During my morning scan of Twitter, I came across a tweet from personal finance gurus Ken and Daria Dolan:

Cutting up your credit cards? Great! But don’t forget to close the account. Our sample letter makes it easy.

The recession spawned a national trend which saw thousands, if not millions, of American shift from spenders to savers. High charges and fees imposed by credit card companies made the transition all that much easier. But before you pull out the scissors and kiss that plastic goodbye, remember that merely cutting up your card doesn’t mean your account is closed.

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(Update1): The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a bulletin on Wednesday regarding the specific provisions of the credit card reform that have already taken affect. The bulletin pertains specifically to the 45-days notice the card companies must provide cardholders when or if their interest rate will be changed (emphasis added):

The bulletin describes an interim final rule issued by the Federal Reserve Board that requires banks to notify customers 45 days in advance of any rate increase or significant changes in credit card account terms. The rules also require lenders to disclose that their customers have the right to reject those changes.

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