President Obama declared last week that credit card companies must end "unfair rate increases" and "abusive fees and penalties."
Meanwhile, the House Financial Services Committee approved a "credit cardholders' bill of rights" intended to rein in interest rates and require better disclosure of credit card terms.
All well and good. And the card industry said it's open to working with the president and lawmakers on possible changes.
But if the pooh-bahs of plastic are serious about being consumers' buddies, they need to do only one thing: play fair.
That's exactly how they didn't treat Los Angeles resident Igor Ridanovic -- whether because a card issuer deliberately wanted to get rid of him or because of some sort of clerical glitch.
His story illustrates the challenge of dealing with an industry that simply doesn't seem to like its customers very much.
Ridanovic, 39, signed up for an American Express card in 2006 through his Costco membership. He figured it'd be nice to have an AmEx card. And AmEx welcomed Ridanovic as a customer.
At least at first.
The first letter arrived last fall. AmEx wanted to let Ridanovic know that his original $18,400 credit limit was being cut to $1,100 because of a "serious delinquency" having to do with his credit reports.
"I had no idea what they meant by this," Ridanovic told me. "I checked my credit reports. There was nothing wrong with them."
He's not what you'd call the biggest credit risk. Ridanovic, who does postproduction for movies and television shows, had only two other credit cards and never missed a payment. He has a mortgage, which he pays regularly, but no auto loan and no outstanding college loans.
You'd think he was the kind of customer credit card companies would be falling over one another trying to attract.
Ridanovic wrote to AmEx seeking an explanation. He included a copy of his Experian credit report listing his AmEx card as being among "accounts in good standing." It showed no delinquencies, missed payments or unusual debt.
AmEx replied a couple of weeks later with a letter saying that the company was "unable to reverse this decision." It added that "we continue to value your business and look forward to serving you in the future."
But not for much longer. In December, the company contacted Ridanovic to say that it was once again cutting his credit limit, this time to $600. It again cited a "serious delinquency" in his credit report.
