Credit Card Disclosures

Title 1.3A of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code deals with credit card disclosures. Section 1748.10 names this act as the “Areias Credit Card Full Disclosure Act of 1986.”

Section 1748.11 provides that any application form or preapproved written solicitation for an open-end credit card account to be used for personal, family, or household purposes that is mailed to a consumer residing in this state by or on behalf of a creditor, whether or not the creditor is located in this state, other than an application form or solicitation included in a magazine, newspaper, or other publication distributed by someone other than the creditor, is required to contain or be accompanied by either of the specified disclosures.

A creditor need not present the disclosures required in chart form or use any specific terminology, except as expressly provided in this section. The specified chart is not to be construed in any way as a standard by which to determine whether a creditor who elects not to use a chart has provided the required disclosures in a manner that satisfies the requirements.

If a creditor is required under federal law to make any disclosure of the terms applicable to a credit card account in connection with application forms or solicitations, the creditor is deemed to have complied with the requirements with respect to those application forms or solicitations if the creditor complies with the federal disclosure requirement.

Section 1748.12 defines the terms “cardholder,” “credit card,” and “marketing information.” If the credit card issuer discloses marketing information concerning a cardholder to any person, the credit card issuer is required to provide a written notice to the cardholder that clearly and conspicuously describes the cardholder’s right to prohibit the disclosure of marketing information concerning the cardholder which discloses the cardholder’s identity.

Section 1748.13 requires a credit card issuer, with each billing statement provided to a cardholder in this state, to provide the three specified items on the front of the first page of the billing statement in type no smaller than that required for any other required disclosure, but in no case in less than 8-point capitalized type:

The terms “credit card,” “open-end credit card account,” and “retail credit card” are defined. This section does not apply in any billing cycle in which the account agreement requires a minimum payment of at least 10 percent of the outstanding balance. This section does not apply in any billing cycle in which finance charges are not imposed.

Section 1748.14 declares that any waiver of the provisions of this title is contrary to public policy, and is void and unenforceable.