New rules designed to protect credit card users from “unreasonable late payment and other penalty fees” went into effect Sunday as a result of the Wall Street reform bill, CNNMoney reported.

The rules block credit card companies from charging more than $25 for late payments except in extreme circumstances, prevent them from charging customers for not using their cards, and require them to reconsider rate increases imposed since Jan. 1, 2009, according to the Federal Reserve, which approved the regulations.

They are the final provisions of federal legislation that placed new restrictions on credit card interest rates and fees, completing the most comprehensive overhaul of the credit card industry in history.

The banking industry has already made changes in response to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009, a spokesman said Sunday.

“The industry has moved swiftly to implement all of these changes and the final piece of the puzzle is now in place,” said Kenneth Clayton of the American Bankers Association. “It will still take some time before we can really see how the landscape has changed, but it is clear that consumer choice and control will ultimately drive further changes in the marketplace,” he said in a statement.

The Fed’s rules could result in lower interest rates for consumers.

Banks will have to reduce rates if the reasons for increases imposed in the last 20 months no longer exist, and regulators will review and enforce such cuts.

Consumers will most immediately notice the new penalty fee limit of $25. Reducing penalty fees was a central provision of the credit card law, but Congress left it to the Fed to determine how to do it.

The Fed leaves room for larger penalty fees to be charged if a consumer has shown a pattern of “repeated” violations or if a card issuer can show that a higher fee reasonably offsets its own costs in dealing with the violation that spurred the penalty.