Maybe they were bluffing.

In the months leading up to the signing of the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights Act of 2009, the credit-card industry lobbied vigorously against the new regulations. Issuers warned regulators that curbing some practices, like the ability to change credit-card terms at any time and for any reason, would backfire and trigger higher interest rates and fewer credit-offers for even the most credit-worthy consumers.

Indeed, some companies took swift action even before the regulations were felt. Citigroup (C) recently introduced annual fees on some of its cards, in some cases offering to waive the fee only if consumers exceed a certain threshold each year. (Read more about this here The bank scaled back its rewards program earlier this year.

But just as two provisions of the new credit-card law go into effect, another issuer is taking the opposite route: luring new customers with a new rewards credit card and touting 0% APR balance-transfer promotions to existing consumers.

On Wednesday, JP Morgan Chase (JPM) announced the launch of Chase Sapphire, a rewards card designed specifically for affluent consumers. The bank has also been mailing 0% APR balance-transfer offers to select customers.

That may seem surprising in today s economic environment, but analysts say the move indicates the bank s ambition to attract new customers, especially those of means and good credit.

Now is the time to grab market share, says Dennis Moroney, a senior analyst for financial-services research firm TowerGroup. Sooner or later this lousy economy will get better and August is typically when you position your strategies for the next year.

Earlier this week, all major credit-card issuers announced a decline in July delinquency rates and charge-offs compared with June, signaling that the period of increasing default rates as consumers struggled to pay off debts may be winding down. Charge-off rates at Chase improved to 7.92% in July, down from 8.04% in June, while loans that are at least 30 days delinquent slipped to 4.16%, down from 4.46%.

Another factor behind Chase s push could be the confidence in its stronger financial footing than its competitors, says Ron Shevlin, a senior analyst at Aite Group, a financial industry research firm. They re leveraging their strong financials at the moment to hammer at the competition, which is not in such a good shape, he says. Charge-off rates at Chase were lower in July than all its competitors, including 8.43% at Discover Financial Services (DFS), 9.2% at American Express (AXP), 9.83% at Capital One Financial (COF), 10.53% at Citigroup and 13.81% at Bank of America (BAC) .

Chase spokeswoman Laura Rossi said in an email that the 0% balance-transfer offers are targeted, but she declined to provide further details on the selection criteria. As for its new credit card, spokeswoman Tanya Madison said that the bank began designing it two years ago.

Aite Group s Shevlin says Chase may have expanded its offerings with a particular kind of user in mind. They re making a strong push to go to customers who use credit cards as payment cards, he says. Rather than carry a balance, these customers pay off their balances in full each month. Because these customers pay little or no interest to begin with, the strategy is to capture their wallet with a 0% APR balance-transfer offer. They re after making money off of them through interchange fees and potentially through cross-selling other products like investment or checking accounts, Shevlin says.

Chase isn t the only bank trying to lure certain consumers with 0% APR offers. Discover offers 0% APR on purchases for six billing periods and 0% APR on balance transfers for up to nine billing periods on its Discover More card to consumers with excellent credit. And Citibank is trying to lure college students with four credit cards that offer 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for six months. (Starting in February 2010, when the remaining provisions of the new credit-card law kick in, banks will face further restrictions in marketing and issuing cards to college students.)

Another possible reason behind these 0% APR offers: The banks are hoping to collect fees or penalty interest from customers who normally avoid these charges. Here are three balance-transfer traps to watch for:

No-cap fees
Most 0% APR offers these days come with balance-transfer fees of 3% to 5%, says Curtis Arnold, the founder of CardRatings.com, a credit-card comparison site. And although these fees were capped at $50 or $75 in the past, most issuers have removed that cap. That translates into a $300 to $500 charge on a $10,000 balance transfer.

Default rates
Check the card s penalty-rate policy. Some issuers default rates, which can be as high as 30%, kick in after just one late payment. The good news: Starting in February, issuers will not be allowed to apply interest-rate increases to existing balances.

Payment allocation
Until the new credit-card laws go into effect six months from now, your payments will likely be allocated to the lower-interest balance on your card. If you take advantage of a low-APR balance-transfer offer, make sure the card has no prior balance and lock it up so you re not tempted to use it. After February 2010, issuers will be required to apply payments toward the higher-rate balances first.