creditcardfees

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.

During the battle over Credit CARD Act, much talk focused on what the legislation would -- and wouldn't -- do. A year after the law rolled out, what's the word now? Here's an on-the-ground look at how card issuers and consumers are adapting to the new landscape.

Perhaps no area of life affects undergraduate students more than credit. In this article, Money College writer Peter Sachs offers seven essential tips; please check out Money College's Katie Drews' insights into credit and college here. What better way to take advantage of your new-found...

Last week, Citibank began issuing letters informing some cardholders that as of April 1, 2010, a $60 annual fee will be applied to accounts. The company didn't return my call for comment, but it has widely been reported that accounts were selected based on customer history and payment performance,...