credit-cards
Chase Gave Me A Credit Card I Didn't Want
(Photo: epicharmus)
'I Stopped Denying People': Ex-Bank Of America CSR Tells All
Salvation Army To Accept Credit Cards In Kettles
Citibank To Customer: Charge $750 And We Won't Gouge You So Badly
Mike says Citibank boosted his interest rate to 20 percent, then said they'd knock off half of it as long as he paid on time and charged at least $750 a month. More »
88 Big Sites Earning Millions From Webloyalty Scam
88 websites, a good number pretty big name sites, that earned millions, some in excess of $10 million, as partners in the infamous Webloyalty consumer ripoff. Pizza Hut? Say it ain't so. More »
Chase Raises Interest Rate On Closed Account
David closed his Chase credit card account instead of accepting a rate increase earlier this year. That should have been the end of it, but it turned out Chase later went ahead and increased the interest rate anyway. More »
Is Bank Of America Of Trying To Skirt The CARD Act With New Annual Fees?
In a series of recent posts, WalletBlog has accused Bank of America of breaking the spirit of its "no new fees" promise and of potentially breaking the law next year, after it announced it will introduce annual fees on some existing credit card accounts in 2010. More »
Layaway Making A Comeback
Sears and Toys R Us are among retailers who have brought back layaway programs to help boost sales, reports Eve Mitchell at the San Jose Mercury News. Not all stores think it's worth the effort, so you won't find it at JCPenney, Target, or Walmart. However, if you want to use layaway at retailers that don't offer it, there are now websites that can help. More »
Capital One Activates Payment Protection Plan Thanks To EECB
Earlier this week, I posted about a college student who couldn't get Capital One's Emergency Payment Protection Plan activated on his account because of missed deadlines. Andon wrote back today to say that after he sent an EECB to the credit card company's executives, they apologized and activated the service. More »
Update: Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee!
Here's the straight scoop on what's up with the story in that "Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee!" post. More »
Capital One Tricks Customer Into Not Activating Emergency Payment Protection Plan
Cory wrote in earlier to complain about Capital One's nasty habit of having their collection department call you to upsell you on other products. At almost the same time, Andon wrote to us to let us know that the company's protection plan—the sort of thing they're trying to sell to people like Cory—is useless unless you can manipulate time (Andon can't). More »
Capital One Calls To Dun For Payment Before It's Even Due
Cory says Capital One's Collection Department called his mother-in-law the other day in an attempt to reach him, which was weird because his account is in good standing. Their reason? They just wanted to remind him that his credit card payment was due soon. Oh, and to try to upsell him. More »
Microsoft Refunds Dog's Purchase, Gives Dog His Own Gamertag
Good news, Xbox 360 players! If you've got a shopaholic dog who buys Microsoft points as you sleep by chewing on your controller, Microsoft will give you a refund and even get your dog his own profile — at least if the story makes headlines. More »
Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee!
Everett says Capital One called him up and made him an offer. If he opted out of at least one of the consumer credit protections enacted by the CARD act, Capital One would drop the overlimit fees from $39 to $29! Woo! More »
Revealing The Hidden Cost Of PrePaid Debit Cards
With credit cards harder to come by and more annoying to use, the prepaid debit card market is projected to explode from $8.7 billion loaded on the cards to $119 billion in 2012, but a good chunk of that is going to be eaten up by hidden fees and gotchas. This sexy graphic visualization shows how. More »
BillShrink Says Credit Card Companies Are Far From Reformed
Credit Card companies, which must shape up Dec. 1 in order to comply with government-mandated reforms, aren't exactly rushing to shape up, reports BillShrink, a site that lets you compare credit cards, cell phone plans and other services. More »
40 States Ask FTC To Crack Down On Debt Relief Companies
Attorneys general in 40 states just asked the FTC to step up the fight against debt relief companies that mislead and overcharge consumers, like Credit Solutions of America (CSA), reports Consumer Affairs. More »
Kindle Fees Trigger Fraud Alert On Visa Card
Considering the growing amount of credit card fraud, it's not surprising that banks are becoming more and more vigilant about identifying suspicious transactions. It's too bad they haven't been as successful at filtering out false positives or promptly notifying customers, as James Fallows at The Atlantic recently discovered when he got his account frozen for sending files to his Kindle. More »
Wachovia's "Way2Save" Account Triggers Over $5,000 In Penalty Fees
Wachovia has a new financial product called Way2Save that automatically moves $1 from your checking account into a high interest personal savings account every time you make an electronic bill payment. Susan tried to maximize her contributions by making a lot of little bill payments, but Wachovia cut off access to her funds without notice and triggered an avalanche of penalty fees. Now she owes over $5,000 to her credit card companies, far more than she would likely have ever earned through Wachovia's complicated savings program, and of course Wachovia is denying any responsibility. More »
No Visa Or MasterCard Gift Cards This Year, Please
If you want to spread some fiscally sound good cheer this year, consider asking your friends, relatives, and coworkers not to give gift cards backed by the major credit card companies. Why am I making such a sour suggestion? Because a new study from two consumer advocacy groups indicates that most of the population still doesn't recognize what a money trap those little plastic cards can be. More »
