§3524. Loan finance charge on lender credit card accounts

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B. Repealed by Acts 1988, No. 629, §2.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 R.S. 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.