For years, educated credit card holders have been safe in the knowledge that a merchant could not require them to purchase a minimum amount in order to charge something to their cards. But with the recent passing of the finance bill, the door has been opened to allow such minimums — and the card companies are just fine with that. [More]
visa
Last $10 On Visa Gift Card Proves Seemingly Inextractable
By 7.7.10
Kate has a $50 Visa gift card. She used $40 on it and then tried to buy some DVDs for $7, but the card was rejected. What gives? [More]
Brits May Challenge Visa's 2012 Olympics Exclusivity
By 6.24.10
If you’ve gone to an Olympic event over the past 22 years, Visa was everywhere you wanted to be. And everywhere you didn’t want to be. In fact, thanks to a contract between Visa and the International Olympic Committee, Visa has been the only credit or debit card allowed at the Olympics since the Seoul games in 1988. But Britain may challenge the exclusivity in the run up to the 2012 games. [More]
Top 6 Examples Of Why No One Trusts Banks These Days
By 6.18.10
Seems like in the last few years that big banks make embarrassing errors as often as criminals commit crimes at Taco Bell. So it was no small feat for the editors over at CNN Money to whittle it down to their list of 6 Biggest Banking Blunders of recent years… By the way, three of them involve Bank of America. [More]
"$10 Minimum For Credit Card Purchase" Signs May Soon Be Totally Legit
By 5.21.10
As we all know, merchants are generally not supposed to mandate minimum credit card purchases. It’s a violation of the merchant agreements they sign with the credit card companies. (For more info, check out this article.) The proposed finance bill, however, may legitimize those handwritten signs if it ends up passing. [More]
VIDEO: VISA Is A Monster That Feeds On Human Wealth, And VISA Is Hungry
By 5.6.10
“Go. Get it. Run. Use your VISA card right now. It doesn’t matter what you use your VISA card to buy. It doesn’t matter what you use your VISA to buy. All that matters is that VISA is a monster that feeds on human wealth. And VISA is hungry.” The credit card companies’ rapacious desire for your debt is laid bare in this commercial parody video. I guess you would call what we’re going through now the purging stage? NSFW due to naughty words and suggestive simulating gestures. [More]
Walmart Adding 500 More MoneyCenters Nationwide In 2010
By 3.16.10
While banks have spent the last two years consolidating and closing, it looks like people have been turning elsewhere for their financial services. Walmart — you might have heard of them — just opened up their 1,000th in-store MoneyCenter and have announced they’re rolling them out to 500 more locations before the end of 2010. [More]
Chase Thinks Boston Non-Smoker Bought $100 Worth Of Smokes In Florida
By 3.11.10
Now that Chase has reversed their initial decision and issued a refund to the retiree they accused of credit card fraud, maybe they can take a look at a rather similar case, but on a smaller scale. Reader P tells Consumerist that Chase ruled that he is responsible for some uncharacteristic purchases he purportedly made thousands of miles away from where he was at the time. [More]
If I Can't Check ID's, How Am I Supposed To Prevent Credit Card Fraud?
By 2.18.10
We’ve told you that it stipulates in the contract between merchants and credit card companies that stores aren’t allowed to force you to show ID when you buy stuff, but what about the other side of the story? Alex is a 26-year old small business owner and Consumerist lover, but he doesn’t know how he’s supposed to prevent fraud if he can’t check people’s ID’s. Contrary to what some commenters assume, when a stolen credit card is used, the money gets yanked out of Alex’s bank account and he is unlikely to get it or the missing merchandise back. He gets jacked twice: once by the fraudster, and once by the credit card company. What should he do? Switch to cash only? His story, inside… [More]
Disney Store Refuses Small Credit Card Purchase Because You Left Your ID In The Car
By 2.8.10
UPDATE: This complaint has been resolved. Reader Terry is annoyed because the Disney Store refused to sell his family $8.50 worth of stuff unless he went out and got his wife’s ID from the car. [More]
Buying Things In Puerto Rico Is Apparently "International" Commerce
By 1.11.10
So, Puerto Rico is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States. Its head of state is Barack Obama. Its currency is the US Dollar. So why is one of Chris Elliott’s readers being charged an international transaction fee on her Visa? [More]
Best Buy Bans Visa Contactless Payment Over High Fees
By 1.6.10
If you buy something with your Visa card at Best Buy, you’ll have to go the old fashioned route, comparatively speaking, and swipe it. Visa demands that contactless payments have to be signed, which is more profitable for Visa but not for Best Buy. Visa refused to change their policy, so Best Buy says it will no longer allow customers to pay that way, reports StorefrontBacktalk. Mastercard doesn’t ban PINs on contactless payments and will continue to be an option. [More]
Sign The Slip Or Enter Your PIN? The Difference Is Fees
By 1.5.10
The NYT has an interesting article about what does on behind the scenes when you make a purchase at a retailer with your VISA debit card. You typically have two choices — you can enter your PIN or choose to sign. When you sign the retailer has to pay higher fees to VISA. [More]
10 Reasons Why Gift Cards Suck
By 12.2.09
When we announced the availability of free Consumerist anti-gift cards yesterday, we were surprised to see so many pro-gift card comments. So, we decided to put together a quick list of the reasons we think gift cards are lame — especially compared to cash. [More]
Citibank Shocks Reader With Consumer-Friendly Policy
By 10.28.09
Anthony received a Newegg rebate in the form of a prepaid debit card. When he went to use the $15 card for a $15.93 purchase, he received an unexpected and wonderful surprise.
Kindle Fees Trigger Fraud Alert On Visa Card
By 10.28.09
Considering the growing amount of credit card fraud, it’s not surprising that banks are becoming more and more vigilant about identifying suspicious transactions. It’s too bad they haven’t been as successful at filtering out false positives or promptly notifying customers, as James Fallows at The Atlantic recently discovered when he got his account frozen for sending files to his Kindle.
No Visa Or MasterCard Gift Cards This Year, Please
By 10.26.09
If you want to spread some fiscally sound good cheer this year, consider asking your friends, relatives, and coworkers not to give gift cards backed by the major credit card companies. Why am I making such a sour suggestion? Because a new study from two consumer advocacy groups indicates that most of the population still doesn’t recognize what a money trap those little plastic cards can be.
Credit Union Celebrates Labor Day By Limiting ATM Transactions To $40
By 9.5.09
How are you spending the long weekend? If you’re one of 2,000 Arizona Federal Credit Union customers affected in a Visa security breach, we hope you weren’t planning a trip out of state.
