Whether it was due to theft, fraud, forgetfulness, or calamity, many of us have needed to replace our debit cards post-haste. For many JPMorgan Chase customers, that usually just meant popping by the neighborhood branch and getting a replacement in minutes. So why has the bank reportedly ditched this convenient and popular program? [More]
debit cards
Man Admits He Helped Steal 94,000 Credit, Debit Card Numbers From Michaels Stores
By 6.20.17
If you can stretch your memory all the way back to the spring of 2011, before data breaches seemed commonplace, perhaps you will recall when Michaels warned customers that PIN pad information at some of its stores might have been exposed. Now, a California man has admitted his role in a conspiracy to swipe 94,000 credit and debit card numbers from customers at around 80 Michaels stores. [More]
‘Free’ Anti-Wrinkle Cream Offers Could Drain Your Bank Account
By 5.24.17
No matter how tempting they seem, stay away from online offers of “free trials” of skin products. Instead of smoothing your wrinkles, they may deepen your frown lines by draining your bank account, since agreeing to a “free trial” of a product can mean agreeing to automatic shipments of it and other products as well. [More]
Visa Under Investigation In Ohio For Debit Card Verification Practices
By 4.21.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Visa has revealed that at least one state attorney general’s office is looking into several aspects of the company’s debit card practices. [More]
Why Is Credit-Card Fraud Still Rising In The New Chip Era?
By 2.1.17
For years, American consumers have waited for safer credit cards with embedded chips that make them more difficult to clone, and which can require a unique PIN or a signature to use. Now that these cards are finally in widespread use, and retailers are begrudgingly shifting over to new card-readers, why is identity fraud still on the rise? [More]
Who Am I Supposed To Call When My Credit Card Info Is Stolen?
By 10.11.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
You just found out your credit or debit card info has been used by someone else to make a fraudulent purchase. There are so many different people you can call, each involved in some aspect of this theft. There’s your bank that issued the card, the credit card network the issuer uses for that card, the retailer or website that processed the payment, the police, the FBI… Do you need to call all of these or just one or two? What if you think your incident might be a sign of a larger breach? [More]
Average ATM Fees Hit Record High For 10th Straight Year
By 10.4.16
If you were hoping that ATM fees would suddenly drop, making life better for anyone who’s ever been forced to use an out-of-network machine, well, we’ve got some bad news: according to a new survey, average ATM fees were up yet again to $4.57 per transaction, marking the 10th straight year of increases. [More]
Kroger Accuses Visa Of Using Threats To Force Supermarkets To Accept Less Secure Debit Cards
By 6.28.16
Another week, another large retailer accusing Visa of forcing stores to accept debit cards in a way that it is not as secure as it could be — and which will cost the retailer more money to process. [More]
GM To Compensate Some Vehicle Owners For Misstated Mileage
By 5.20.16
Last week, General Motors revealed that it had incorrectly calculated the fuel economy on three models of SUV. The carmaker stopped the sale of these vehicles and is now going through the mea culpa process, trying to make things right with drivers who already own one of these SUVs.
[More]
Prepaid Debit Cards Are Not Quite As Terrible As They Used To Be
By 4.13.16
There are contexts where prepaid debit cards are useful. Consumers without bank accounts who would otherwise deal all in cash use them, and they’re also useful for distributing allowances. The problem with prepaid cards is that they impose high fees for functions like reloading, using out-of-network ATMs, or monthly fees for simply having the card. However, they’re better than they used to be, largely because at least they disclose those fees. [More]
Retailers Tell Fed: Debit Card Swipe Fees Are Still Too Dang High
By 3.28.16
Even though the Dodd-Frank financial reforms effectively halved the fees that retailers must pay to banks for each debit card transaction, the stores say that amount is still too much. And with all of their legal options exhausted, the retail industry is calling on the Federal Reserve to re-think the cap it put in place nearly five years ago. [More]
Chase To Install Cardless ATMs That Offer A Variety Of Denominations
By 1.26.16
Bank customers weary of using ATMs for fear they’ve been compromised by ne’er-do-wells using skimmers to get their hands on card numbers have a new option. That is, if they bank with JPMorgan Chase, as the company is rolling out new cash machines that are not only cardless, but will let you take out money in a wider variety of denominations. [More]
Safeway Says No Payment Data Stolen From California Stores, Only Colorado
By 12.17.15
There’s potential good news out of Safeway: while the company confirmed that they found skimmers in credit card payment terminals in two states, a spokesperson says that the baddies didn’t harvest any customer data from the stores in California. Instead, the grocer found them back in September while inspecting terminals. While it’s good news that customers didn’t walk up to an ATM only to find their bank accounts drained, it’s still worrisome that someone was able to install the skimmers in the first place. [More]
Colleges Warned About Making Secret Deals With Credit Card Companies
By 12.16.15
In spite of rules intended to crack down on the once-rampant mis-marketing of credit cards to college students, some schools have not been fully transparent about lucrative agreements they’ve made with card companies, and could face federal penalties. [More]
Netflix Thinks You’re Letting Your Subscription Lapse When Your New EMV Payment Card Arrives
By 10.14.15
You are, presumably, a financially responsible adult, or aspire to become one. Yet it’s easy for even the most financially responsible grown-up to forget to change everything over when you receive a new credit or debit card. As banks are supposed to replace all of our cards for the EMV changeover, our forgetting to update the cards on our Netflix accounts is actually affecting the company’s profits. No, really. [More]
Average ATM Fees Hit Record High Of $4.52, Up 21% Over 5 Years
By 10.5.15
If you think you’re being bled dry more quickly by ATM fees, you’re probably not imagining things. A new survey shows that the cost of getting money from an out-of-network ATM has risen 21% over the last five years and the national average is now higher than $4.50 per transaction. [More]
Jewel-Osco: Payment System Outage Could’ve Caused Multiple Charges On Customers’ Cards
By 8.31.15
If you shopped at Jewel-Osco recently and used your credit or debit card to pay, you might want to check your accounts and make sure you weren’t charged multiple times for one transaction: the grocery chain confirmed on Monday that its payment system suffered a glitch that could’ve caused some customers to be overcharged for their purchases. [More]
