The US House of Representatives passed a credit card bill on Thursday to eliminate sudden interest rate increases and late fees, protecting millions of consumers.

The bill was passed by a bipartisan vote of 357-70 and follows lobbying by President Barack Obama and members of his administration, according to news reports.

Under the bill, double-cycle billing and retroactive rate hikes would be prohibited and companies would be prevented from giving credit cards to anyone under 18.

If the bill becomes law, it won't take effect for a year, except for a requirement that customers get 45 days' notice before their interest rates are increased. That would take effect in 90 days.

Similar legislation is before the Senate, where its prospects appear promising.

As millions of credit card holders struggle with high balances amid a deep recession, Obama has been pushing for more actions to give consumers greater protections.

"I think that there has to be strong and reliable protections for consumers, protections that ban unfair rate increases and forbid abusive fees and penalties," said the president last Thursday after meeting 14 executives from companies including American Express, Visa and MasterCard.

In fact, the US Federal Reserve has already ordered new rules that are designed to enforce a host of new consumer protections. The rules will take effect July 2010.

Also last Thursday, Senator Chris Dodd, chairman of the Banking Committee, and another panel member, Senator Chuck Schumer, wrote a letter asking Federal Reserve and other regulators to enforce those rules immediately.

Credit card companies, however, has argued that new regulations may make economic situation even worse by shrinking lenders' ability, resulting in less credit available to consumers at just the wrong time.

Almost 80 percent of US households have credit cards. Credit-card debt has increased by 25 percent in the past 10 years, reaching US$963 billion by January, according to figures released by the White House.