Credit Card Marketing Restricted on Illinois College Campuses

August 18, 2009
By: Joe Taylor

Credit card-sponsored frisbees, t-shirts, and travel vouchers for college students become a thing of the past on Illinois campuses this January. On August 11, Governor Pat Quinn signed a sweeping new law that restricts the marketing activities of credit card issuers on college campuses. The law also requires colleges to disclose revenues from co-branded credit cards and from mailing list rentals.

Governor Quinn told reporters that he hoped the legislation would encourage credit card issuers to embrace more responsible lending practices in the state. "This law will put an end to the gimmicks and trickery used to entice young people into taking on more consumer debt than they can handle," Quinn said.

Another provision of the Illinois measure balances the revenue from credit card marketing agreements with the need to develop smarter consumers. Under the new rules, colleges and universities may only enter marketing agreements with credit card lenders if they also providecredit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we can not guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.

 

About the Author

Joe Taylor Jr. is an internal business consultant for a Fortune 500 company, who writes about finance, culture, and design. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Ithaca College.

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