Consumers beware: Credit-card companies already are finding ways around the new law designed to crack down on their tricky fees and hidden charges.

The Credit Card Accountability Act of 2009 was intended to stop lenders’ unfair practices, such as jacking up a cardholder’s interest rate without warning or shortening billing cycles. For the most part, the law is working.

But credit-card companies have been busy creating new ways to gouge their customers legally. For example, a study by Pew Charitable Trusts found that the median annual fee on bank credit cards rose 18 percent, to $59, from July 2009 to March.

During the same period, credit unions’ annual fees for cards jumped 67 percent, to $25. Fees for cash advances and balance transfers went up an average of 33 percent.

Banks are also flooding the marketplace with offers for so-called "professional" cards, which are like corporate cards but are subject to the same terms as regular consumer credit-cards.

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Unemployment, underemployment, salary cutbacks, divorce, medical emergencies and ballooning house payments all take their toll on household finances. This perfect storm of market conditions has resulted in skyrocketing credit card debt.

According to information gathered by the U.S. Census bureau, there were approximately 173 million credit card holders in the United States in 2006; a number projected to grow to 181 million this year. Americans charged approximately $1.950 billion in 2006 — just over $11,300 per cardholder (www.money-zine.com/Financial-Planning/Debt-Consolidation/Credit-Card-Debt-Statistics/).

At the same time, Americans carried approximately $886 billion in credit card debt; it’s a number expected to grow to a projected $1.177 billion by the end of this year.

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College students are gearing up to head back to school, but this year fewer are probably using credit cards to buy supplies and clothes.

Not long ago, credit card issuers would offer free food and other enticements to students simply for filling out an application, but lenders are now prohibited from luring students with freebies like fresh pizza, candy, T-shirts, water bottles, Frisbees and backpacks.

Free food isn’t the only thing college students are having a harder time getting: Their access to credit cards is more limited.

The Credit Card Act of 2009 dictates that no one under 21 can get a credit card without either a co-signer or proof that they have enough income to cover regular payments. For many students, a credit card may no longer be an option.

But students do have alternatives, such as getting a secured credit card or becoming an authorized user on their parents’ card to pay for daily needs. Credit counselors say building a credit history and staying out of debt should be top priorities.

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