Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) Raising Credit Card Interest Rates 3 Percentage Points Before New Limits Put in Place

Wells Fargo & Co., of which Warren Buffett has a large stake via his Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) holding company, has decided to raise its interest rates on credit cards by 3 percentage points before the upcoming rules are put in place, which will limit credit card rates when they are put into effect.

Wells Fargo began contacting and communicating with its customers this week, letting them know that the changes will take effect on November 30.

It’s not a coincidence that it’s the day before the current practices end, and the new regulations are put into effect. Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, has planned a hearing today in order to move the date up to December 1 from the original February deadline in order to cut back on banks instituting new credit card rates before the new rules are imposed upon them.

The new laws will cut back on interest rates and other fees banks are allowed to employ at this time, and which a lot of consumers have complained about since the American government used their tax dollars to bail them out, and which much of their profits are generated at this time through increased overdraft fees and credit card interest rates.

As far as customers who go over their credit limits, Kevin Rhein, group head of card services at Wells Fargo said the bank would be eliminating the fees when their customers go over their limit.

Wells Fargo received $25 billion from taxpayers dollars to bail them out, and is the eighth-largest credit card lender in the U.S.

Their competitor Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) said they aren’t going to raise credit card interest rates or fees on their good customers, although it seems to be implied those Bank of America customers who aren’t in good standing will have rates and fees increased. Bank of America is the second-largest credit card issuer in the U.S.

Dubbed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, when imposed on the banks, it will be put into effect in stages, to allow gradual compliance to the final goal of the legislation.