New credit card offerings emphasize simplicity

09.17.09
By Timothy Jones

Simplicity may be an emerging trend in the credit card industry, with some leading lenders recently announcing new products that could make things easier for their customers.

This week, Bank of America announced a new Basic Visa card that features a single rate for all transactions and which is said to not change throughout the life of the account. The 14 percent interest is said to remain unchanged as long as the prime rate remains the same.

Cardholders will also pay $39 for late payments and the company boasts a single-page disclosure form for customers.

A recent Washington Post article also discussed the new Blueprint card from Chase, which provides customers with new tools to help them pay down their balances faster.

Both offerings come at a time when credit card companies are gearing up for new federal reforms that require information on monthly statements to be presented in a more easily understandable fashion to consumers. The legislation is expected to bite into the profit margins of many companies, who in are generally expected to respond by imposing things like annual fees and scaling back rewards programs.

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Simplicity may be an emerging trend when it comes to credit cards.