Credit cards: love them, hate them. After long negotiations between consumer advocates and industry representatives, the new credit cards rules are now set to take effect July 2010, and while it seems like a long time from now, you can expect some credit card companies to start phasing in some of the changes in the next few months.

The major changes are highlighted below:

• Credit Card issues have to make disclosures easier to understand;
• Consumers must be allowed a ‘reasonable amount of time” to pay their bill, at least 21 days;
  
• No more double-cycle billing, where the interest is calculated using the average balance of this period as well as the prior period, a very complicated and – according to many – unfair process;
  
• No more rate increase to existing card balances unless the consumer is 30 day late on payments;
  
• Lastly, and maybe the most important of all: when different interest rates apply to different balances, credit cards issuers must allocate payments above the minimum to the balance with the highest rate first.

While these rules are a welcome addition to the industry, now more than ever it is important to make sure that you read any and all of the fine print, and pay your bill on time in order to avoid late fees and maintain your credit rating.

If your card uses double-cycle billing you might want to consider switching to another card with more favorable terms; and if you have a card with dual interest where you took advantage of a low interest rate for balance transfer, use another credit card for your necessary recurring expenses, and pay off this balance each and every month, this way all payments made on the old credit card will go toward paying down the existing balance.

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Photo Credits: Emmaline