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I saw a new disclaimer on my credit card statement this month that is prominently displayed on the first page to the effect of:

Minimum Payment Warning: If you make only the minimum payment each period, you will pay more in interest and it will take you longer to pay off your balance.

Below that it has an example of how long it would take to pay off the current balance making only the minimum payment and how much I'd wind up paying in total if I did that. Then compares it to the figures if I paid double the minimum balance and calculates the potential savings.

This is a pretty cool deal, as I assume that a lot of people don't realize how much those interest charges add up over time.

I was just wondering why they put this in there all of a sudden. Did some legislation pass that requires it? It certainly smells like something they were forced to do.

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    Agree, this is a cool deal and I doubt the credit card companies wanted to put that warning there!
    – Chris W. Rea
    Mar 30, 2010 at 14:54
  • Reminds me of the smoking warnings on the Canadian cigarettes. :-)
    – Zephyr
    Mar 30, 2010 at 16:16
  • Except this warning doesn't gross me out every time I see it.
    – JohnFx ♦
    Mar 30, 2010 at 17:52
  • Yes there is a law that forces them to do this. Edit: I see the top answer talks about it.
    – finance
    May 18, 2020 at 21:54

1 Answer 1

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Yes, its called the Credit Card reform act and it went into effect in February 2010.

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