Huge interest rate increases. Whopping over-the-limit fees. Fewer perks.

Consumers are getting some unpleasant surprises from credit card companies these days.

Reeling from high levels of delinquent accounts and bracing for even greater federal oversight, card companies are taking steps to shore up their bottom lines.

Some provisions of the new credit card law -- the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD) -- went into effect earlier this year. But some of the most important consumer protection provisions go into effect on Feb. 22, 2010.

"For consumers, things continue to get worse before they get better," said Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com and author of The Credit Card Guidebook . Card companies "are using this time to adjust their business models and are raising rates and fees on millions of consumers in order to be in a better financial position before the regulations begin."

It's those who carry balances who are feeling the most pain. That's because of the flurry of rate increases that are taking place. "With rates being increased to as much 30 percent in some cases, issuers are giving their cardholders a very good reason to pay off the card and just use cash," said Hardekopf.

Benjamin Harward of Salt Lake City knows this too well. In just the past year, he's seen the rate on his credit card increase from 15 percent to 25 percent, and he recently received notice of another increase, this time to 29.99 percent. He's called his card company each time but said it won't budge. Like many consumers, he's baffled as to what actually triggered the increases; vague answers from his card company haven't helped.

"They just say that there's nothing that they can do" about the increase, said Harward, who's working on paying his card off.

It's not surprising, then, that the percentage of consumers who plan to pay for holiday gifts with cash or debit cards instead of credit cards is expected to increase this year.

About 71 percent of consumers said they plan to use those methods as their primary payment method when buying holiday gifts this year --the highest level since 2005, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation. Nearly two-thirds of consumers in another survey, by financial services firm USAA, said they plan to use cash more often this holiday season than last.

Changes by credit card companies are affecting a wide range of card users, even those who pay their balances in full every month. For those customers, reward programs and other perks are being scaled back. Annual fees are being charged on cards that didn't have them before.

For its part, the CARD Act focuses mostly on rate increases. The section that went into effect in August requires card companies to provide 45 days notice of an increase or any other "significant change" in rates and fees to card holder accounts, up from 15 days notice.

Card companies also must:

» Mail statements at least 21 days before the date the payment is due, up from 14 days.

» Give account holders the right to "opt out" of any interest rate increase (with some exceptions). But if they do elect to opt out, the issuer can elect to close the account. The holder then would have the opportunity to pay off the balance at the existing rate for up to five years.

Starting in February, the act:

» Generally bans retroactive increases in card rates.

» Generally prohibits companies from raising interest rates during the first year on new accounts, with a number of exceptions.

» Prohibits card companies to charge over-the-limit fees unless a card holder "opts in" on the ability to go over their credit limit. For consumers who don't opt for these fees, the card company will simply decline the charge.

» Restricts marketing of cards to consumers under age 21.

Although the new law will undoubtedly help some consumers, there are plenty it doesn't cover. Many are coping with card companies that unexpectedly have closed their accounts and/or slashed their credit limits. And there's nothing in the new law to prevent it.

Bill Justesen of Fillmore was shocked when his credit card company this summer unexpectedly closed out his card, which had a $3,000 credit limit. He had just paid off the card when he received the notice his card had been closed. The company said only that a "credit review" had been conducted but would not elaborate.

"It was an absolute shock to find out your credit card has been closed without warning," he said.

Rankled by the experience, Justesen ended up filing a complaint with the Comptroller of the Currency. His bank responded to the complaint by offering to reopen his account -- but only with a $300 credit line.

Justesen said he's still trying to figure out what caused his card company to not only close the account but then to reduce his credit line by 90 percent. "I just don't understand how this happened, because I've had a very clean payment history," he said.

Keeping a credit card balance has never been a good idea, but these days that is even more true.

"Our first and foremost recommendation to anyone carrying a balance on a credit card is to pay down those balances as quickly as possible ," said Jennifer Rohn of credit counseling firm AAA Fair Credit Foundation.