One of the largest clearinghouses for consumer complaints against all types of businesses recently reported that the number of gripes filed over credit card accounts dropped considerably last year.
The Better Business Bureau's 2011 data indicates that consumer complaints filed over credit card issues slipped 28 percent over the course of the year, according to a report from Reuters. Many experts see this positive shift in consumers' attitudes as far as their cards are concerned as a result of the various account disclosures mandated by federal laws including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection and the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act. Many of these have come into effect over the course of the last year or so.
"Through some of this new regulation, there has been more focus on disclosures of what consumers are getting and with that clarity on the front end you are going to see a decline in the complaints," Cary Hurt, chief executive officer of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, told the news agency.
Along similar lines, complaints against banks in general dropped by 30 percent from 2010's totals, the report said. Those filed over loans dropped 36 percent, and complaints against mortgage brokers fell 31 percent.
Experts have noted that clearer disclosures are generally good for consumers because they allow them a clearer understanding of the agreements into which they are entering when they sign up for a credit card or other financial product. Many agreements are now designed to give consumers a better idea of the true cost of an account, and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is mulling creating even more disclosure forms in the future.
