The so called ‘Durbin Amendment’ passed by congress last year, limits the amount of interchange fees (or swipe fees) that credit card companies can charge retailers. Because of this, several big credit card companies (Chase, Citi, Bank of America) are retaliating. These major creditors are considering capping debit card use to $50 or $100 for transactions. [...]
Mastercard reported their profits ’soared’ in the 4th Quarter of 2010 as consumers returned to using their plastic even more towards the end of the year. For the last 3 months, OCT-DEC, the credit network giant earned $415 million, a jump of 11% in revenue. For the year, purchases also rose 11% as compared to 2009. [...]
Credit card interest rates are SOARING to all-time new highs according to this week’s report by CNN (found HERE). The average interest rates for plastic are now hovering around 15%. If your credit is poor however, you can pay dearly. In fact, credit challenged consumers with low scores can be expected to pay ridiculous rates, up [...]
The so called ‘greatest generation’, people now in their senior years, are racking up huge amounts of credit card debt. According to surveys, nearly 40% of seniors have said they’ve accumulated credit card debt in their retirement years. Many have no intention of even paying it off. From vacations, to medical bills to just plain old [...]
Black Friday deals, sleeping in tents outside big box retailers, stampeding department stores. It’s all part of the holiday rush to find a deal. There are some deals however that should definitely be avoided. This year, bargain hunters are faced with a very tempting offer. Credit card companies are offering rewards to cardholders that use credit [...]
Remember our very recent post regarding Facebook and credit card debt collectors? Well, to refresh your memory, debt collectors are now using social media such as Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn to track you down. It happened to one woman in Florida. In fact, it’s being called a ‘first of its kind’ case amongst legal professionals. The [...]
If you have difficulties curbing your spending and getting out of debt with your credit cards, you are not alone. Hundreds of thousands of Americans still struggle with credit card debt. Credit card debt is a never ending cycle. Credit card companies know this, and by keeping you in debt, they profit by millions of [...]
Credit card companies are losing billions due to the newly enacted Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act. In an effort to recoup some of these losses, companies are offering ‘business’ credit cards to individual consumers. Why? Because the new laws do not affect business credit cards. Credit card companies are ’skirting’ around the new [...]
Despite all the new regulations imposed by the government, credit card companies still somehow manage to squeeze consumers for every penny. If you have credit card debt, you know what we mean. There are still pitfalls, traps, and tricks credit card companies use, especially now, to make up for lost revenue. Consumer Reports recently published [...]
Ok, for all you folks thinking you’re safe out there with credit cards and the deceptive practices of creditors, here’s one more example of how they put consumers deeper into debt. And they like to keep it that way for obvious reasons. The U.S. Justice Department and seven US states are suing Visa, Mastercard and American [...]
