Consumers in Washington D.C. have apparently flocked to credit unions since the district outlawed payday lending last year. Payday lenders whined that lending without 300% APRs was utterly unaffordable, but credit unions are proving that it’s possible to make long-term, low-dollar loans with interest rates as low as 16%.
checks
Both Dell And AT&T Cash Checks Not Made Out To Them, Cause Much Sadness
By 7.10.08
It’s sure to be a pain in the butt if you accidentally switch two of your payments — but we’d always assumed that companies like AT&T and Dell wouldn’t cash checks that were not even made out to them. We we wrong!
A Craigslist Scammer Wants Me To Cash This Fake Check, What Should I Do?
By 6.4.08
Reader Sean got a package with a (presumably fake) check for $4,500. Someone from Craigslist wants him to cash the check and for his trouble, he gets to keep 10%!
5 Ways To Avoid Check Fraud And Thwart Identity Thieves
By 5.31.08
Check-altering criminal mastermind Frank Abagnale has five ways to lockdown your checking account and secure your identity. Check fraud isn’t an anachronistic threat like Communism. Determined thieves can easily use your checks to steal your cash and your identity. Here’s how to stop them…
Man Arrested For Trying To Pass A $360 Billion Check
By 5.1.08
Meet Charles Ray Fuller, 21, of Crowley, TX. He was arrested on April 22 after allegedly trying to pass a check for $360 billion at a Forth Worth Chase bank.
Charles Schwab Sends You A Letter To Let You Know That Your $0.01 Check Expired
By 4.1.08
Commenter annelise13 writes:
My husband and I recently received a letter from Charles Schwab about our account. It refers to a check they sent us last year for the grand total of $.01. Yes, that’s one cent. A single penny. I never cashed the check, having found it funny that they wasted a stamp to send us such a tiny amount. I tacked it up on the fridge for a few months to amuse myself, and eventually tossed it.
Bank Of America Refunds $325 In Overdraft Fees To Customer Who Was On Cruise
By 3.12.08
Don’t say we never printed anything nice about you, BoA. One of your customers just had an experience with you that—despite still having an overdraft fee of $20 to pay—has left her feeling pretty good about you.
"I Lost My Deposit Slip, And PNC Says There's No Record Of My Deposit"
By 3.8.08
Nicholas wrote in with a scary problem: his paycheck, which he deposited at his local branch of PNC on Saturday, never showed up in his bank account. The teller seemed to have difficulty processing the deposit, but the slip he gave to Nicholas showed the check had been processed.
Would You Scan Checks At Home For Deposit?
By 2.9.08
Banks have hesitated to adopt technology that would let us scan paper checks at home for deposit. The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act allows banks to exchange electronic images instead of paper checks, but USAA, a credit union associated with the military, is currently the only bank to offer customers a check scanning option. Sure, it’s easy enough to stand on line for a teller or wait for an ATM, but we fear sunshine and people and prefer to stay indoors, thank you. Assuming it was free, is this something you would use if it was offered by your bank? Vote in our poll, after the jump.
USAA Customer? Make Sure Your Checks Haven't Been Cashed Twice
By 2.8.08
This morning, Mary logged onto her USAA bank account to check her balance and was surprised to find that her rent check had been cashed twice while she was asleep. She was eventually able to get through to a human and get the problem addressed, but it wasn’t easy. And she may not have been the only one affected.
Creditors Can Steal Your Social Security Check Right Out Of Your Bank Account
By 1.6.08
Nathalie Martin’s elderly cousin had her social security check garnished straight from her bank account by a collections agency. Apparently, most banks skip over the section of federal law that protects social security and other public benefits from creditors. Good thing Nathalie is a bankruptcy scholar and knows how to fight the sleazy debt collectors.
Chase: By Cashing This $9.25 Check You Agree To Give Us $59.99
By 1.4.08
Reader Aaron writes in to complain about a “scam” that he can’t believe is legal. Many of you know about this little marketing tactic, and we’ve written about it before, but some of you probably do not.
Depositing Checks In A Bank Of America ATM Is A Huge Pain In The Butt
By 12.10.07
I thought I’d give your readers a heads-up on how much Bank of America sucks, and why you should make all deposits to a bank teller and never, ever at the ATM.
Check Fraud Up As High Quality Printer Prices Drop
By 8.29.07
With high-quality printers are widely available at the consumer level, check counterfeiting is on the rise, usually in conjunction with “advance fee scams,” where someone is tricked into cashing an overpayment of some sort and then sending the remainder to another address, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Then by some machination or another, the overpayment turns out to be fraudulent and the scammer vanishes. The image above shows various security features to look for when evaluating a check’s verisimilitude.
Budget: Cash This Check And You'll Be Enrolled In A Service You Don't Want
By 7.10.07
Reader Larry writes in with a complaint about a commonly used “scam.” We call it a “scam” because we believe it’s misleading and designed to take advantage of people who do not read things carefully, but you judge for yourself. Here’s how it works:
How Frank Abagnale Protects Himself From Identity Theft
By 7.4.07
How does Frank Abagnale, an infamous check forger in the 60’s, protect himself from modern day identity thieves?
Wachovia Demonstrates How To Lose A Customer
By 6.5.07
We have more than a passing interest in customer service over here, so it always amuses us when a company loses a customer simply because they’re too stubborn to apologize for messing up.
