Wells Fargo & Co. plans to raise interest rates on a majority of credit card customers by 3 percentage points before new rules limiting such increases take effect, a company executive said. "This is something we've been contemplating for quite a period of time,'' Kevin Rhein, group head of card services, said yesterday.
Wells Fargo began advising customers this week that the change takes effect Nov. 30. That's one day before the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, wants curbs on rates and fees under a new US credit card law to take effect. He plans a hearing today on moving up the date to Dec. 1, from February, to head off increases by card issuers.
Rhein did not comment on whether Frank's bill had any bearing on Wells Fargo's decision.
The bank is also eliminating over-limit fees, which are imposed when customers exceed their credit limits, he said.
Wells Fargo, the eighth-biggest US card lender, accepted $25 billion from the federal bank bailout program.
Bank of America Corp., the second-biggest US credit card lender, has said it won't raise rates and fees on customers in good standing before the effective dates of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which takes effect in stages.
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