Commenting that "sometimes the answer to a failure of competition is to require more competition", Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff have published an op-ed in Forbes titled "A Market Test for Credit Cards" that advocates requiring card issuers putting up account relationships for bid if they choose to change the terms (like interest rate) on the account. Consumers would have an option to move to a new issuer who bid for the relationship - or to stay put with the revised terms.

Senator Chris Dodd has sent a letter to to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the heads of key regulatory agencies "directing them to write and enforce robust rules to implement new requirements that credit card companies review rate increases on their customers implemented since January 1st of this year."

Dodd reminds the regulators that the recently enacted Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (Credit CARD Act) includes a provision that will require credit card companies to review every six months any account where the interest rate has been raised since January 1, 2009 and reduce the rate if the customer has become less of a credit risk or the circumstances that warranted the increase are no longer present.

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