Steve Rhode
Steve Rhode is the founder of Myvesta US in the United States and the Chairman of Myvesta UK in the United Kingdom.
Nice to Know a Future President May Feel Your Pain
A recent interview of Barack Obama by Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post reveled that The Obama's have had to deal with the weight of consumer debt on their shoulders.
When discussing consumer debt, Obama had a story to tell that was similar in some respects to that of many people in the country:
Until a few years ago, the candidate and his wife, Michelle, were deep in debt. Together, they were carrying $120,000 in student loans they had taken on to pay for law school.
"We were making payments the size of a mortgage every month," Obama said.
Although Obama acknowledged that he and his wife were blessed to have enough income to service that debt, it wasn't until he wrote two best-selling books, "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope," that the couple were able to pay it all off.
While not everyone is that fortunate and maybe even that talented, it is nice to know that a candidate for President has had to experience the pain and suffering felt by a large number of American's in trying to service consumer debt.
Presidential candidate Obama went on to say that were he to become president, Obama said he would initiate reforms to address "the whole debt industry that has really got people in a financial hole they never dig themselves out of."
It is interesting to read his proposed credit card bill of rights and think that maybe he might be the candidate to enforce change to help protect consumers from credit card companies.
According to his official website the candidate will take the following steps to help protect American debtors.
Create a Credit Card Rating System to Improve Disclosure: Obama will create a credit card rating system, modeled on five-star systems used for other consumer products, to provide consumers an easily identifiable ranking of credit cards, based on the card's features. Credit card companies will be required to display the rating on all application and contract materials, enabling consumers to quickly understand all of the major provisions of a credit card without having to rely exclusively on fine print in lengthy documents.
Establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to Protect Consumers: Obama will create a Credit Card Bill of Rights to protect consumers. The Obama plan will:
Ban Unilateral Changes
Apply Interest Rate Increases Only to Future Debt
Prohibit Interest on Fees
Prohibit "Universal Defaults"
Require Prompt and Fair Crediting of Cardholder Payments
When discussing consumer debt, Obama had a story to tell that was similar in some respects to that of many people in the country:
Until a few years ago, the candidate and his wife, Michelle, were deep in debt. Together, they were carrying $120,000 in student loans they had taken on to pay for law school.
"We were making payments the size of a mortgage every month," Obama said.
Although Obama acknowledged that he and his wife were blessed to have enough income to service that debt, it wasn't until he wrote two best-selling books, "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope," that the couple were able to pay it all off.
While not everyone is that fortunate and maybe even that talented, it is nice to know that a candidate for President has had to experience the pain and suffering felt by a large number of American's in trying to service consumer debt.
Presidential candidate Obama went on to say that were he to become president, Obama said he would initiate reforms to address "the whole debt industry that has really got people in a financial hole they never dig themselves out of."
It is interesting to read his proposed credit card bill of rights and think that maybe he might be the candidate to enforce change to help protect consumers from credit card companies.
According to his official website the candidate will take the following steps to help protect American debtors.
Create a Credit Card Rating System to Improve Disclosure: Obama will create a credit card rating system, modeled on five-star systems used for other consumer products, to provide consumers an easily identifiable ranking of credit cards, based on the card's features. Credit card companies will be required to display the rating on all application and contract materials, enabling consumers to quickly understand all of the major provisions of a credit card without having to rely exclusively on fine print in lengthy documents.
Establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to Protect Consumers: Obama will create a Credit Card Bill of Rights to protect consumers. The Obama plan will:
Ban Unilateral Changes
Apply Interest Rate Increases Only to Future Debt
Prohibit Interest on Fees
Prohibit "Universal Defaults"
Require Prompt and Fair Crediting of Cardholder Payments
