protecting Americans from violent crime. 
Sec. 513. GAO study and report on fluency in the English language and financial 
literacy. 
SEC. 2. REGULATORY AUTHORITY. 
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (in 
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Board’’) may issue such rules and 
publish such model forms as it considers necessary to carry out 
this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall become 
effective 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, except 
as otherwise specifically provided in this Act. 
TITLE I—CONSUMER PROTECTION 
SEC. 101. PROTECTION OF CREDIT CARDHOLDERS. 
(a) ADVANCE NOTICE OF RATE INCREASE AND OTHER CHANGES 
REQUIRED.— 
(1) AMENDMENT
TO
TILA.—Section 127 of the Truth in 
Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1637) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(i) ADVANCE NOTICE OF RATE INCREASE AND OTHER CHANGES 
REQUIRED.— 
‘‘(1) ADVANCE
NOTICE
OF
INCREASE
IN
INTEREST
RATE 
REQUIRED.—In the case of any credit card account under an 
open end consumer credit plan, a creditor shall provide a writ-
ten notice of an increase in an annual percentage rate (except 
in the case of an increase described in paragraph (1), (2), 
or (3) of section 171(b)) not later than 45 days prior to the 
effective date of the increase. 
‘‘(2) ADVANCE
NOTICE
OF
OTHER
SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES 
REQUIRED.—In the case of any credit card account under an 
open end consumer credit plan, a creditor shall provide a writ-
ten notice of any significant change, as determined by rule 
of the Board, in the terms (including an increase in any fee 
or finance charge, other than as provided in paragraph (1)) 
of the cardholder agreement between the creditor and the 
obligor, not later than 45 days prior to the effective date of 
the change. 
‘‘(3) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO CANCEL.—Each notice required 
by paragraph (1) or (2) shall be made in a clear and conspicuous 
manner, and shall contain a brief statement of the right of 
the obligor to cancel the account pursuant to rules established 
by the Board before the effective date of the subject rate 
increase or other change. 
‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Closure or cancellation of 
an account by the obligor shall not constitute a default under
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an existing cardholder agreement, and shall not trigger an 
obligation to immediately repay the obligation in full or through 
a method that is less beneficial to the obligor than one of 
the methods described in section 171(c)(2), or the imposition 
of any other penalty or fee.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Notwithstanding section 3, section 
127(i) of the Truth in Lending Act, as added by this subsection, 
shall become effective 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
(b) RETROACTIVE INCREASE AND UNIVERSAL DEFAULT PROHIB-
ITED.—Chapter 4 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1666 
et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 171 as section 173; and 
(2) by inserting after section 170 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 171. LIMITS ON INTEREST RATE, FEE, AND FINANCE CHARGE 
INCREASES APPLICABLE TO OUTSTANDING BALANCES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any credit card account under 
an open end consumer credit plan, no creditor may increase any 
annual percentage rate, fee, or finance charge applicable to any 
outstanding balance, except as permitted under subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition under subsection (a) shall 
not apply to— 
‘‘(1) an increase in an annual percentage rate upon the 
expiration of a specified period of time, provided that— 
‘‘(A) prior to commencement of that period, the creditor 
disclosed to the consumer, in a clear and conspicuous 
manner, the length of the period and the annual percentage 
rate that would apply after expiration of the period; 
‘‘(B) the increased annual percentage rate does not 
exceed the rate disclosed pursuant to subparagraph (A); 
and 
‘‘(C) the increased annual percentage rate is not applied 
to transactions that occurred prior to commencement of 
the period; 
‘‘(2) an increase in a variable annual percentage rate in 
accordance with a credit card agreement that provides for 
changes in the rate according to operation of an index that 
is not under the control of the creditor and is available to 
the general public; 
‘‘(3) an increase due to the completion of a workout or 
temporary hardship arrangement by the obligor or the failure 
of the obligor to comply with the terms of a workout or tem-
porary hardship arrangement, provided that— 
‘‘(A) the annual percentage rate, fee, or finance charge 
applicable to a category of transactions following any such 
increase does not exceed the rate, fee, or finance charge 
that applied to that category of transactions prior to 
commencement of the arrangement; and 
‘‘(B) the creditor has provided the obligor, prior to 
the commencement of such arrangement, with clear and 
conspicuous disclosure of the terms of the arrangement 
(including any increases due to such completion or failure); 
or 
‘‘(4) an increase due solely to the fact that a minimum 
payment by the obligor has not been received by the creditor