Lately, many banks and celebrities have been encouraging us to switch from credit or debit cards to prepaid cards. And even though these tools have their downsides, we can think of five situations when prepaid cards are the right plastic for the purpose.
This Sunday marks the first day that consumers could start paying an extra fee just for using their credit card to make purchases. But don't panic: It's unlikely to kick in right away, especially at the biggest retailers.
When financial industry reforms in Washington nixed some of banks' favorite ways to drain extra profits out of your credit and debit cards, they turned to a slightly different piece of plastic: the prepaid credit card. And celebrities are looking to profit from them too.
Credit unions have a long way to go before they threaten the financial dominance of commercial banks. But Americans are moving billions of dollars of their business in that direction every year, and there's good reason for that trend to continue -- and for you to jump on the bandwagon.
The election may have put economic issues like the fiscal cliff in the spotlight, but there are still plenty of consumer-level financial pain points that need fixing. Here are 10 of the most common consumer money problems.
Long-suffering businesses have won a big concession from Visa and MasterCard: the right to add surcharges to credit card purchases. But despite the panicky rhetoric that followed the deal, there's reason to believe not many retailers will take advantage.
Until now, merchants weren't allowed to charge those buying with credit cards a higher price, although they could offer discounts for cash. But last week, an antitrust settlement opened the door for surcharges -- and could impact the way you shop.
Merchants have long sought the right to charge customers more for paying with a credit card, which would help them defray the cost of accepting plastic. That's currently banned by Visa and MasterCard, but deal in the works could change that.
The Obama administration's consumer financial watchdog agency is backing off a plan to limit big upfront fees on credit cards. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acknowledged Thursday that its proposal would increase costs for cardholders and allow banks to charge more in fees.
It's easy to understand the allure of brokerage credit cards. They're cash-back cards that route the the kickbacks into a brokerage account for capital appreciation. Free money creating more free money: What could possibly go wrong?
Aftershocks from the financial crisis are still hitting U.S. banks: They're getting sued over everything from bonds stuffed with fraudulent home loans to improper foreclosures to credit card fees. Here are the five banks with the most to lose from those lawsuits.
Chances are you've been pitched a retail card more than once. Usually it goes something like this: "Will you be saving 10% using your [name of store] card today?" The hope is you'll find the prospect of a discount alluring enough to sign up. But should you?
We Americans can't live without our credit cards -- but there are a few varieties of plastic that should be kept out of consumers' wallets. Here's CardRatings list of the five Worst Credit Cards of 2011 (plus one that you might want to reconsider).
Sometimes it pays to wait; sometimes it doesn't. Just ask the roughly 10 million cardholders who were part of the Foreign Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust class action lawsuit settlement. After a decade of legal wrangling, the settlement funds are finally being disbursed -- but a suit this large can dilute even $336 million.
It appears that complaints from consumers and regulators about the lack of credit card transparency at banks have not fallen on deaf ears. According to CardHub.com's 2011 Credit Card Application Study, the 10 biggest issuers of plastic have significantly improved transparency this year.