Our weekly roundup of the best personal finance news. Inside: Good charity-dar, scam detection, snow-removal tactics, rebuild your 401k, and warnings about store credit-cards.
credit cards
Credit Card Squeeze Is Pushing Consumers Toward Foreclosure
By 12.16.08
USAToday says that panic by the credit card industry is squeezing customers who ordinarily would be able to pay their bills — pushing them toward financial ruin and foreclosure.
How To Get Your First Credit Card
By 12.6.08
I got my first credit card from one of those guys on campus with a folding table and free tshirts. Back then, they gave give credit to anyone who could fog a mirror. No income? No assets? No clue? No problem! The tshirt wasn’t even cool, it was for AT&T, and I got it as easily as my first beer. Nowadays, what the meltdown of our financial system and all, they actually have some requirements to pass before giving you a credit card. Crazy. So what’s a young consumer looking for fresh plastic to do?
On Heels of Bailout, Citi Raises Rates on Millions of Cardholders
By 12.6.08
We know the credit markets remain seized: late on Black Friday when no one was listening, the Federal Reserve issued a statement that its emergency lending to banks had increased over the prior week. Thus, massive amounts of money continue to flow to large financial institutions in an effort to stimulate economic activity, but by all appearances the money is not flowing into the broader economy. Quite the contrary; as the Fed lowers rates and adds record amounts of loaned cash to bank balance sheets, big banks are actually increasing consumers’ cost of borrowing and reducing their lines of credit. Witness Citibank’s recent adverse actions against cardholders.
Help! They Closed My Credit Card Because I Didn't Use It!
By 12.5.08
Reader Kevin is upset with WaMu because they closed his credit card due to inactivity. Had he known they were going to do this, he says he would have been happy to pay a small fee to keep it open, etc. The card is the oldest one on his credit report — and closing it has affected his FICO score.
Video: How Credit Cards Become Bonds
By 11.26.08
We’ve heard lots about how mortgages get turned into tradeable securities, but they’re not the only thing. No no no, there was far too much Chinese money not able to earn anything on T-bonds for us to let them lie. Credit cards can become asset-backed bonds too. Marketplace’s Paddy Hirsch is back with his whiteboard and dry-erase markers to explain how it works. Video inside.
Capital One Inspires Man's Loathing
By 11.19.08
Mr Bill says his latest dealings with Capital One have him “wanting to spit venom.” Whence this reptilian impulse? There is apparently no structure to refinance your loan with them. They consider it makes you a new customer, and they aren’t making any new loans. This takes several hours and several phone calls to figure out. There also seems to be no way to pay off a loan with a credit or debit card. This also takes several hours and phone calls to figure out. It’s really just totally frustrating for Mr. Bill. “What is this, 1987?” he writes. So he’s taking his business elsewhere. His misanthropic misadventure, inside…
20% Of Citigroup Cardholders Can Expect Rate Increases For 2009
By 11.17.08
If you have a Citigroup-issued credit card and you haven’t had a rate increase over the last two years, expect to be notified of a 2-3% rate increase on your November statement. Congratulations! You’re going to help Citigroup offset its losses in the global credit card division, whether you were directly part of those losses or not. As the New York Times points out, by doing this Citigroup is breaking the promise they made to Congress in 2007 that they would not arbitrarily raise rates on accounts—which may be why they’re offering a fairly lenient opt-out policy.
Reader Talks Citibank Down To A Lower Interest Rate On Her Credit Card
By 11.17.08
Nicole was hit with a surprise 6 point interest rate increase on her Citicard, so she fought back. Her story is a good reminder that you should look at all of your options and be prepared to argue on your behalf, even if you’re not in a position where you can just pay off the entire balance and walk away.
Consumerist Helps Couple Lower Interest Rate On All Their Credit Cards
By 11.14.08
Yesterday I was on a conference call where a lady who’s been writing consumer journalism since before I was even born, in response to me saying how we repackage useful information and make it funny and make jokes and put up pictures of cats, asked me if the site actually helps anyone. I told her quite firmly and loudly that we do and gave examples, and here’s another one to throw on the evidence pile. Kevin writes:
Banks Want To Forgive Credit Card Debt — But The Government Says No
By 11.13.08
The next wave of the credit crisis — the skyrocketing defaults on credit cards — is coming in and odd alliances are being formed. The Consumer Federation of America, along with the Financial Services Roundtable ( a self-described “major player on Capitol Hill and with the regulators” which represents the securities, investment, insurance and banking industries) has requested a “special program that would allow as much as 40 percent of credit card debt to be forgiven for consumers who don’t qualify for existing repayment plans.”
Credit Card Defaults Hit QVC
By 11.13.08
QVC, the home shopping network, has announced that they will be laying off 910 workers over the next 14 months. A reader who would like to remain anonymous, described the layoff process in an email to Consumerist.
Bank Sends You Another Copy Of Your Credit Card Just To Remind You To Use It
By 11.12.08
Here’s a weird story. Chris at PhillyBurbs.com was dealing with some ID theft problems (random charges were showing up on his credit cards) when he got a random credit card in the mail. It was an extra copy of a card he did indeed have. Wondering if someone was trying to get copies of his cards — he contacted the bank:
By 11.12.08
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The government has officially announced that they will not be buying troubled mortgage assets — the original point of the so-called Trouble Asset Relief Program, and will instead be offering the bailout money to financial firms that are getting hit with a wave of defaults in credit cards and car loans. [CNNMoney]
American Express Becomes A Bank… And Wants Bailout Money
By 11.12.08
American Express won U.S. Federal Reserve approval to become a bank holding company — giving it access to the bailout party as credit card defaults climb. Bloomberg News says that the Fed waived the usual 30 day waiting period because (in the words of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke) we’re experiencing “unusual and exigent circumstances affecting the financial markets.” Today, American Express has requested $3.5 billion in taxpayer-funded capital from the federal government, says the WSJ.
Use Prosper.com Loan To Get Lower, Fixed, Interest Rate
By 11.5.08
Blogging Away Debt wrote about the 7 things she did recently to cut her finance charges from $400/month to zero, and one interesting one was using a loan from peer-to-peer lending site Prosper.com to get a break on interest rates:
Man Finally Gets His $130 Back From Circuit City
By 11.4.08
In an update and conclusion, reader Sean let us know he finally got satisfaction regarding his story that we posted, “Circuit City Credits Wrong Card For $130 Return, Sends You Away With Nothing.”
