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Excerpt from www.nydailynews.com
Credit card late fees should be capped at $8, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Sunday, after the U.S. Supreme Court found the federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s funding to be constitutional in the face of conservative attacks.
“Junk fees, like late fees on credit cards, are meant to pile up and get so unaffordable that the customer simply drowns in debt — it’s unfair and has got to end,” the New York Dem said in a statement. “The credit card companies are making billions in fees while consumers try and pay all the fees along the way.”
While the average late fee in New York is $21, that can get compounded based on one’s balance, wreaking havoc with a consumer’s debt load, Schumer said. He noted that consumers spent $15 billion on late fees in 2022 alone. Nationally, the typical fee tops $30, the CFPB said earlier this year.
“The goal of a $8 late fee cap is not only alive, but it is likely, and I want it enacted ASAP,” Schumer said. “A cap would be a cushion for many people who don’t skirt their bills but have found that the fees just kill them.”
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