Consumerist

credit cards

Credit Card Late Fees Might Be Unconstitutional?

Over at the Consumer Law & Policy Blog they’ve posted the abstract of a article that considers the constitutionality of credit card late fees. Apparently, there are “constitutional constraints upon the imposition of punitive damages.” Neat. The article by Seana Shiffrin and is called “Are Credit Card Late Fees Unconstitutional?”

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell articulated serious and specific constitutional constraints upon the imposition of punitive damages. Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion announced that, apart from exceptional cases, punitive damages should not exceed nine times the amount of the actual losses sustained by the plaintiff and should usually be far lower…

credit cards

Best Buy Employee Caught Stealing $13,000 In Gift Cards

By Meg Marco 8.31.07

Best Buy employee Olivia Bailey, 18, was accused last week of stealing $13,000 from a Best Buy store in Lawrence, NY by using fraudulently obtained credit card numbers to purchase gift cards.

health

Caution Advised Before Paying Medical Bills By Credit Card

By consumerist.com 8.30.07

Thanks to universal default, in which one credit card issuer can elect to raise your interest rate if you fall behind on the payments on another credit card, consumer advocates urge extra carefulness when paying large medical bills by credit card. Instead, first try working out an extended payment plan with the care provider.

credit cards

T-Mobile Refuses To Process Your Credit Card Order, Then Processes It Anyway… After You've Gone To Another Company

By Meg Marco 8.29.07

T-Mobile refused to process reader Lucas’ girlfriend’s credit card because she couldn’t verify some of her personal information (she’s moved a lot and doesn’t remember the addresses of old dorm rooms, ect.). After she was rejected she went to another company for her phone… only to find that T-Mobile decided to process her order.

readers

Check Credit Card Statements For "STC SAWA RECHARGE RIYADH SA"

By consumerist.com 8.28.07

Check your credit card and debit card statement for unauthorized charges from STC SAWA RECHARGE RIYADH SA. The Saudi Arabian phone card company is fraudulently passing charges to consumer’s cards, usually for sums of $80. If you find one of these unwanted charges, contact your card company to dispute the charges. This may not be enough, as consumers report being the charges hitting their cards multiple times, even after reporting them. In these cases, it may be better to cancel the account.

credit cards

iCache Is The Credit Card To Control All Credit Cards

By consumerist.com 8.27.07

Like using different credit cards for different rewards programs but get tired of the bulk? Enter the $99 iCache, an electronic device as thin as a Razr cell phone, that carries all of your credit cards in the writer portion, and then temporarily writes the credit card info onto a card. The card is good for one swipe and then the card goes blank again and ready to be rewritten. The unit is protected by a fingerprint scanner.

recalls

Meijer Uses Receipts To Warn Customers They Bought Products Recalled For Botulism

By consumerist.com 8.22.07

Instead of just printing coupons on the receipt, Meijer put this warning, using purchase history tracked to her credit card, that reader Sarah may have purchased products recalled for botulism.

readers

Updated: Reach Chase Card And Bank Executive Customer Service

By consumerist.com 8.22.07

Even MORE numbers for reaching Chase Credit Card Executive Customer Service peeps:

debt

10 Reasons Credit, Debt and You Should Be BFF

By consumerist.com 8.21.07

Rebutting “Ideas For Living Without Credit Or Debt,” Blueprint For Financial Prosperity came up with 10 reasons why credit and debt can be great. Here’s a good one (and one that we ourselves have made in the past):

fico

Got An Inactive Macy's Store Account? Here's Your New Citibank Mastercard

By Meg Marco 8.20.07

Recently, a Consumerist tipster sent in an internal memo from Macy’s explaining that the store was “flipping” 3.5 million inactive store accounts into Citibank Mastercards. The memo reads:

“Approximately 3.5 million inactive (24-48 months) Macy’s accounts have been selected to “flip” to the Citibank Mastercard. That means the customer will be sent a Citibank Mastercard to replace their inactive Macy’s card. “

readers

Reach Capital One Executive Customer Service

By consumerist.com 8.16.07

Call 703-720-2500. Ask to be connected to the executive customer service team. Be prepared to describe the nature of your call.

credit cards

How To De-RFID Your Credit Card

By consumerist.com 8.14.07

Credit card companies are putting magical radio chips inside your credit cards to allow for “touch n go” “contact-less” payments, but if for some reason the idea of a miniature beacon transmitting your credit card information, albeit however encrypted the companies feel like making them, there is something you can do about, blogs Cody: Dremel!

credit cards

Contact Discover Card CEO, David Nelms

By consumerist.com 8.14.07

Fax: 224-405-4993

credit cards

Using Your Chase Credit Card Is Cause For A Rate Increase

By consumeristcarey 8.6.07

Chase likes to raise the rates of cardholders whose only fault is properly using their credit card, according to an ABC 15 investigation. The rate hikes affect cardholders who do not exceed their credit limits or miss payments, with some APRs jumping from 7.99% to over 22%. From ABC 15:

fico

Capitol One Stops Harming Customers' Credit Scores, Starts Reporting Credit Limits

By consumeristcarey 8.5.07

Capital One will start reporting cardholder credit limits to the three credit bureaus, a common practice from which most cardholders had no idea their creditor abstained. Credit limits help TransUnion, Experian and Equifax determine credit utilization, which accounts for 30% of a credit score. Capital One’s decision, which will take effect by the end of the year, will likely boost its cardholders’ credit scores. From the Washington Post:

credit cards

Capital One Raises Your Interest Rate

By Meg Marco 8.2.07

We’re getting complaints that Capital One has raised interest rates across the board for its customers. One reader says his wife’s rate went from 9.9% fixed to a variable rate, making it about 15%.

credit cards

The Truth About Credit Card Debt

By Meg Marco 8.1.07

Recently we noted that 90% of American households thought they held average or below average levels of credit card debt. This made us think that Americans were in denial when it came to their credit card debt since “90%” and “average” simply don’t mix.

credit cards

New York Times To Congress: Fix Our Broken !@$% Banking System!

By consumeristcarey 8.1.07

The New York Times published an editorial damning Congress’ unwillingness to protect consumers from a rising tide of unreasonable fees and penalties that have boosted the financial sector’s bottom line, while impoverishing millions of Americans.

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credit cards