123STA T . 1 74 1 PUBLIC LA W 111 – 24 —M A Y 22 , 2 0 0 9(B)inthe t abl e ofs e c tions fo r the cha p ter , b y a d din g at the end the follo w ing
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‘ 148.Inter e s tr a te re duc t io nono p en end consu m er credit p l ans. ‘‘14 9 . R easona b le penalt yf ees on open end consumer credit plans. ’ ’. SEC.103 . U SE OFT E RM SC LA R I FIE D . S ection 127 of the T r u th in L ending A ct (1 5U. S. C . 1 63 7) isa m ended by adding at the end the following: ‘ ‘(m) U SEOF TE RM ‘ FIX E DRAT E ’ . —W ith respect to the terms of any credit card account under an open end consumer credit plan, the term ‘fi x ed’, when appearing in con j unction with a ref - erence to the annual percentage rate or interest rate applicable with respect to such account, may only be used to refer to an annual percentage rate or interest rate that will not change or v ary for any reason over the period specified clearly and conspicu- ously in the terms of the account.’’. SEC. 10 4 .A P PLICATIO N OF CARD PA Y MENTS. Section 16 4 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1666c) is amended— (1) by stri k ing the section heading and all that follows through ‘‘ P ayments’’ and inserting the following: ‘ ‘ §164.Promptandf a i r c r e ditin g of pa y ment s ‘‘(a) ING ENERA L .—Payments’’
(2) by inserting ‘‘, by 5: 0 0 p.m. on the date on which such payment is due,’’ after ‘‘in readily identifiable form’’; (3) by striking ‘‘manner, location, and time’’ and inserting ‘‘manner, and location’’; and (4) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(b) A P PLI C ATION OF PA Y MENTS.— ‘‘(1) IN G ENERAL.—Upon receipt of a payment from a card- holder, the card issuer shall apply amounts in excess of the minimum payment amount first to the card balance bearing the highest rate of interest, and then to each successive balance bearing the next highest rate of interest, until the payment is exhausted. ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION RELATING TO CERTAIN DEFERRED INTEREST ARRANGEMENTS.—A creditor shall allocate the entire amount paid by the consumer in excess of the minimum pay- ment amount to a balance on which interest is deferred during the last 2 billing cycles immediately preceding the expiration of the period during which interest is deferred. ‘‘(c) C H ANGES B Y CARD ISS U ER.—If a card issuer makes a mate- rial change in the mailing address, office, or procedures for handling cardholder payments, and such change causes a material delay in the crediting of a cardholder payment made during the 60- day period following the date on which such change took effect, the card issuer may not impose any late fee or finance charge for a late payment on the credit card account to which such payment was credited.’’. SEC. 10 5 . STANDARDS APPLICA B LE TO INITIAL ISSUANCE OF SUBPRIME OR ‘ ‘FEE H AR V ESTER ’ ’ CARDS. Section 127 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1637), as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
