SmartMoney reviews four of the most popular, or at least best-publicized, online budgeting and finance-tracking services: Clear Checkbook, Mint, Wesabe, and Yodlee Money Center. They’ve created a simple chart comparing features, to help you decide which best meets your needs—for instance, whether you want text message alerts, or the ability to manually enter transactions, and so on. The most robust offering of the four is Clear Checkbook, although it’s missing a couple of nice features that the otherwise paltry Mint offers (specifically, text message alerts and merchant-based spending breakdowns).
banking
CEO Vows To Fix Bank Of America
By 10.19.07
Bank of America’s profits are down 32%, prompting CEO Kenneth D. Lewis to make some angry promises.
Banks Earned $19 Billion From Overdraft Fees This Year
By 10.11.07
Overdrafting makes the Consumerist very sad, and banks very happy.
You Have Until Friday To Tell The Fed That Their Proposed New Credit Card Rules Aren't Enough
By 10.9.07
The Federal Reserve Board has set this Friday, October 12th, as the deadline for hearing any comments regarding Regulation Z, its proposed set of modified guidelines for the credit card industry. According to experts who aren’t on the credit card companies’ payrolls, the new rules are a weak fix that does little to protect consumers.
By 10.4.07
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If you’re a customer of a small bank or credit union with limited access to fee-free ATMs, consider asking your financial institution to look into joining pre-existing, surcharge-free ATM networks like MoneyPass or Allpoint.
TD Bank Buys Commerce Bank For $8.5 Billion
By 10.2.07
Hey all you Commerce Bank fans, you’re about to become TD Bank customers! No word on what exactly will change, but Canadian TD Bank announced today that it has purchased Commerce Bank for $8.5 billion.
Citibank Warns Of 60% Drop In Earnings Due To Subprime Meltdown
By 10.1.07
Citibank is warning investors to expect a 60% drop in earnings due to “dislocations in the mortgage-backed securities and credit markets, and deterioration in the consumer credit environment.”
New Bill Would Require Banks To Warn You If Your ATM Or Debit Transaction Will Result In An Overdraft Fee
By 10.1.07
If you perform an ATM or debit card transaction that results in your account being overdrafted, many banks will now simply authorize the transaction and slap you with an overdraft fee. A new bill, HR946, would “require banks to give consumers a chance to back out of transactions that might cause them to overdraw their checking accounts,” according to the Kansas City Star.
NetBank Fails, Assets Disgorged To FDIC, ING
By 9.29.07
NetBank is the first federally regulated bank to fail thanks to the ongoing subprime meltdown. The failure spotlights the importance of FDIC insurance, which guarantees deposits of up to $100,000. Customers who abided by the FDIC limits and deposited less than $100,000 with the internet bank will become ING customers, and will have immediate access to their funds. The 1,500 customers who collectively deposited $109 million above the FDIC limits stand to lose half of their funds.
American Home Mortgage Bounces Checks, Blames Chase Bank
By 9.29.07
It seems that bankrupt mortgage lenders are no different from bankrupt home owners. When they start bouncing checks they blame the bank, and hey, they might even be telling the truth.
5 Ways Credit Cards Can Make You Happy
By 9.28.07
The ways that credit cards can make you unhappy are legion. Fees, balances, crazy interest rates, universal default, the list goes on. But, even though we just saw Bank of America digging a pit in your backyard, and word has it the zoo is missing 3 tigers and a crocodile, there are a few ways that a credit card can make you happy. (Not all of these tips are unique to credit cards, so check to see which benefits your debit card has.)
Banks Requiring Higher Balances To Avoid Fees
By 9.28.07
Since last year’s survey, the average balance requirement to avoid fees on an interest account jumped almost 25 percent, from $2,660.49 to $3,316.60. Imagine keeping more than $3,300 in a low-yielding account, just to avoid fees!
Ew! The good news is that you can still get a free checking account, but it won’t pay interest. There are good options out there, it’ll just take a bit of shopping around. Don’t leave your money in a low-interest account just to avoid fees unless you have a darn good reason for doing so.
Fraud Protection: What's The Difference Between Credit And Debit?
By 9.26.07
Federal Reserve Board Regulation E is the federal regulation that governs Electronic Fund Transfers and includes provisions that makes debit-card transactions instantaneous. Instantaneous means that the money is technically spent from the account the moment the card is used, which is important because your debit card draws from a bank account as opposed to a line of credit.
"Green" Credit Cards Are Silly
By 9.25.07
Bankrate has an article about co-called “green” credit cards that donate a portion of your purchase to environmentally friendly causes. Why are we saying they’re silly?
Greenspan "Didn't Really Get" That Subprime Lending Could Hurt The Economy
By 9.14.07
Former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan told 60 Minutes that he “didn’t really get” that irresponsible subprime lending could be significant enough to hurt the economy, but he still defends the decision to keep interest rates low from 2001-2004.
Stash Your Cash In CDs Now
By 9.9.07
The Federal Reserve Board is expected to cut interest rates soon, and you can bet that banks will quickly follow their lead and slash rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposit. By purchasing a CD now, you can lock in favorable rates ahead of the Fed’s September 18 meeting. From the Chicago Tribune:
“Banks usually are really fast to cut rates and slow to raise,” he said.
Chase Accuses You Of Check Fraud, Threatens To Report You
By 9.6.07
Dan got a new job (Congratulations, Dan!) and moved from Chicago to Indianapolis. The move meant he had to close his Citibank account and open a new one. He chose Chase because they have lots of branches nearby.
Wells Fargo's Network Goes Down For 24 Hours, Customers Sad, Broke
By 8.21.07
Some of Wells Fargo’s customers experienced an service outage that lasted about 24 hours, according to the Associated Press. Affected customers were unable to get cash or use their debit cards.
