Watch Out for These New Credit Card Traps

As expected, banks are coming up with creative new ways to recoup money lost to new regulations on credit cards. The Wall Street Journal runs down a handful:

• "Professional" cards: These are being aggressively marketed to, well, professionals. The catch: They're not covered under the new consumer regulations. It's "an easy way around the Card Act," says one industry observer.
• Raising current fees: The median annual fee on bank credit cards rose 18% to $59 from July 2009 to March of this year. Also on the rise are balance-transfer fees and "inactivity" fees.

• Time to pay: Consumers are complaining that banks aren't giving them the legally required 21 days (from when the statement is mailed) to make payments.
• Low-limit cards: They're popular with college students, but look out for all those "processing fees" that come with them.

Click here for more warnings, including a red flag on so-called rebate-card offers.