The Federal Trade Commission has delayed - for the second time -new "Red Flags Rules" until Aug. 1 to give affected businesses more time to develop and implement identity theft prevention programs. The Rules were schedule to take effect today.

The Red Flags Rules, which are part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, will apply to any business that extends credit to customers, uses credit reports to make customer credit decisions or regularly arranges for the extension, renewal or continuation of credit. If a business just accepts credit cards, without extending its own form of credit to customers, the rules are unlikely to apply.

Last year, enforcement of the new rules was delayed six months because of confusion. The FTC, which enforces the act, estimates that the rules will affect more than 11 million creditors and 3,500 financial institutions, of which more than 90 percent are small businesses.