I’m going to be standing by my mailbox, waiting for my $400 back from the credit card industry. Industry representatives told me, in the news and in testimony before Congress, that the cost of bankruptcies filed by people who can afford to pay their debts, was $400 for every man, woman and child in America.

Now that they’ve obtained passage of the Bankruptcy Reform Act, I know that I’m going to be getting that money back!

Okay, maybe they won’t send me a check. But surely the interest rate on my credit card will be going down. After all, I am a very good credit risk. Since 9% is about the lowest rate right I can find now, I bet I’m going to get a bunch of offers for credit cards at 6%.

If the Fed Funds rate is 2.5%, and expected inflation is about the same, then credit card companies need to make 5% to come out even. Add 1% for operational costs, and that means I should pay 6% on my card. Seven percent, tops. After all, there isn’t much risk in lending to me now.

Since I make above the median income in my area, under the new bill, I won’t be able to discharge my debts. Instead, I will be required to pay them back over time, in a bankruptcy proceeding called a Chapter 13. That means that credit card losses due to non-payment should be going down dramatically.

So, if I don’t get my $400 back, and my cost of credit doesn’t go down to account for the lower risk, I’ll know . . . .

Gee, is it possible the credit card companies are going to keep that money?

I’ll be standing by the mailbox, waiting to find out.

Corinne Cooper is a professor emerita of law, and a consultant in Tucson, Arizona.