• Contact the credit card company. It might review your account and decide to keep you.
• Check your credit report regularly from the three major credit bureaus to make sure no incorrect information is posted that would cause a card issuer to drop you..
• Shop for a new card from one of the thousands of credit unions and small community banks..
• Carry cash or more than one credit card, in case your card is suddenly denied.

“Apparently, the closure of a card is not considered a material change in the terms,” said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at Credit.com. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this with a straight face.” Canceling cards and cutting credit limits without notice has been a practice of long standing. Card issuers say that if they warned consumers about a looming cancellation, customers would run up their balances before they lost credit and card issuers would be on the hook for even more money.

“You are required to get notice [at some point], but oddly enough you are not required to get notice before they cancel the card,” said Ruth Susswein, a deputy director with Consumer Action. Issuers must give notice within 30 days of cancellation, she said.

As credit card reform slowly worked its way through Congress, cancellation notices were not raised as a big issue because card companies weren’t closing many accounts at the time, Susswein said. “There are more accounts being closed now,” and the consumer group is hearing more complaints about abrupt closures, she said.

Accounts might be canceled if cardholders’ credit scores drop, they take on more debt, open new lines of credit or live in an area where home values plunged or where unemployment skyrocketed, Ulzheimer said. Or, it could be that the accounts aren’t profitable enough or for other reasons that the card company won’t reveal.

Angry consumers still have thousands of credit unions and small community banks where they can get cards when big players play tough, advocates say. But they can also complain to the card issuer that dropped them.

“Sometimes a company will choose to make a change for a whole group of customers and when they look at the specifics, you might be somebody they put into a pot that is considered more profitable when they look at your actual card,” said Consumer Action’s Susswein.

A $35 fee will still be levied if the account isn’t brought into balance within five days.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank also will limit to four the number of times an overdraft fee can be charged on an account per day. Just this year, the bank had raised that cap from five to 10. It also raised the fee this year for the first overdraft in a 12-month period to $35 from $25 — a hike that still stands.

Enrollment in the bank’s overdraft program is currently automatic for new customers, and opting out is possible only in “very limited” circumstances, said Anne Pace, a Bank of America spokeswoman. But now customers will be able opt out, meaning that transactions will be denied at the register if customers don’t have enough money in their accounts to cover a purchase.

Pace said the company didn’t have an estimate on how many people might opt out of the overdraft program, noting that many consider it a useful backup. Customers will need to visit their local branches to opt out. They will also be able to call, Pace said, but the appropriate phone number hasn’t yet been determined.

When asked about the reversal from the fee hikes earlier this year, Pace said the company is responding to the “changing needs” of customers in the difficult economic environment.

The changes will apply to all customer accounts, the spokeswoman said.  The banks’ turnaround comes as credit card reforms passed earlier this year will soon limit banks’ ability to raise fees and interest rates and require greater disclosure about costs.

• Interest-free grace period of 21 days for balances paid in full, up from the old 15-24 days and credit card companies would no longer be able to charge interest during that grace period when balances are paid in full for that month.
• Credit card companies would also have to issue monthly statements to indicate how long it will take to pay off a balance if only minimum payments are made.
• Simplified credit card contracts and application summaries indicating grace periods, interest rates, and all other fees.
• Credit card companies will be prohibited from contacting customers or their families outside of specified hours on weekdays and weekends.
• Credit card companies will need to get card holder’s consent  prior to credit limit increases.

The credit card rules doesn’t include interest rate caps.  However credit card companies are required to notify card holders in advance for any interest rate hikes.