[R]estrictive rules prevent price competition among credit card networks, which means merchants face increased business costs and consumers pay higher prices. With today's lawsuit we are sending a clear message: we will not tolerate anticompetitive practices. We want to put more money in consumer's pockets, and by eliminating credit card companies' anticompetitive rules, we will accomplish that.

The DOJ's lawsuit is not the first effort by the Obama administration to protect consumers from the practices of the credit card industry. In May 2009, President Barack Obama signed [press release] the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD Act) [text, PDF] in order to protect "responsible credit card users." Among the provisions included in the law, which went into full effect [press release] in August, are restrictions on retroactive interest rate increases, a mandatory 45-day notice for all proposed interest rate increases and a requirement that credit card companies mail a billing statement to the consumer 21 days before the bill due date. The measure passed both the House and Senate [JURIST reports] with strong bipartisan support.