According to a recent report, consumer borrowing fell in August for the first time in more than ten years. While this decrease was predominantly driven by changes in non-revolving debt, stores such as Kohl’s (KSS), Target (TGT), and Lowe’s (LOW) are reporting that shoppers are increasingly turning away from credit cards and opting for debit [...]
According to the Wall Street Journal, you need to keep a close eye on your credit limits in the coming weeks/months. Given all of the recent economic turmoil, and especially given yesterday’s failure of the economic bailout bill, there is concern that credit card issuers might start rolling back some or all of your available [...]
In case you missed it, the House of Representatives has passed the Credit Card Bill of Rights by a 312-112 margin. This bill, which still has to pass the Senate and be signed into law by the President, puts into law a number of new regulations designed to protect Americans from “abusive lending practices.”
Honestly, I’m [...]
This is just a quick reminder that today is your last chance to register for the TransUnion settlement. If you had a credit card anytime between 1/1/1987 and 5/28/2008, you’re eligible to participate. Benefits include free credit monitoring as well as a possible cash settlement. To register, hop on over to the settlement website at [...]
A few months ago, we received a letter from Citi reporting that our Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard may have been compromised. Accompanying the letter were two new cards, and a note saying that the old cards would stop working shortly.
Fast forward to this morning… I was taking a shower when my wife came in to [...]
According to a recent announcement, eBay will soon transition to 100% electronic payments. As of this October, they are “moving to an electronic checkout process that’s faster and more reliable for sellers and buyers.” This means that they will no longer accept checks or money orders for online transactions.
Items sold for pick-up will still allow [...]
In case you haven’t heard, Discover (DFS) recently raised its default rate, which can be triggered by going over your credit limit or missing a payment, to 31% APR. This isn’t to say that everyone that misses a payment or exceeds their limit will get hit by this rate, but it’s possible. Likewise, Bank of [...]
A few months ago, I predicted that credit cards offering 5% cash back rewards on gas purchases would begin scaling back their rewards programs. This was back when gas prices were hovering around $3.40/gallon. As you are no doubt aware, gas prices are now 15-20% higher than that, and we now have our first victim…
American [...]
Discover (DFS) posted higher than expected earnings this week on the strength of their third-party payment processing network. Interestingly, while the lending business is struggling, customers are increasingly turning toward plastic (either credit or debit) when it comes to making payments. This translates directly into profits for Discover (and other card issuers) as they take [...]
Back in November of 2004, American Express (AXP) filed an anti-trust lawsuit accusing Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) of illegally blocking them from the bank-issued credit card business in the US market. More specifically, AmEx alleged that Visa and MasterCard had colluded to keep their member banks from issuing cards branded by American Express or [...]
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