State Treasurer Says Credit Card Companies Market Deceptively CHICAGO, IL (wsiu) - The Illinois state treasurer is pushing legislation to rein in what he calls deceptive marketing practices by credit card companies on college campuses.
Alexi Giannoulias says he will introduce a bill in January that would ban card issuers from offering gifts when they market cards on campus, require state universities to disclose marketing agreements with banks that target their students and require universities that allow marketing and advertising of credit cards on campus to conduct financial literacy education for freshmen.
Giannoulias says the legislation he is proposing is not intended to keep credit cards out of the wallets of college students altogether.
The problem that this legislation is intended to address is demonstrated by a 2005 survey by NellieMae, an education financing corporation: Fifty-six percent of college seniors carry four or more credit cards with an average balance of three thousand dollar, in addition to student loans.
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