Congress Has NOT Treated Consumers Fairly or Equitably [re: Banking, Insurance, Credit and related businesses]
The following eight (8) changes to the law should be adopted by Congress forthwith: (1) Payment transactions should reflect the date and time when such monies were actually received rather than when transactions were "Posted" to the records. (2) Due Dates should only be on a day Consumers can actually pay their bill in person at a location in the state in which they reside. (3) Consumers should have law on their side to decide to "Opt-In" rather than "Opt-Out" of allowing business to use their personal information. (4) After a bill is received, a minimum of at least half a month OR at least ten Banking Days should be allowed to pay it without penalty. (5) Consumers should have the option to choose which accounts their monies should be credited to. (6) A "Hold" should expire on the date and time the Bank actually received the Consumer`s monies. (7) Consumers should have the option for funds to be "Held" in the most advantageous account to the Consumer. (8) The Usury laws repealed in 1980 that limited finance charges should be restored.
The following is an point-by-point analysis of the issues:
	Issue:	Equal protection under the law would require:	Current Practice by the Credit, Banking and Insurance industry (herein as "Banks"):
1	Posting v. Actual	Payment transactions should reflect the date and time when such monies were actually received rather than when transactions were "Posted" to the records.	Banks delay "Posting" payments to their records as credits to accounts for up to five or more days, even though payment monies are actually received by the Bank prior to the "Posting" date. This delay generates Consumer late fees and is clearly wrong.
2	Due Dates	Due Dates should only be on a day Consumers can actually pay their bill in person at a location in the state in which they reside.	Banks "Post" payments as received only on Banking Days which permits Banks to delay "Posting" payments actually received on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays to the next Banking Day even though due dates are Saturdays, Sundays and holidays and other days when the Banks are not even open for business. This delay generates more Consumer late fees and is clearly wrong.
3	Fees	Fees should not exceed incurred costs.	The basis and cost to the Bank resulting from Late fees, Over-Limit fees and the like are not disclosed to Consumers, thus, appear to be arbitrary.
4	Payment Interval	After a bill is received, a minimum of at least half a month OR at least ten Banking Days should be allowed to pay it without penalty.	Banks have established a process where due dates can change dramatically from month to month, AND due dates are deliberately established on days when the Banks are not even open for business. To exacerbate the problem, billing cycles have been reduced to seventeen days even though every month has at least twenty eight days. These factors generate more Consumer late fees and is clearly wrong.
5	Opt-Out	Consumers have the right under the Constitution of the United States to decide who should own their personal information. Consumers should have law on their side to decide to "Opt-In" rather than "Opt-Out".	Congress effectively has appropriated every American`s personal information for businesses to use without the permission of the person to which it relates. Consumers desiring to protect their privacy must notify these businesses they wish to Opt-Out of using their personal information. However, every business is not concominantly required to disclose to Consumers that they engage in the commercial use of their personal information. There is no central "Opt-Out registry. This is plainly not fair and promotes Identity Theft, invasions of privacy and other abuses.
6	Late Fees	The basis for imposing a late fee should solely be based on the date and time when such monies are actually received rather than when transactions are "Posted" to the records.	Banks delay "Posting" funds actually received by the Bank. The date Banks "Post" funds as received is the basis for late fees, rather than when funds are actually received. This delay generates Consumer late fees and is clearly wrong.
7	Over-Limit Fees	Consumers should have the option of avoiding over-limit fees by requiring Banks to respect credit limits by declining to process over-limit transactions.	The term "limit" in this instance is meaningless because Banks routinely permit their computers to exceed credit limits by relatively small amounts to generate fees. Consumers have no option to stop this. Therefore, the term "Limit" is just an unavoidable threshhold as the basis for the Bank to charge another fee and is clearly wrong.
8	Banking v. Business Day	Business Days should be synonomous with Banking Days.	Banks regularly open their doors for business on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. However, these days are deemed Business Days and do not count as Banking Days. This practice deprives Consumers the opportunity to have their transactions "Posted" on the date and time a transaction actually occurred. This delay generates Consumer late fees and is clearly wrong.
9	Received v. Posted	Payment transactions should reflect the date and time when such monies are actually received rather than when transactions are "Posted" to the records.	Banks are still using the paper processing standards of the 1960`s to ensure system integrity even though in today`s world of mechanized Banking, transaction processing is nearly instantaneous. This delay generates Consumer late fees and is clearly wrong.
10	Calendar v. Banking Day	Payment transactions should reflect the date and time when such monies are actually received rather than when transactions are "Posted".	Banks determine that the current Banking Day is over before the day is actually over. Typically this occurs in the afternoon between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM. This practice dates back to the 1960`s when transactions were processed on paper and no longer reflects today`s processing profile. Banks should not be allowed to redefine time or the calendar! This delay generates Consumer late fees and is clearly wrong.
11	Holds	A "hold" should expire on the date and time the Bank actually received the Consumer`s monies. Consumers should have the option for funds to be "Held" in the most advantageous account to the Consumer.	Banks "Hold" funds for up to thirteen calendar days in accounts the Bank chooses. The purpose of the "Hold" is to ensure that the Bank actually receives these funds. However, the "Holds" continue long after the Bank actually receives these funds. Consumers are deprived use of these funds and the low-cost choice of which account these monies are held in. This delay is confiscatory by unfairly depriving Consumers the use of their monies.
12	Payments and Deposits	Consumers should have the option to choose which accounts their monies should be credited to.	Banks decide which accounts Consumer payments and deposits are credited to. Consumers are deprived the option of choosing the most advantageous account to credit payments and deposits. This practice is clearly confiscatory by unfairly depriving Consumers the best use of their monies.
13	Finance Charges	Consumers should have the option to avoid these increases by simply not using the account after proper notification. The Usury laws repealed in 1980 that limited finance chages should be restored because double-digit inflation has long been over.	Banks can virtually increase finance charges without limit of law for balances reflecting past purchases. Consumers cannot avoid these increases. This practice is clearly unfair and wrong.