The Fed told Congress yesterday that it might rethink the plan to cap debit card swipe fees at 12 cents per swipe. One of the hopes is that merchants would be able to pass on the reduced costs to consumers in the form of lower prices. Lawmakers piled on in the hearing, saying that it would “batter banks still reeling from the 2008 financial crisis.” How banks can both be posting soaring profits and still be “battered” and reeling is an accounting trick way over my head. [More]
Chase Chokes Off Enrollment In Debit Rewards
By January 28, 2011
After February 8th, Chase isn’t letting any more people into the debit rewards program. Citing shrinking margins due to recent legislation, Chase is closing off all new enrollment. [More]
Buy A Stolen Debit Card For $80
By January 21, 2011
Security firm Pandalabs investigated the online underworld’s menu of services and has surveyed the going rates for various kinds of fraud. Stolen credit card numbers can be had for as little as $2, but these are like buying a mystery bag. Crooks don’t know the cardholder’s info and there’s no assurance that it will actually work. So for $80 thieves will sell a debit card with a guaranteed (small) balance. To get access to a big balance of $82,000, that will run ya $700. [More]
Treasury Dept. To Offer Tax Refunds On Pre-Paid Debit Cards
By January 18, 2011
We’ve been warning readers for years against “refund anticipation loans,” where tax preparers like H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt give you a pre-paid debit card now loaded with your expected return (minus fees and interest). And yet, these cards have continued to appeal to some lower-income taxpayers who don’t have bank accounts for direct-deposit of their returns. Now the federal government is providing these people with an alternative — a debit card that will accept the direct deposit. [More]
Kardashians Sued For Fee-Drenched Debit Card, By The Card's Makers
By January 14, 2011
The Kardashians have been sued over their Kardashian Card, a pre-loaded debit card they agreed to put their faces and names on and help promote. The card was slammed by critics and an AG almost as soon as it came out for the high hidden fees it hoped to extract from the teen audience it was targeting. But the plaintiff isn’t a government body or members of a class action, it’s the Kardashian’s former business partners. [More]
Apocryphal And Hilarious "Letter A 98-Year Old Woman Wrote To Her Bank" Makes The Rounds Again
By January 10, 2011
An amazing letter that a 98-year old woman wrote to her bank to protest a bounced check is making the rounds. She complains about a check getting bounced from her account because it occurred “three nanoseconds” before her pension got direct-deposited. She then says that going forward the bank will have to appoint a special rep to open her mortgage and loan payments, he has to use a 28-digit PIN to talk to her, and will have to go through a lengthy phone tree. It’s quite clever, but it’s not real. Not exactly. [More]
Put That Beer On My Student Loan
By December 22, 2010
A card called “Higher One” lets college kids take their student loan and turn it into a debit card they can use to buy pizza, beer, and other learning essentials with. [More]
New Line Of Prepaid Debit Cards Target Teens With Cartoon Designs
By December 3, 2010
Just days after the Kardashian Kard got cut, a new line of “Myplash” prepaid debit cards targeting teen consumers is here, bedecked with cutesy cartoon characters and Twilight stars. [More]
Kardashians Terminate Krap Kard
By November 30, 2010
After just 3 weeks, the Kardashian Kard is canceled. Lawyers for the K sisters sent a termination letter to the bank that had licensed their likenesses and slapped them on its hidden fee-laden debit card targeted at children. Seems they don’t want to be associated with a card that was almost immediately after it launched the source of an AG investigation. See the full letter, after the jump. [More]
An Animated Takedown Of The Kardashian Kard
By November 29, 2010
Those wascally NMA folk took a swing at the Kardashian Kard with a new comedic animated video. They waste no time skewering the fee-laden prepaid debit card marketed towards children. My favorite part is when Kim runs away laughing as her tween fans paw ineffectually towards her, their feet shackled to balls and chains of debt. [More]
Keeping Up With The Kardashian Kard's Hidden Fees
By November 17, 2010
Keeping up with the Kardashians comes at a cost. The reality show star is pimping a new prepaid debit card targeted at kids that is as bursting with hidden fees as Kim’s shirt, featured prominently on the plastic, is bursting with integrity. Yeah, I think using sex to sell hidden fees to kids is pretty messed up. Just take a look at all these fees: [More]
Is Bank Of America's $0 Liability Guarantee Any Different Than What You Already Have?
By November 5, 2010
If you’ve lost your remote and been unable to fast-forward through your DVRd shows — or heaven forbid you’ve had to watch something on live TV — in the last two months, you might have seen one of Bank of America’s commercials touting its “$0 Liability Guarantee” for all its credit and debit cards. But is all this just window decoration on guarantees you already have? [More]
Chase Approves Transaction Anyway After Customer Declines Overdraft Protection
By September 27, 2010
Paul opted not to sign up for Chase’s overdraft fee trap–oh wait, they call it “protection”–but Chase happily ignored this fact and approved a transaction anyway, which led to a $34 overdraft fee that they refuse to reverse. The loophole they’re using to get around Paul’s opt-out is that the vendor was someone he’d authorized in the past, and therefore this new transaction isn’t protected from the bank’s “protection” fee. [More]
Do Pay-By-Smartphone Systems Put Consumers At Risk?
By August 25, 2010
As smartphones like the iPhone or Droid become more popular and more sophisticated, developers are finding new ways for consumers to use these mobile devices to replace existing items like airplane boarding passes, coupons and now credit cards. Soon, smartphone owners will be able to pay for purchases with a wave of their phones, but they should first be aware of the possible risks involved. [More]
Five Things To Do Before Losing Your Wallet
By July 24, 2010
Look, it’s going to happen eventually. Whether it’s pickpockets or carelessness, you’re going to lose your wallet. When you do, you’ll be glad you took these five steps to make recovery simple and painless. [More]
Chase Now Has Human ATM Greeter Who Helpfully Sells Overdraft Protection
By July 14, 2010
As the August 15th deadline for bank customers to opt in to overdraft protection on their existing accounts looms, banks are trying some innovative new tactics. Nicole tells Consumerist that she visited an ATM Chase branch on a Saturday morning to withdraw some cash, and encountered an employee stationed near the ATMs, asking customers whether they had “made a decision” about their “debit card overdraft coverage.” [More]
HSBC Helping Out Mail Thieves By Sending Out Pre-Activated Debit Cards
By July 6, 2010
Legitimate businessmen aren’t the only ones who need stimulus packages to get their games rolling again. Dudes who dig through peoples’ mail and steal debit cards can also use a little loving. HSBC understands this fact and is helping out by sending out pre-activated debit cards, Knowzy reports. [More]
Hackers Love Stealing Your Credit Card From Hotels
By July 6, 2010
Make sure you check your credit card for suspicious charges after you use it at a hotel. A new study finds that 38% of credit card hacking cases involved hotels, way ahead of any other industry. [More]
