The Senate is expected to enact PIRG-backed credit card reform today. The bill will need to then go over and pass the House to become law before Memorial Day. Today's New York Times story on Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit From Sterling Payers fails to describe the magnitude of the revenue ($48 billion/year) from merchant interchange fees; these in fact, are derived from both convenience users and revolvers and pay for user rewards. So the story's notion that the banks will pile on the fees on "sterling" convenience users is, I think, over-stated-- there may instead be fewer rewards. That is a very good thing for revolvers -- entranced by tiny rewards into piling on debt. Rewards drive excessive card use. Fewer rewards to convenience users offsets the "need" for more revenue.