Archive for the 'Credit Cards' Category

Credit Card Skimming: How To Protect Yourself

Right now someone, somewhere, may be using one of your credit cards — without your permission.

Are you paying new, higher charges on your credit cards?

When the Credit Card consumers’ Bill of Rights goes into effect next month (Feb. 22, 2010), banks will be prohibited from using some of the worst unfair practices they have been subjecting their customers to.

That’s why banks have been working hard to dream up new fees…

Citibank closes number of credit card accounts; credit scores may be affected

No law prevents banks from closing down credit accounts without warning.

The new Credit Card Consumers’ Bill of Rights has done nothing to change that.

But when Citibank recently closed a number of Mastercard accounts — co-branded with oil partners such as Shell, Citgo, ExxonMobil and Phillips 66-Conoco — it did so on very short notice. [video]

Credit Card Consumers’ Bill of Rights goes into effect

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD) is a credit cardholders’ Bill of Right that prohibits various tricks and traps until now used by the credit card industry — including hidden interest rate hikes and exorbitant fees. [video]

National credit score averages are dropping

As more Americans struggle to pay their bills while banks at the same time take actions to limit credit card debt, national credit score averages are dropping.

5 Good Reasons to Always Check Your Credit Card Statements

If you are in the habit of routinely filing your credit card statements without so much as glancing at the list of charges, you could be losing money without knowing it.

Just when you can use some extra money, credit card companies are making deep cuts

After years of flooding Americans with credit card offers and sky-high credit lines, lenders are sharply curtailing both, just as an eroding economy squeezes consumers.

The pullback is affecting even creditworthy consumers and threatens an already beleaguered banking industry with another wave of heavy losses after an era in which it reaped near record gains from the business of easy credit that it helped create.

U.S. banks tighten credit card lending too late

Closing millions of accounts, cutting credit lines and raising interest rates are just some of the moves credit card issuers are using to try to inoculate themselves from a tsunami of expected consumer defaults.

Credit card insiders tell of deceptive practices

Two former employees of credit card issuer MBNA, now owned by Bank of America, said on Wednesday they were forced to use aggressive and deceptive practices with customers in order to boost revenues.

Credit Cards: Finally a Little Good News for The Little Guy

The bill would make it a lot easier for the humble consumer to get a fair deal from the credit card companies. It would eliminate a variety of tricks and traps of the credit card business, like retroactive interest rate hikes.