Hi everyone and welcome back to Money Girls Quick and Dirty Tips for a richer life.

I'm Laura Adams.

In today's episode, I'll tell you five ways the new credit card rules can help protect your finances.

You may remember that a new regulation called the Card Act became law back in May of 2009.

The name is an abbreviation for the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure

Act.

The rules for the legislation didn't go into effect right away, but instead

were scheduled to roll out in three separate phases. The first phase was in August of

2009. The second phase goes into effect this week on February 22nd.

And the final phase will be in August of 2010.

I covered the first round of rules in a previous podcast,

but here's a quick recap of the three most important points that became law last year.

Those credit card rules require creditors to give you written notice 45 days in advance

of making any substantial changes to the terms of your

account, such as hiking your interest rate or increasing your fees. They must inform you

in writing that if you don't accept their new terms such as additional fees, you can close your account

and pay it off under the old terms.

And they must deliver your account statements electronically or by mail at least 21 days before your payment is due.

The second round of credit card reform that goes into effect this week is the most extensive.

The regulations deal with many of the issues that are most important to consumers,

like unexpected interest rate increases in fees. So if you're ready, here are five ways the new rules can help protect you.

Number one, interest rate increases can't happen easily.

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