Instead of waiting around for the CARD act, which restricts the ways they are allowed to squeeze money from customers, some banks are introducing simpler, CARD-compliant credit cards meant to be less confusing to consumers, and maybe make us all hate the credit card industry a little less.
credit cards
Financial Advice For College Students
By 9.14.09
The San Jose Mercury News has compiled a list of financial tips for people just entering college. These are the sorts of things that will help you avoid racking up huge debts or wasting money you don’t have on fees and penalties—and of course they can apply to pretty much anyone, not just college students.
Video: Guy Installing Skimmer On ATM
By 9.14.09
LiveLeak has posted surveillance video footage from earlier this month of a guy in Brazil installing a skimming device onto a bank ATM. The second half of the tape shows him being arrested and officials revealing the device, which just reminds us that the next time we use an ATM, we’re first going to take off a shoe and hit everything on it like it’s covered in giant ants. See the video below.
ID Theft Ringleader Pleads Guilty
By 9.11.09
Albert Gonzalez, a 28-year-old from Miami who was arrested last year and charged with leading “a worldwide ring that stole more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers from major retail chains,” plead guilty today as part of a plea bargain. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
Bank Piles On Overdraft Fees Due To Merchant Error, Doesn't Seem Too Keen On Refunding Them
By 9.10.09
Here’s a story from a reader about a bad bank practice that we hear about too frequently—a bank cascades hundreds of dollars worth of overdraft fees on an error that’s beyond the customer’s control, but then is unresponsive or uncooperative on refunding those fees.
Destroying A Credit Card, In Fifteen Easy Cuts
By 9.10.09
Do you have expired or otherwise unused credit cards in need of destruction? Do you lack a crosscut shredder? Learn how to make your own credit card shards at home from this handy video.
Banks Cling To Overdraft Fees Because They Need Them To Survive
By 9.10.09
Banks now make more on debit card overdraft fees than credit card penalties—they’ll rake in about $27 billion in 2009 alone, according to the New York Times. They obviously have zero incentive to curb the practice. In fact, one economist told the paper that “45 percent of the nation’s banks and credit unions collect more from overdraft services than they make in profits.”
Banks Are 'Quietly' Negotiating Credit Card Debt, WashPo Says
By 9.10.09
The Washington Post says banks have grown more sympathetic to stressed-out consumers and are now more lenient when it comes down to renegotiating interest rates and minimum payments. Banks aren’t out there advertising their willingness to bend, but they’re more willing to listen, the story says.
Chamber Of Commerce Attacks Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency
By 9.10.09
Maybe you forgot about the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency in all the health care sound and fury, but it’s still out there, and financial companies are still very much against it. Now the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching an ad campaign that shifts the focus from credit card companies to smaller businesses that they insist will be affected, although the scope of the proposed agency is still kind of unclear.
Squash Minimum Purchase Fees With Wallet-Sized Merchant Agreement
By 9.8.09
Fed up with stores not knowing the rules for credit card purchases, Andy at NonToxicReviews created this handy credit-card-sized PDF of the relevant portions of Visa’s and MasterCard’s merchant agreements.
American Express Leaves Customer Stranded In Mumbai With No Money
By 9.6.09
Wait a minute…that headline sounds familiar. It doesn’t have the desolate ring that “stranded in Siberia” has, but Josiah recently found himself without available credit in Mumbai. He recently had made a large payment on his American Express balance, see, and AmEx cut his credit limit accordingly—down to his current balance. Stranded without money in Mumbai?
Vandals Stick It To Business That Cheat On Credit Card Rules
By 9.4.09
When businesses sign up to allow credit card use, they sign merchant agreements that say they won’t force customers make minimum purchases or, in some states, charge additional fees to credit card customers. As we’ve reported before, businesses don’t always hold up their end of the agreement.
Skimmers Rig Door Instead Of ATM
By 8.31.09
Last week, a customer in Long Beach, New York, discovered a skimmer attached to the outside of a local ATM branch instead of on specific machines. We’ve talked a lot about being wary of any suspicious add-ons at the ATM, but in this case the criminals were collecting card info as people swiped to enter the building—although they still had pinhole cameras set up to record PINs next to each keypad.
By 8.20.09
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Hello, credit card reform! The first pieces of the CARD Act went into effect today. Card issuers must now allow customers to opt out of some changes to their cards, mail bills at least 21 days before the due date, and give 45 days’ notice of all changes in interest rates or fees. [Consumer Reports Money]
Credit Card Limit Cuts May Lower Your Credit Score
By 8.20.09
As credit card companies hedge their economic bets by lowering customers’ credit limits, they’re also hobbling their credit scores.
Bank Of America Leaves Mandatory Arbitration Behind
By 8.14.09
Another bank is ending mandatory arbitration for their customers. Not just any bank, either—it’s Bank of America!
