The Federal Reserve is proposing new rules to strengthen Truth in Lending regulation.  And , according to the Fed, the new rules would:

• Protect consumers from unexpected increases in credit card interest rates by generally prohibiting increases in a rate during the first year after an account is opened and increases in a rate that applies to an existing credit card balance.
• Prohibit creditors from issuing a credit card to a consumer who is under the age of 21 unless the consumer has the ability to make the required payments or obtains the signature of a parent or other cosigner with the ability to do so.
• Require creditors to obtain a consumer's consent before charging fees for transactions that exceed the credit limit.
• Limit the high fees associated with subprime credit cards.
• Ban creditors from using the "two-cycle" billing method to impose interest charges.
• Prohibit creditors from allocating payments in ways that maximize interest charges.

Read the Fed's release here.