Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3524 – Loan finance charge on lender credit card accounts
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3524
- billing cycle: means the time interval between regular periodic billing statement dates. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
- Cash advance: means an advance of cash or a cash equivalent under a lender credit card account including but not limited to the purchase of a money order, wire transfer services, or the use of a convenience check to purchase goods or services. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
- Consumer: means a natural person who purchases goods, services, or movable or immovable property or rights therein, for a personal, family, or household purpose and includes a purchaser or buyer in a consumer credit sale or transaction made with the use of a seller credit card or otherwise, or a borrower or debtor in a consumer loan, revolving loan account, or a lender credit card. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Credit card: means any card, plate, coupon book, or other single credit device that may be used from time to time to obtain credit. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
- creditor: as used in this Chapter includes a seller in a consumer credit sale, revolving charge account, or transaction made with the use of a seller credit card or otherwise, or a lender in a consumer loan, a revolving loan account, or a lender credit card transaction. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
- Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. Source: OCC
- lender credit card: includes a travel and entertainment credit card account that is not subject to loan finance charges or credit service charges. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
- Loan finance charge: means the sum of the following:
(i) All charges payable directly or indirectly by the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the lender as a requirement of the extension of credit, including any of the following types of charges that are applicable: interest or any amount payable under a point, discount, or other system of charges, however denominated; and
(ii) Charges paid by the consumer for investigating the collateral or credit worthiness of the consumer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
- Organization: means corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, trust, estate, partnership, cooperative, or association. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
- Principal: means the amount financed or amount deferred under a consumer credit transaction. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
- Revolving loan account: means an arrangement between a lender and a consumer pursuant to which:
(i) The creditor may permit the consumer to obtain consumer loan advances on a preauthorized basis;
(ii) The creditor reasonably contemplates repeated transactions;
(iii) The creditor may impose a loan finance charge from time to time on the outstanding unpaid balance of the consumer's account; and
(iv) The amount of credit that may be extended to the consumer under the account, up to any limit set by the creditor, is generally made available to the extent that any unpaid balance is repaid. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3516
A.(1) On a revolving loan account made with a lender credit card, an extender of credit or an assignee or a transferee thereof may receive or contract to receive and collect a loan finance charge in an amount not in excess of one and one-half percent per month computed in accordance with the following:
(a) For the period ending December 31, 1974, on either:
(i) The average daily unpaid balance of the principal of the debt during the billing period; or
(ii) The balance of the account on the first day of each billing period without regard to transactions affecting the account during the billing period.
(b) Commencing January 1, 1975 and thereafter:
(i) On the average daily unpaid balance of the principal of the debt during the billing period; or
(ii) Any method of loan finance charge computation which may produce yield not in excess of the average daily balance method of loan finance charge calculation as provided for in (1)(b)(i) above.
(2) For purposes of the foregoing computation, a month shall be deemed as any time of thirty consecutive days, or alternatively, any calendar month.
(3) An extender of credit may impose such a loan finance charge from the date that goods, property, or services are purchased or cash advances are obtained under a lender credit card plan; however, an extender of credit may not impose or collect a loan finance charge on goods, property, or services purchased under a lender credit card plan for the first twenty-five days of any billing cycle when the borrowing consumer pays the entire billed balance of his account within said initial twenty-five day period.
B. Repealed by Acts 1988, No. 629, §2.
C. If the billing period is more frequent than monthly, the maximum loan finance charge for such billing period shall be the percentage which bears the same relation to the monthly percentage provided for in Subsection A of this section as the number of days in the billing period bears to thirty.
D. In addition to the loan finance charge provided for in Subsection A of this section, extenders of credit under a lender credit card plan may lawfully receive, contract for and collect a fee for the privilege of receiving cash advances under such a lender credit card plan. The fee shall not exceed four percent of the amount of the cash advance.
E. Where an account has the attributes of both a revolving loan account and a lender credit card account, the creditor may elect to treat such an account as either a revolving loan account subject to La. Rev. Stat. 9:3519(D), or as a lender credit card account subject to this Section. Examples of such accounts include, without limitation:
(1) Overdraft lines of credit that may be accessed by use of an automated teller machine.
(2) An independent line of credit issued by a supervised financial organization in conjunction with a travel and entertainment credit card account offered by a third party creditor.
Added by Acts 1972, No. 454, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1973. Amended by Acts 1974, No. 466, §1; Acts 1986, No. 584, §1, eff. July 2, 1986; Acts 1988, No. 629, §2; Acts 1990, No. 709, §2, eff. July 20, 1990.