The Federal Reserve System might be the central banking system of the United States, but it is not your bank. To that end, you can’t provide a service provider, merchant, or other entity with the routing number from the Federal Reserve, and if someone asks you to, it’s likely a scam. [More]
federal reserve
Will The Federal Reserve Fire Wells Fargo Board For Fake Account Fiasco?
By 7.13.17
Last month, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren urged the Federal Reserve to oust the 12 Wells Fargo board members who served during the bank’s fake account fiasco. Today, she received a response, sort of. [More]
Lawmaker Calls For Ouster Of 12 Wells Fargo Board Members
By 6.19.17
Since Wells Fargo’s fake account fiasco came to light in Sept. 2016, the top executive at the bank has “retired,” other executives have departed, and many have lost bonuses. Despite this, there are many holdovers from the years when employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts. To this end, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is calling for the ouster of 12 Wells Fargo board members. [More]
Wall Street Now Owns A Lot Of Homes; Is Kind Of A Mean Landlord
By 1.3.17
The foreclosure crisis of last decade left a lot of houses on the market for cheap. Big investors, including hedge funds, private equity firms, and large investment firms, bought them up to use as single-family rentals. It turns out that a hedge fund several states away is not a friendly landlord. [More]
Payday Lenders Go To Court In Attempt To Keep Working With Banks
By 11.28.16
The payday lending industry claims that recent regulatory efforts to rein in short-term, high-interest loans have severely restricted their access to traditional banks. Now a trade organization representing the controversial lenders has asked for a federal court to intervene. [More]
50 Breaches In Four Years: Federal Reserve Cybersecurity Incidents By The Numbers
By 6.1.16
Cyber criminals seem intent on trying to crack open the Federal Reserve, at least according to a recent analysis of records that show the agency was the target of dozens of cyber breaches over a four-year period. [More]
College Financial Service Provider Higher One To Pay More Than $55M In Fines, Refunds For Misleading Students
By 12.23.15
Higher One, Inc. promises to help students reach their goal of achieving a degree by providing money management and refund services. But federal regulators say the company misled these students into paying improper fees, opening unneeded accounts through deceptive marketing tactics, and now it must pay $55 million in fines and restitution to harmed consumers. [More]
After RushCard Fiasco, Consumer Advocates Urge More Oversight Of Prepaid Cards
By 10.26.15
For the better part of two weeks, thousands of unbanked consumers who rely on prepaid RushCards have been unable to access their funds because of a technical glitch. While the company run by Russell Simmons continues to fix the issue, consumer advocates are pointing at the incident as evidence that federal regulators need to do more to protect prepaid cardholders. [More]
Sorry, You Can’t Pay The IRS With A Check For $100 Million Anymore
By 9.14.15
You there! The one ready to write a big, fat check to the Internal Revenue Service — drop that pen. The agency has announced that it will no longer accept checks for $100 million, so you’ll just have to write more than one check. So yeah, you can go ahead and pick that pen up again now. [More]
Pot-Centric Colorado Credit Union Sues Federal Reserve Bank For Denying Account
By 7.31.15
The state of Colorado no longer outlaws recreational marijuana use, but the U.S. government still considers it a Schedule I controlled substance, so many businesses making money from the locally legal sale of cannabis are having trouble finding banks to handle their cash. One credit union formed with the goal of providing financial services to those in the marijuana industry received a charter from Colorado, but has filed suit against a regional Federal Reserve bank for blocking its ability to work with other banks. [More]
Fed Survey Finds Most Consumers Are Happy With Their Finances, Despite Lack Of Retirement Savings
By 5.27.15
As the economy continues to bounce back from the Great Recession, consumers have adopted a more optimistic outlook when it comes to their finances despite the fact that a third of the country has no savings put away for the future, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve. [More]
Citigroup Forgot To Compensate 23,000 Consumers For Abusive Foreclosure Practices, Sending Checks Now
By 3.4.15
Several years ago, Citigroup reached a deal with federal regulators that required the company to provide compensation for nearly 380,000 people affected by foreclosure abuse. Only the lender didn’t exactly follow through, failing to send checks to 23,000 consumers. [More]
American Consumers Now Have The Most Debt Ever
By 9.30.14
Did the recent recession make consumers realize that carrying large amounts of debt for their credit card and car purchases is a bad thing? No, Americans have not adopted widespread frugality, a report from the Federal Reserve shows. We’re taking on more consumer debt than ever. Yes, even when you adjust it for inflation. [More]
The Consumerist 101 Guide To Understanding Your Financial Regulators
By 3.22.14
Washington, D.C., might as well be called Acronym City. It feels like there are a zillion different, discrete agencies, organizations, bureaus, boards, and commissions within the federal government, each with its own graceless three-, four-, or five-initial moniker, forming the tangled web of a bureaucracy that regulates… well, almost everything. So what are the key regulatory agencies, anyway? Who oversees what, and who do they report to, and how does it all work? [More]
Appeals Court Resurrects Fed’s Debit Card Swipe Fee Limits
By 3.21.14
In a move that will please banks and annoy retailers, a federal appeals court has overruled a lower court decision on swipe fees — the amount banks charge retailers for each debit card transaction — and revived the previous controversial standards put in place by the Federal Reserve in 2011. [More]
Former AIG CEO Loses Bid To Sue Fed Over Bailout
By 1.29.14
More than five years after AIG received nearly $200 billion from taxpayers to prevent the insurance giant’s inevitable collapse, and a year after the company finished repaying that money, its former CEO is still attempting to sue the U.S. government and Federal Reserve over this very bailout, saying it violated shareholders’ Constitutional rights and that the Fed violated Delaware state law. Today, a federal appeals court dealt a serious blow to his case. [More]
A Small Victory Against Predatory Lending? Regions Discontinues Payday Loan Product
By 1.15.14
It’s only a small victory in the battle against predatory loans, but there’s now one less bank offering a high-risk payday lending product to consumers. Regions Bank has closed the door on its payday loan-esque deposit advance product. [More]
Regulators Ask Banks To Not Be Jerks To Customers Affected By Shutdown
By 10.9.13
The shutdown of the federal government is now a week old, meaning a growing number of furloughed workers — and employees of businesses whose income depends on government contracts — are having trouble keeping up with their bills. In a joint statement today, five regulators have asked banks and other financial institutions to be mindful of customers who are directly impacted by the current staring contest. [More]
