The Federal Reserve unveiled its ruling today on the fees banks can charge merchants for processing debit cards at 21 cents a swipe. The cap is far less restrictive than the 12 cent ceiling set by the Dodd-Frank bill, but is still less than the current 44 cent average. It’s uncertain how this will affect the consumer. [More]
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Spend Only 1 Hour/Wk On Your Money By Automating All Your Accounts
By 6.29.11
Here’s a 12-minute video that shows you how you can put all your money on autopilot and end up spending only an hour a week managing your accounts. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 6.28.11
4 Unusual Places to Stash Retirement Funds [US News] “Here are four savings vehicles that offer something unique to the retirement saver.”
4 Sites to Check Before Buying a New Car [Money Talks News] “If you check out all of these and still like the car you’ve targeted, you can buy with more confidence.”
25 Great Movies About Money [Wise Bread] “The best 25 that show a variety of themes across many different genres and ratings.”
10 fees that can wreck your retirement savings [Market Watch] “10 of the fees that can eat away at your retirement savings.”
10 Things Shopping Malls Won’t Tell You [Smart Money] “Come hungry, stay late, and pay no attention to those ‘for rent’ signs.”
High-Yield Checking Isn't Dead, You Just Have To Look Harder
By 6.23.11
You would almost think that high-yield checking was dead from the massive pullback over the past few years from previous leaders like HSBC, ING Direct and Smartypig, but it’s possible to find banks offering checking accounts still offering rates as high as 4% and even 6%, as long as you follow the new, stricter, rules. [More]
U.S. Bank Tests EMV Chip Cards For International Travelers
By 6.21.11
Good news for Americans who like to go to other countries in the world. U.S. Bank is going to roll out EMV chip cards to 20,000 FlexPerks Visa cardholders this month, adding steam to a small but growing push to get traveling Americans credit cards that can work in the “chip and PIN” systems prevalent in Europe and beyond. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 6.21.11
7 steps to clean up your credit report [MSN Money] “Errors are common: Here’s how to find and fix them.”
10 Things Life Insurers Won’t Tell You [Smart Money] “The coverage you can skip, and what’s buried in the fine print.”
Is a debt-free life the best way to live? [CNN Money] “In a word, no.”
How to Really Manage Your Credit [Wall Street Journal] “Meet the world’s most financially self-controlled man.”
Financial Advice Gleaned From a Day in the Hot Seat [NY Times] “The value to me was that the members challenged everything about my assumptions on saving and spending.”
IRS Gives $110,000 To Wrong Guy, Now He's In Jail
By 6.17.11
A California father is in jail and faces charges after the IRS deposited $110,000 in his account that should have gone to another taxpayer, reports KCAL. [More]
AMEX Unveils Low-Cost Prepaid Card Without Hidden Fees
By 6.14.11
The prepaid card industry is notorious for preying on poorer consumers with hidden fees for just about every thing you use it for. There’s even fees for not using them, in the form of inactivity fees. So it’s an unexpected breath of fresh air that American Express is rolling out a new prepaid card with very few fees and a pretty straightforward approach, at least for consumers. [More]
How Hackers Stole 200,000+ Citi Accounts Just By Changing Numbers In The URL
By 6.14.11
Details have emerged has to how hackers were able to steal over 200,000 Citi customer accounts, including names, credit card numbers, mailing addresses and email addresses. It turns out quite easily, in fact. All they had to do was log in as a customer and change around a few numbers into the browser’s URL bar, NYT reports. Facepalm. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 6.14.11
When A Career Veers Off Track [Wall Street Journal] “10 ways to avoid [career derailment].”
Many of us won’t be able to retire until our 80s [Marketwatch] “You’ll probably have to work much longer than you anticipated.”
Personal financial advice from Barack Obama [CNN Money] “Don’t spend all your money.”
The Real Secret to ‘Market Beating’ Returns [Smart Money] “Some investment pros are touting stock-picking prowess by comparing their returns, including dividends, to the S&P’s 500-stock index — without dividends.”
How to eat when you’re really broke [MSN Money] “Forget fast food, processed foods and eating out frequently.”
Avoid Credit Card Problems When Traveling Overseas
By 6.13.11
Most credit cards in Europe have an embedded PIN chip in them, called an EMV card. Almost no American credit cards do. This causes big problems for Americans traveling in Europe but there are a few ways to minimize the hassle. [More]
ATM Can Tell If You're Lying
By 6.9.11
Leave it to the Russians. Their biggest retail bank, Sberbank, is testing out a new kind of ATM that has a built-in lie detector. [More]
Taxes On Car Sharing Eclipse Sales Tax Rates
By 6.9.11
Car-sharing services are a great way to save on all the expenses of owning a car while still getting to use it for short trips. But they would save you even more money if they weren’t being taxed at sometimes more than double than the going sales tax rate. That’s because many states are taxing car-sharing services just like they were rental cars, a new study comparing taxes on car-sharing services across the nation shows. [More]
Breach: Citi Says Hackers Stole Hundreds Of Thousands Of Credit Cards
By 6.9.11
Roughly 200,000 Citi customers’ credit cards were stolen by hackers in a breach the bank just announced today. The data included names, credit card numbers, mailing addresses and email addresses. [More]
Have You Quit Mint.com?
By 6.8.11
Mint.com started as a darling of free online personal finance management tools but the love affair has soured for some users since the site was acquired by Intuit back in 2009. At first it was complaints about the ads for Quicken and other Intuit products and some of the fun language and tone getting lost. But in late 2010 Mint switched their backend system from Yodlee to Quicken’s in-house one, leading a number of customers’ accounts screwed up and prompting some to abandon Mint entirely. [More]
Best Student Checking Accounts
By 6.8.11
New freshman entering college this Fall should take the time right now to get their banking account set up if they don’t have one already. Consumerist Commentary rounds up the best student checking accounts and compares their benefits and fees. The good news is that the best of the crop have no fees, or fees waived if you can meet some pretty easy requirements. [More]
Credit Card Reform Worked: Prices Not Increased, Just Clearer
By 6.8.11
Ignore all the haters. Credit card reform in 2009 did its job, making credit cards less confusing and safer for consumers. According to a new study from the Center for Responsible Lending, contrary to popular misconception, the reforms didn’t increase prices for credit cards, it just made the real costs clearer. Banks couldn’t tuck costs in hidden fees and sneaky practices, they had to put them on the sign out front. [More]
