Yes, Congress passed, and President Barack Obama signed into law, the Credit Card Act of 2009, which is designed to curb abuses in the credit industry and protect consumers. The new law requires credit card companies to give consumers 45 days advance notice about interest rate increases. It also requires consumers to apply payments to the highest-interest rate balances first before applying the payment to a lower-interest rate, balance-interest-free loan.

The new law also requires consumers to “opt-in” in order to be able to make charges that exceed your credit card limit. This change will enable consumers to learn when they are approaching their credit limits.