The Long Shadow of Bad Credit in Job Search Over the last several decades, credit reporting bureaus have been selling their services to a much wider range of buyers than just banks. Nearly half of employers use credit checks when … Continue reading
Credit Card Companies Battle in China The Ms. Magic credit card from China Citic Bank is dotted with crystals and offers free beauty treatments and health insurance. Huaxia Bank's Pretty Lady card entices women with triple points for cosmetic purchases … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fears that the rising debt from student loans could begin to significantly affect the economy, and is calling for more flexible repayment plans for the millions of Americans struggling with private student loans. After studying … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed a complaint in a federal district court in New York against two debt-relief service providers. The companies allegedly charged consumers illegal advance fees for debt-settlement services. The CFPB is trying to stop their … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is adjusting its rule that creates certain protections for consumers that send money overseas via international money transfers. The rule was first proposed on December 31, 2012 and will take effect on October 28, 2013. Under the … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has adjusted one provision from the CARD Act in order to make it easier for spouses or partners who do not work outside the home to qualify for credit cards. It now allows credit card issuers to consider income … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has turned its attention to payday and deposit advance loans. It issued a new report that finds these products lead to a cycle of indebtedness. Not surprising, it found that loose lending standards, high costs … Continue reading
U.S. Amasses Big Data on 10 Million People, Banks Protest The CFPB is working towards monitoring how millions of Americans use credit cards, take out mortgages, and overdraw their checking accounts, but bankers aren't happy about it. The CFPB wants access … Continue reading
Richard Cordray is scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee today, but the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee refuses to let him testify before the House panel because he hasn't been approved by the Senate. Representative Jeb … Continue reading
ATM Fees on the Rise Using an ATM outside of your bank's network is becoming more expensive. The average fee a bank charged a non-customer for using their ATM in 2012 was $2.10, a 20 percent increase from the $1.75 … Continue reading
If you have a soon-to-be high school graduate planning to enter college this fall, there’s another reason not to let him or her get burdened by credit card debt. A new report by the Federal Reserve, in its March interest-rate … Continue reading
18 States Considering Ban on Credit Card Surcharges Eighteen states are now considering legislation that would bar retailers from imposing surcharges when consumers use their credit cards. Ten states have already imposed bans on credit card surcharges, which limited the potential impact of … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a new rule regarding the disclosure of ATM fees. ATM operators will be required to provide consumers with either an on-screen disclosure or a printout of applicable fees for using an ATM machine. These … Continue reading
What You Need to Know About Credit Card Processing Here is a series of posts about a search for an honest and affordable processor of credit card transactions. My own search began when I was tipped off that I was … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is turning its attention to auto lenders. The CFPB says some lenders may be giving auto loans through auto dealerships that charge minorities above-market interest rates. It says the potentially discriminatory markups in auto lending … Continue reading
Lawmakers Target Unfair Overdraft Charges Democrats have introduced a bill that would limit the cost of overdraft fees and prohibit practices that increase the likelihood customers will overdraw their accounts. The Overdraft Protection Act would prohibit financial institutions from charging more … Continue reading
The nomination of Richard Cordray to again head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was approved by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee by a 12-10 vote that was split down party lines. Every Democrat on the Committee approved Cordray, every Republican … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a new rule that would allow it to supervise some nonbank student loan servicers and bring new regulation to a quickly expanding market. The new rule would let the CFPB access the whole process … Continue reading
After this week's confirmation hearings, Republican senators continue to block the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. However, a Senate panel has scheduled a meeting for March 19 to vote on Cordray, as well as … Continue reading
Richard Cordray, the current director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will face the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, March 12, on his re-nomination to head the agency. Cordray was nominated by President Obama in January but his confirmation has … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received a second letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, calling on the agency to make some significant changes in its operation. David Hirschmann, the senior vice president of the Chamber, sent a letter … Continue reading
You may be glad to receive that new credit card in the mail, but make sure you understand all the details associated with your card before you jump into the urge to splurge. Reading the details spelled out by the … Continue reading
The re-nomination of Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau remains a political hot button. Cordray can be confirmed by majority vote in the Senate, but a minority of 40 Senators can block an agreement to hold … Continue reading
N.J. Calls Off Credit Card Pitches to Students at Public Colleges Companies that issue credit cards can no longer market them to students at New Jersey public colleges under a law Gov. Christie signed Thursday. The new law prohibits public … Continue reading
A total of eleven state attorneys general are now part of the lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of sections of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The plaintiffs claim that the Act has no effective checks and … Continue reading
A report released today by the Federal Trade Commission underscores the need for Americans to check their credit reports on a regular basis. The FTC study found that 26 percent of consumers had a material error on at least one of … Continue reading
California Supreme Court Makes it Easier for Apple, Online Businesses to Collect Personal Data A divided California Supreme Court ruled that online merchants such as Apple and Ticketmaster can require consumers to furnish personal information to make credit card purchases. … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is launching an inquiry into the impact of financial products marketed to students through colleges and universities. It will then determine whether these arrangements are in the best interest of students. "We have seen many … Continue reading
Secrets of Mobile Success: Cost-Cutting Banks Seek Smartphone Customers Strapped for new revenue and pressed into waves of cost cuts, the country's largest banks are trying to keep the customers they have, woo the ones they don't and do it … Continue reading
Enforcement actions against credit card issuers and new mortgage guidelines instituted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may now be in jeopardy. Last Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with Republican lawmakers that the … Continue reading
With Cordray Nomination, Obama Renews Fight With GOP President Obama renominated Richard Cordray for head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday. Cordray is currently serving in the post thanks to a recess appointment. A year and a half ago, … Continue reading
President Obama today re-nominated Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This will be Cordray's first permanent term. He was selected for the post as a recess appointment in January 2012, which did not require Senate confirmation. … Continue reading
Why More Americans Will Fall Behind on Their Credit Card Bills This Year A quarterly report issued last month by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that, although our total debt dropped by $74 billion in the third … Continue reading
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced new mortgage rules that aim to reduce risky lending and make it harder for some consumers to qualify. The rules also look to ensure that borrowers can repay their mortgage loan. Gone are … Continue reading
On Monday, ten U.S. banks agreed to pay $8.5 billion to settle regulator's accusations that they didn't follow the correct foreclosure process and made errors in the loan process. This includes the robo-signers used to sign off on thousands of … Continue reading
Consumer Watchdog Readies to Bare Its Teeth The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is entering 2013 poised to flex its muscles as it finishes up a list of studies and rules required by the law. They will have wide latitude to … Continue reading
Consumer Group Warns of Card Surcharges Credit cardholders must be on the watch for new check-out fees that merchants will be able to impose starting in January under a class-action settlement with Visa and MasterCard. But merchant trade groups say … Continue reading
2012 was a relatively quiet year for the credit card industry. However, there were a number of developments that may have a far-reaching impact in the years to come. Here are the top ten credit card stories of 2012: Swipe … Continue reading
Today, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing to investigate the accuracy and regulation of credit reports. The hearing is called "Making Sense of Consumer Credit Reports" and credit analysts from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and consumer data … Continue reading
Bank of America’s Plan to Drive Mobile Banking Beyond 12 Million Users As part of a drive to sign up more people for mobile banking, Bank of America is outfitting its teller stations with quick response (QR) codes that can … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced yesterday that it will begin sharing data from consumer complaints with state regulatory agencies. This makes filing complaints easier for consumers. With one compliant, multiple government agencies can work on solving the problem for … Continue reading
Credit Card Penalty Payments are Arriving More than $425 million in refunds and restitution will soon be sent to millions of consumers nationwide, penalties paid for deceptive credit card practices. And another $410 million--from Bank of America--is already landing in … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ombudsman has released its first annual report. The Bureau's Ombudsman office was established as part of the Dodd-Frank Act in December 2011. The office, headed by Wendy Kamenshine, advocates for a fair process as between … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to bring transparency and accountability to consumer reporting agencies. Today, the CFPB warned specialty credit reporting agencies that they may be violating federal law by not providing consumers with easy access to credit reports. … Continue reading
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launched a project to encourage consumer-friendly innovation and entrepreneurship for consumer financial products and services. The initiative, Project Catalyst, is an attempt by the CFPB to give consumers access to fair, transparent, competitive, and … Continue reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its first Supervisory Highlights report yesterday, describing the problems and risky practices that its investigators found during their supervision process. The CFPB can supervise a number of financial institutions including banks with over $10 billion … Continue reading
Credit Card Settlement Could Stymie PayPal's Retail Plans A provision within the hotly-contested settlement between merchants and credit card networks could potentially slow PayPal's bid to become more widely accepted at grocery stores, restaurants and other retailers. Retailers that choose to … Continue reading
Beginning January 2, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be supervising large debt collectors. Any firm with more than $10 million in annual receipts from consumer debt collection will be subject to CFPB supervision. This includes 175 debt collectors … Continue reading
The recent actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will put $425 million back into the hands of credit card consumers. That is the total amount of restitution that will be refunded to nearly six million credit cardholders as part … Continue reading
Starting today, consumers can file complaints about credit reports with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The government agency can help consumers with "individual level complaint assistance on issues with their credit report." The CFPB will work with the following complaints: … Continue reading