The new bank credit card regulations will no longer benefit from the implementation of liquidated damages on Sunday.

　　From January 1 next year, the "late payment fee" for bank credit cards will be cancelled, and the overdraft interest rate can be up to 30%, and the interest-free repayment period may exceed 60 days. This is undoubtedly full of benefits for people who often use credit cards.

　　In April this year, the Notice on Matters Related to Credit Card Business issued by the Central Bank (hereinafter referred to as the "new regulations") will be implemented the day after tomorrow. Recently, the Beijing Morning Post reporter investigated the credit cards of many banks and found that most bank credit card centers have posted relevant implementation announcements, while some banks have begun to implement some new policies.

　　The new regulations have increased the market pricing attributes of credit cards and made the rights and interests of credit cards more diversified. In the future, when consumers use credit cards, they can shop around and choose the card that suits their card habits.

　　1 overdraft interest rate changed to 0.035% to 0.05%.

　　"The bank has changed the overdraft interest rate to the range of 0.035% to 0.05%, and it will be implemented from January 1 next year." The staff of the Credit Card Center of Guangfa Bank told the Beijing Morning Post that from January 1 next year, if the cardholder touches the overdraft interest rate, it will be implemented in accordance with the new regulations. Cardholders with different comprehensive credit background will also enjoy differentiated overdraft interest rates. The reporter’s investigation found that at present, banks generally adjust overdraft interest rates to the range of 0.035% to 0.05%.

　　In fact, if the cardholder fails to repay on time after using the credit card, he needs to pay the interest according to the overdraft interest rate stipulated by various banks. Banks generally stipulate that the number of days to pay interest is from the date of cardholder’s consumption to the date of return.

　　According to the new regulations of the central bank, the upper limit of credit card overdraft interest rate is 0.05% and the lower limit is 0.7 times of the upper limit. The method of calculating and settling interest on credit card overdraft, whether to calculate and pay interest on credit card overpayment and its interest rate standard shall be determined by the bank.

　　Before the implementation of the new regulations, there was no floating space for overdraft interest rates, and the interest rates implemented by banks were generally 0.05%. For the overpayment, at present, all banks basically do not pay interest, but in the future, for the sake of competition, some banks may break this "convention".

　　The central bank said that at present, the risk control ability and pricing ability of credit cards of various card issuers are uneven, and guidance on the upper and lower limits of interest rates is conducive to preventing individual card issuers from blindly reducing prices and fighting price wars. "Under the current situation that the information disclosure mechanism needs to be strengthened, setting an overdraft interest rate ceiling is conducive to preventing individual card issuers from unreasonably charging excessive interest and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of cardholders."

　　The interest-free repayment period is determined by the card issuer.

　　According to the new regulations of the central bank, the conditions and standards for cardholders to enjoy the interest-free repayment period and the minimum repayment amount for overdraft consumption are determined by the card issuer. Previously, the central bank stipulated that the maximum interest-free repayment period of credit cards was 60 days, and the minimum repayment amount in the first month should not be less than 10% of the overdraft balance of the month.

　　Dong Zheng, a senior credit card expert, said that this means that there may be 90-day interest-free products for bank credit cards in the future. When cardholders choose credit cards, they may compare them in this respect. For small banks, such products can increase their competitiveness.

　　In the reporter’s investigation, it was found that most banks still maintain an interest-free period of up to 60 days. However, for the minimum repayment amount, some banks have indicated that it will be implemented according to 5% or 10% of the overdraft balance of the month.

　　The central bank said that the previous regulations made card issuers lack flexibility and space for differentiated services to customers at different levels, which was not conducive to independent innovation and service improvement by card issuers. The new regulation cancels the above restrictions, aiming at giving card issuers more independent decision-making space. Card issuers can flexibly combine the interest-free repayment period and the minimum repayment amount according to their own business strategies and the risk level of cardholders, providing cardholders with diversified choices and forming a market structure with dislocation competition and complementary advantages.

　　3. Exceeding the credit line shall not be charged with exceeding the limit fee.

　　If when you use a credit card, in a billing cycle, the accumulated amount of credit line exceeds the credit line actually approved by the card on the billing date, you have to pay a certain percentage of the excess fee in the past. However, according to the new regulations of the central bank, if the card issuer provides card services that exceed the credit line, it shall not charge the over-limit fee.

　　In the reporter’s investigation, it was found that many bank credit cards have cancelled the over-limit fee. CITIC Bank said that the bank will cancel the "credit card over-limit fee" service item from June 1, 2013, and will continue to adopt the free strategy. In September this year, China Merchants and other banks cancelled the credit card over-limit fee. Banks such as Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Shanghai Communications Bank and Ping An Bank said that they would cancel this charging item from New Year’s Day next year.

　　As for the prohibition of charging over-limit fees, the central bank said that at present, card issuers have been able to automatically control transactions exceeding the credit line through technical means, and the purpose of covering costs and risks can also be achieved by charging interest on over-limit overdrafts. Therefore, it is forbidden for card issuers to charge cardholders over-limit fees to standardize the service charges of card issuers.

　　4 Cancel the agreement on whether to collect liquidated damages.

　　According to the new regulations of the central bank, the late payment fee for credit cards will be cancelled. For the cardholder’s overdue repayment, the card issuer should agree with the cardholder whether to collect liquidated damages through agreement, as well as the relevant collection methods and standards. In addition, the card issuer shall not charge interest on the service fees such as liquidated damages, annual fees, cash withdrawal fees and currency exchange fees charged to cardholders. This new regulation is regarded by the industry as the most influential one in the Notice.

　　The reporter’s investigation found that at present, most banks have cancelled the late payment fee and increased the amount of liquidated damages. At present, the penalty imposed by most banks is "5% of the unpaid minimum repayment amount", which is consistent with the previous late payment policy.

　　Dong Zheng said that changing "late payment fee" to "liquidated damages" is not just a change in name. Late payment fees are more "administrative", while "liquidated damages" are more negotiable. And compared with the interest charged for the overdue fine, the service fees such as liquidated damages will not be charged with interest.

　　Take ICBC as an example. In its announcement, it is stated that the liquidated damages are "charged at 5% of the unpaid minimum amount, with a maximum of 500 yuan RMB or HK$ 500 or MOP 500 or US$ 100 or Euro100 per period (the remaining foreign currency accounts are charged at a maximum of US$ 100 equivalent in foreign currency) or as agreed".

　　In addition, the reporter found that banks have different regulations on the minimum amount of liquidated damages. Among them, Guangfa, CITIC and other banks charge 20 yuan the lowest penalty, while banks such as transportation and investment promotion charge 10 yuan the lowest penalty.

　　5 The cash withdrawal amount is raised to a maximum of 10,000 yuan per day.

　　From the day after tomorrow, the amount of cash withdrawal by credit card will be raised to a maximum of 10 thousand yuan per day. According to the new regulations, cardholders can obtain the funds within the cash limit of credit cards in cash through self-service machines such as counters and automatic teller machines (ATMs), and the accumulated amount of each card should not exceed RMB 10,000 per day.

　　In fact, the current daily accumulated RMB per card is only 2000 yuan. The central bank said that for other cash advance business limits, the card issuer will independently agree with the cardholder through an agreement according to the business strategy, the cardholder’s risk level and the limit setting requirements.

　　Not only that, the new regulations also stipulate that card issuers can decide whether to provide cash recharge service and agree with cardholders on the daily limit of each card, but they are not allowed to transfer the funds within the cash limit of cardholders’ credit cards to other credit cards or non-cardholders’ bank settlement accounts or payment accounts.

　　In the reporter’s investigation, it is found that most banks still retain the credit card transfer function, but some banks have suspended the credit card transfer function.

　　■ correlation

　　Double-label credit cards will gradually withdraw from the market next year.

　　In addition to the changes brought by the new regulations to credit card holders, the withdrawal of dual-label cards will also affect the use of cardholders to some extent. In November, the central bank held a meeting on the issuance management of foreign currency single-label cards and double-label cards, and decided to suspend the issuance of double-label cards in the future, and the expired double-label cards will also become single-label cards.

　　Dual-label cards that have been circulating in China for 14 years, as well as "China UnionPay+Overseas Card Organization", are regarded as "deformed children" by the industry, and will gradually withdraw from the historical stage of China in the future.

　　People familiar with the matter said that the central bank reiterated the withdrawal of dual-label cards in this meeting, and stressed that banks should not release new products of dual-label cards, but the dual-label cards currently in use can still be used, but the expired dual-label cards can only become single-label cards operated by only one card organization.

　　"It is not overnight for the central bank to stop the double-label card." Dong Zheng said that the central bank had repeatedly asked the dual-label card to withdraw from the market. "The central bank reiterated that it is likely to pave the way for overseas card organizations to enter the China market next year."

　　Many cardholders feel a little troublesome when they spend money abroad. However, Dong Zheng said that double-label credit cards are generally magnetic stripe cards, which are not as safe as single-label cards of chips.

　　In addition, some insiders suggest that people who often go abroad can carry three single-label cards, one UnionPay, one Visa and one MasterCard, of which one is "full currency".

　　This edition is written by Beijing Morning Post reporter Jiang Fan.