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The House of Representatives voted 331-92 on Nov. 4 to push up the effective date of the Credit CARD Act, which originally had three staged implementation dates.

If signed into law, the newly approved legislation would require banks and credit card issuers to comply with the reforms immediately.

The new measure contains an amendment that says card issuers who adopt a moratorium on interest rate increases for current balances and new balances incurred before Feb. 22 are exempt from the earlier effective date.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where companion legislation has already been introduced, and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., has introduced an additional bill that would require an immediate moratorium on retroactive rate increases.