• Washington Post, Friday, August 27, 2010 10:35 AM

The landmark federal legislation that overhauled the credit card industry bans issuers from providing cards to people younger than 21 unless another adult co-signs for it or the student can show an independent source of income. It also prohibits freebies such as T-shirts or pizza in exchange for signing up for a card, Ylan Q. Mui reports, and college groups are required to make public any partnerships they have with card issuers.

Consumer advocates say the industry was wooing young people into a vicious cycle of debt. "If you were a student and you could fog a mirror, you could get a credit card," says Adam Levin, co-founder of Credit.com and former director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. "Their goal is to hook you on credit," says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director of the U.S. PIRG.

Several large issuers have been curtailing promotions for years, Mui writes. Chase says it stopped using student mailing lists in 2006 and ended marketing on campuses by 2008. Bank of America no longer sets up marketing tables at colleges, but offers branded credit cards to recent graduates through partnerships with about 700 alumni associations, athletic departments and some Greek organizations.

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