New credit card rules just took effect limiting penalty fees, but banks are gouging credit card customers with the highest interest rates in a decade. According to the Wall Street Journal, a large portion on the 381 million U.S. credit card accounts have seen their rates go up. In the second quarter, the average interest rate on existing cards reached 14.7 percent, up from 13.1 percent a year earlier. That was the highest level since 2001. Federal rules that took effect Aug. 22 limit the amount of late fees banks can charge. The rules also make it more difficult for banks to permanently raise your interest rate if you make a late payment.  “Forgive us if we are not jumping up and down in celebration,” the Brattleboro Reformer wrote in a recent editorial. “The most effective way consumers could have been protected was voted down in the Senate…when Sen. Sanders proposed a 15 percent cap on interest rates." 

To read the Reformer editorial, click here.

To read the Journal article, click here.

To read a USA Today article on the new rules, click here.