Business credit cards carry risks

Credit cards for businesses are not covered by all the protections in the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009.

This means if you grab a so-called professional credit card, you could easily be signing up for something that can legally raise your interest rate on a whim or legally slap you with huge penalties if you miss a payment.

The new law requires that bills be sent to individual cardholders at least 21 days before payment is due, limits late-payment fees to $25 and bans interest-rate increases for the first year after a card is issued. Those rules do not apply to business-related cards.

Some things you should know about the new rules for credit cards:

» There are now limits on late fees for regular consumer credit cards, but not on business-related or professional cards. Individual cardholders can be charged a late-payment fee of up to $25 in most cases. But if one of your last six payments also was late, your fee can be up to $35.

» Card issuers cannot charge a penalty fee that is greater than the dollar amount associated with the consumer’s violation. For example, you cannot be slapped with a $25 penalty for being late making a $20 minimum payment. The fee could not exceed $20.

» A card issuer cannot charge an inactivity fee for not using the credit card.

TOTAL RECALL

About 12,000 Valco Baby Tri Mode Single and Twin Jogging Strollers imported by Unique Baby Products USA LLC of Brooklyn, N.Y., and manufactured by Valco Baby of Brooklyn. The opening between the grab bar and seat bottom of the stroller can allow an infant’s body to pass through and become entrapped at the neck by the grab bar, posing a strangulation hazard to young children when a child is not harnessed. The product was sold at juvenile product stores and websites including Amazon.com between November 2007 and March 2010. Contact Valco Baby at 800-610-7850, the firm’s website at www.valcobaby.com or via e-mail at recall@valcobaby.com.