拜登政府周三提出了一项联邦规则，以“遏制过度的信用卡滞纳金”，并计划对苹果和谷歌应用商店进行调查，称其为“竞争壁垒”。
根据白宫的预测，消费者金融保护局提出的规则将把典型的滞纳金从大约30美元减少到8美元。
关于应用商店，根据美国商务部国家电信和信息管理局的报告，“消费者在很大程度上无法获得苹果和谷歌控制的应用商店模式之外的应用。”
这些提议是在美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周二发表国情咨文前不到一周提出的，源自他的竞争委员会。特别是信用卡费用提案，是拜登推动减少“垃圾费”的一部分。
“今天的规则提议将这些费用从平均31美元削减到8美元，”拜登周三在与竞争委员会会面时表示。“这一变化预计将为美国节省数千万美元。大约每年节省90亿美元。”
他说，在未来几周内，他的团队将与美国各地的州和地方官员会面，寻找在他们的管辖范围内“打击垃圾费用”的方法，并呼吁国会通过一项垃圾费用预防法案，该法案将监管各种费用，包括娱乐门票费和某些航空费。
“这些不公平的费用加起来。这是一个基本的公平问题，”拜登说。“我们将继续建设一个公平的经济，一个有竞争力的经济，一个为所有人服务的经济。”
民主党参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦在推特上支持拟议的规则，并表示，“国会应该以拜登总统为榜样，打击机票、机票、互联网、酒店等方面的垃圾费用。”
根据白宫的说法，除了对信用卡滞纳金的限制，拟议的规则将结束自动年度通胀调整，并将滞纳金限制在最低支付额的25%。
CFPB主任Rohit Chopra说:“十多年前，国会禁止收取过多的信用卡滞纳金，但公司利用了一个监管漏洞，使他们能够逃避审查，收取非法的垃圾费。”“今天提出的规则旨在为家庭节省数十亿美元，并确保信用卡市场公平竞争。”
Chopra在一份声明中说，近年来，逾期付款的滞纳金飙升至41美元，消费者每年要支付120亿美元的滞纳金，此外还有数十亿美元的利息。
乔普拉说，这项规定最早可能在2024年生效美联社报道。
包括美国银行家协会在内的行业组织担心，拟议的规则将“通过减少竞争和增加信贷成本来伤害消费者，”美国银行家协会主席兼首席执行官罗布·尼科尔斯在一份声明中说。
尼科尔斯说:“这将导致更多的逾期付款，更高的债务和更低的信用评分，与信用卡法案鼓励负责任的信用管理不一致。”“如果该提案获得通过，信用卡发行商将被迫通过降低信贷额度、收紧新账户标准以及提高所有消费者(包括数百万按时付款的消费者)的年利率来适应新的风险。”
消费者银行协会在周三公布拟议规则后发布了一份类似的声明。
该协会主席兼首席执行官林赛·约翰逊(Lindsey Johnson)在一份声明中表示:“政策制定者会采取行动，最终限制消费者在最需要的时候获得这些有价值的金融产品，这令人深感遗憾和困惑。继续将监管良好的银行收取的费用与其他行业的费用混为一谈，不仅缺乏诚意，也未能反映出法律要求银行提供清晰、明显的信息披露这一事实。"
除了政府推动限制信用卡滞纳金外，它还宣布了一项针对大型应用商店的计划。国家电信和信息管理局周三发布报告称，“当前的移动应用商店模式对消费者和开发者有害。”
“苹果和谷歌通过施加技术限制，如限制应用程序的功能或要求开发者通过缓慢而不透明的审查过程，为开发者争夺消费者设置障碍，”NTIA表示。
苹果发言人告诉美国广播公司新闻，“我们尊重地不同意报告中得出的一些结论，这些结论忽视了我们在创新、隐私和安全方面的投资——所有这些都有助于为什么用户喜欢iPhone，并为小开发者创造了一个公平的竞争环境，让他们在一个安全可信的平台上竞争。”
谷歌发言人表示，该公司也不同意这份报告，即“这份报告如何描述Android，Android比其他任何移动操作系统都有更多的选择和竞争。”美联社举报。
这报告在拜登总统2021年关于竞争的行政命令的指导下开发的，表示新的立法和反垄断执法行动“可能是促进应用生态系统竞争所必需的。”
What to know about Biden proposal to slash credit card late fees
The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed a federal rule to "curb excessive credit card late fees" and plans to go after the Apple and Google app stores for what it says are "barriers to competition."
The rule, proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, would reduce typical late fees from roughly $30 to $8, according to projections from the White House.
Regarding the app stores, according to reports from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, "Consumers largely can't get apps outside of the app store model, controlled by Apple and Google."
The proposals come less than a week before President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday and originated from his Competition Council. The credit card fee proposal, in particular, is part of Biden's push to reduce "junk fees."
"Today's rule proposes to cut those fees from $31 on average to $8," Biden said Wednesday while meeting with the Competition Council. "That change is expected to save tens of millions of dollars for America. Roughly $9 billion a year in total savings."
He said over the next few weeks his team will meet with state and local officials across the U.S. to find ways to "crack down on junk fees" in their jurisdictions, and is calling on Congress to pass a Junk Fee Prevention Act that would regulate a variety of fees, including entertainment ticket fees and certain airline fees.
"These unfair fees add up. It's a basic question of fairness," Biden said. "We're gonna keep building an economy that's fair, economy that's competitive, and an economy that works for everyone."
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted in support of the proposed rule and said, "Congress should follow President Biden's lead and crack down on junk fees on tickets, airfare, internet, hotels, and more."
Credit card late fees
In addition to the limit on credit card late fees, the proposed rule would end the automatic annual inflation adjustment and cap late fees at 25% of the required minimum payment, according to the White House.
"Over a decade ago, Congress banned excessive credit card late fees, but companies have exploited a regulatory loophole that has allowed them to escape scrutiny for charging an otherwise illegal junk fee," said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. "Today's proposed rule seeks to save families billions of dollars and ensure the credit card market is fair and competitive."
In recent years, late fees have surged to as much as $41 for a missed payment, Chopra said in a statement, with consumers being hit with $12 billion a year in late fees -- in addition to the billions of dollars in interest they are paying.
Chopra said that the rule could go into effect as soon as 2024, the Associated Press reported.
Industry groups, including the American Bankers Association, worry the proposed rule will "harm consumers by reducing competition and increasing the cost of credit," Rob Nichols, ABA president and CEO, said in a statement.
"It will result in more late payments, higher debt and lower credit scores, and is inconsistent with the CARD Act's encouragement of responsible credit management," Nichols said. "If the proposal is enacted, credit card issuers will be forced to adjust to the new risks by reducing credit lines, tightening standards for new accounts and raising APRs for all consumers, including the millions who pay on time."
The Consumer Bankers Association released a similar statement following Wednesday's announcement of the proposed rule.
"It is deeply unfortunate and puzzling that policymakers would take action that could ultimately limit consumers' access to these valued financial products at a time when they are needed most," Lindsey Johnson, the association's president and CEO, said in a statement. "Continuing to conflate fees charged by well-regulated banks with those in other industries is not only disingenuous, it fails to reflect the fact that banks are required by law to provide clear and conspicuous disclosures."
In addition to the administration's push to limit credit card late fees, it also announced a plan to go after large app stores. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration released a report on Wednesday stating that, "The current mobile app store model is harmful to consumers and developers."
"Apple and Google create hurdles for developers to compete for consumers by imposing technical limits, such as restricting how apps can function or requiring developers to go through slow and opaque review processes," the NTIA said.
An Apple spokesperson told ABC News, "we respectfully disagree with a number of conclusions reached in the report, which ignore the investments we make in innovation, privacy and security - all of which contribute to why users love iPhone and create a level playing field for small developers to compete on a safe and trusted platform.”
A Google spokesperson said the firm also disagrees with the report, namely “how this report characterizes Android, which enables more choice and competition than any other mobile operating system,” The Associated Press reported.
The report, which was developed at the direction of President Biden's 2021 Executive Order on Competition, says new legislation and antitrust enforcement actions are "likely necessary to boost competition in the app ecosystem."
