Pew Charitable Trusts conducted a study of the 12 largest credit card issuers, which account for more than eight eight percent of outstanding credit card debt in the United States. The study involved reviewing four hundred credit cards, discussions with over twenty issuers and consumer groups and economic analysis of issuer practices and revenues. Pew released the study findings along with policy recommendations for protecting cardholders and promoting a functional marketplace.



The study found that ninety three percent of cards allowed the issuer to raise any interest rate at any time by changing the account agreement and eighty seven percent of cards allowed the issuer to impose penalty interest rate increases even for the most minor infraction. Seventy two percent of cards included offers of low promotional rates which issuers could revoke after a single late payment.

"We are in the worst recession since the Great Depression, with the unemployment rate headed toward ten percent", said Mike Smith, a certified debt negotiator with Credit Rx USA. "Millions of debt-ridden Americans are having difficulty paying off debt and credit card companies continue to increase interest rates and fees with no remorse."

The study concluded that current credit card practices place cardholders at risk of sudden, potentially drastic price increases which can seriously impair a household's stability and spending power. Credit cards have evolved into complex products which can surprise consumers with unexpectedly high costs. Though federal regulators have labeled many common practices in the credit card industry as unfair and deceptive, they will not stop those practices until the middle of 2010.

Meanwhile, millions of American families with pay hundreds or thousands of dollars each in unanticipated fees and charges as a result of these unfair practices.

Debt settlement is a bankruptcy alternative that helps consumers out of unsecured debt by letting them repay less than what they owe. Credit RX USA clients get out of debt faster because they can settle each account for forty to sixty percent of there current unsecured credit card debt, and creditors benefit from collecting accounts that may otherwise get discharged in bankruptcy and go unpaid and written off.

Qualifying customers can enroll in Credit Rx USA's debt relief program even if they are already behind on their payments or in collections. There is no minimum credit score required to enroll in the program.

Founded in 2005 in Orange County California, Credit Rx USA has become the undisputed leader of the emerging debt negotiation and settlement industry. Consumers who are in debt should be aware of when to call in the cavalry. Companies such as Credit Rx USA provide external help to prevent those in debt from sinking deeper. The services provided are meant to help those in financial troubles to settle debts in an alternative manner, without having to declare resort to filing for bankruptcy.