• Washington Post , Wednesday, May 20, 2009 10:45 AM

The Senate voted 90 to 5 to pass a bill that would sharply curtail credit card issuers' ability to raise interest rates and charge fees. House and Senate lawmakers will hammer out differences in the bills passed by each body and the legislation is expected to be on President Obama's desk by Memorial Day, Nancy Trejos reports.

The bill is expected to have broad implications for consumers. For one thing, it prohibits card companies from raising interest rates on existing balances unless a borrower is at least 60 days late. If the cardholder pays on time for the following six months, the company would have to restore the original rate. But credit card executives say the changes will force them to charge higher rates and reinstate annual fees. Low interest rates to creditworthy customers and airline mileage programs are also said to be in jeopardy.

But some consumer advocates feel the industry is crying wolf. "This ominous we're-going-back-in-time threat doesn't make a whole lot of sense," says Travis B. Plunkett, legislative affairs director at the Consumer Federation of America.

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