After reader DFCL’s story about how TCF Bank wouldn’t close his checking account with $.05 left in it, preferring to charge $149 in fees instead, went up on Consumerist, something good happened. [More]
banks
U.S. Bank Tests EMV Chip Cards For International Travelers
By 6.21.11
Good news for Americans who like to go to other countries in the world. U.S. Bank is going to roll out EMV chip cards to 20,000 FlexPerks Visa cardholders this month, adding steam to a small but growing push to get traveling Americans credit cards that can work in the “chip and PIN” systems prevalent in Europe and beyond. [More]
Chase Redeems Your Rewards Points Via 19 $50 Checks
By 6.21.11
Summer and her fiancee returned from an out of town trip this weekend to find that the Stupid Shipping Gang had paid them a visit while they were away. But instead of a tiny thing packed in a giant box, it’s several tiny things packed into an excessive number of envelopes. [More]
Wells Fargo Is Next Bank To Dump Reverse-Mortgages
By 6.17.11
Wells Fargo is the next bank to announce that they are pulling out of the market of selling reverse-mortgages, a loan typically sold to to seniors that converts their home equity into a stream of monthly payments. The lender gets paid when the home is sold at the borrower’s death or when they move. Without reliably rising home values, it’s not a very profitable proposition for lenders. [More]
How Hackers Stole 200,000+ Citi Accounts Just By Changing Numbers In The URL
By 6.14.11
Details have emerged has to how hackers were able to steal over 200,000 Citi customer accounts, including names, credit card numbers, mailing addresses and email addresses. It turns out quite easily, in fact. All they had to do was log in as a customer and change around a few numbers into the browser’s URL bar, NYT reports. Facepalm. [More]
9 Of The Most Annoying Bank Fees
By 6.13.11
The banks of America are breaking new ground every day in the science of nickel-and-diming consumers with fees that start from the second you open an account to the moment you angrily close your account… only to move it to another bank with a different set of fees. But since there are so many ways in which financial institutions can bleed your account dry, the folks at CNN Money have come up with their list of the most annoying fees. [More]
ATM Can Tell If You're Lying
By 6.9.11
Leave it to the Russians. Their biggest retail bank, Sberbank, is testing out a new kind of ATM that has a built-in lie detector. [More]
Breach: Citi Says Hackers Stole Hundreds Of Thousands Of Credit Cards
By 6.9.11
Roughly 200,000 Citi customers’ credit cards were stolen by hackers in a breach the bank just announced today. The data included names, credit card numbers, mailing addresses and email addresses. [More]
Best Student Checking Accounts
By 6.8.11
New freshman entering college this Fall should take the time right now to get their banking account set up if they don’t have one already. Consumerist Commentary rounds up the best student checking accounts and compares their benefits and fees. The good news is that the best of the crop have no fees, or fees waived if you can meet some pretty easy requirements. [More]
Credit Card Reform Worked: Prices Not Increased, Just Clearer
By 6.8.11
Ignore all the haters. Credit card reform in 2009 did its job, making credit cards less confusing and safer for consumers. According to a new study from the Center for Responsible Lending, contrary to popular misconception, the reforms didn’t increase prices for credit cards, it just made the real costs clearer. Banks couldn’t tuck costs in hidden fees and sneaky practices, they had to put them on the sign out front. [More]
TCF Bank Won't Close $.05 Account, Prefers To Charge $149 In Fees
By 6.7.11
Reader DFCL says that he asked TCF Bank to close his account back in April as it only had a $.05 balance. Now it’s June, his account is still open, and he’s in collections for $149 in fees. Some very exciting things happened between those two points, including him offering to donate $500 to charity if they waived his fees. They declined his offer. [More]
Court Threatens BofA Bank Manager With Jail Over Foreclosure
By 6.3.11
A Bank of America bank manager could end up in jail if the bank doesn’t demolish a fire-damaged eyesore, a Georgia court has warned. [More]
Woman With Hand Stuck In ATM Freed By Firemen
By 6.2.11
ATMs are no longer satisfied with just nipping fees from you. Now they want your flesh. [More]
Class Action Suit Against BofA For Deceptive Loan Mods Goes National
By 5.26.11
Olly, olly, oxen, free. A class action lawsuit against Bank of America claiming they were less than above board with their loan modification practices has been certified for national participation. [More]
Why Money Launderers Love Prepaid Debit Cards
By 5.25.11
Gone are the days when it was necessary to transport briefcases full of cash across borders. Now all money launderers need to do is pack a wallet full of prepaid debit cards. [More]
3 Big Banks Launch Pay By Cell And Email System Called clearXchange
By 5.25.11
Three of the nation’s biggest banks have teamed up to offer a new payment service that lets you transfer money from your bank account using only a cell phone number or email address. It’s called clearXchange and it’s being offered to Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo customers. An inkling of how it will work is revealed on the initiative’s placeholder web page. [More]
ID Theft: Fix Some Fraudulent Accounts Before Correcting Legit Ones
By 5.25.11
One of the side effects of someone using your identity to open up a bunch of accounts and leaving you saddled with the bills is that your credit history gets trashed, which means you get victimized a second time over as your real creditors jack up your interest rates and take other adverse action. Your bank account could even get frozen, making you late on some bills. But before you go plead your case to get your credit restored with them, you’ll want to fix some of the fraudulent accounts first. [More]
Here's A Cookie, America, For Paying Your Credit Cards Off And On Time
By 5.19.11
Good job, America. You are being most excellent at paying your credit card bills and paying them on time. LowCards reports that credit card default and late payment levels fell once again in April to their lowest since 2008. The reasons why are pretty obvious: [More]
