New rules for credit card issuers

President Obama signed the CARD Act back in May 2009, but the new regulations on credit card issuers took until today to come into effect. The law was designed to protect consumers from many of the hidden fees, rate changes and small print traps that cost Americans $15 billion each year, but some aspects of the bill changed along the way. Now that it’s here, how will it affect your monthly statements?

We talk with two contributors about what the CARD act will do (make rate changes slower and fine print larger) and won’t do (pay your bill for you): Personal finance writer Beth Kobliner, author of “Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance In Your Twenties and Thirties,” and finance maven Alvin Hall, author of “Your Money or Your Life: A Practical Guide to Managing and Improving Your Financial Life.”