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Keyword: creditcard

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  • Credit card companies are watching you

    07/08/2009 3:13:08 PM PDT · by JoeProBono · 46 replies · 1,951+ views
    marketplace ^ | July 8, 2009
    With credit card defaults rising, some companies are looking for reasons to cut your plastic. To make these decisions, banks rely on data about what you buy, where, and the company you keep. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports. Not all that long ago credit-card companies were looking for reasons to give us credit. As we all know now, it didn't take much to get a shiny new piece of plastic in your wallet. But with credit-card defaults rising, those companies have started looking for reasons to take some of that credit away. To help them figure out how, banks are compiling thousands...
  • Bill Collectors Using Loophole to Seize Social Security & VA payments

    06/23/2009 1:27:26 PM PDT · by BP2 · 12 replies · 1,234+ views
    MainStreet.com ^ | 6-22-09 | Stephen Ohlemacher
    <p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Bill collectors are exploiting a legal loophole to seize Social Security and veterans' benefits even though federal law is supposed to protect the payments from creditors.</p> <p>Lawmakers from both parties who have been pressing the Treasury Department for years to close the loophole with new regulations are growing impatient. The Obama administration is now promising action but has offered no timetable for developing the new rules.</p>
  • CHART OF THE DAY: Credit Card Loss Rate At All-Time High

    06/20/2009 7:55:19 AM PDT · by FromLori · 16 replies · 995+ views
    And it'll probably go a lot higher. Everyone knows that banks are going to take a bath on their credit card portfolios. The question is: How bad will it get. Not surprisingly, we've alredy reached an all-time high charge-off level, but nobody expects it to peak anytime soon. Bankruptcy filings, meanwhile, are creeping back up, but are still well below the levels seen before the law changed.
  • Credit-Card Fees Curbed

    05/20/2009 4:28:09 AM PDT · by GOP_Lady · 106 replies · 4,423+ views
    The Wall Street Journal ^ | 05-20-09 | SUDEEP REDDY
    Sweeping new restrictions on credit-card companies would ban extra fees and fluctuating rates and arm tens of millions of consumers with more information on their debts. Starting in February 2010, a Senate bill passed Tuesday would ban practices such as charging consumers to pay by phone and sudden surges in interest rates. Payments above the minimum due would be applied to balances with the highest interest rates. Information once relegated to tiny print must be made clearer, and consumers will soon be told how long it would take to pay off a balance if they pay only the minimum due.
  • The Credit Card Death Spiral

    05/15/2009 5:29:05 AM PDT · by TigerLikesRooster · 34 replies · 1,015+ views
    Wealth Daily ^ | 05/14/09 | Ian Cooper
    The Credit Card Death Spiral By Ian Cooper | Thursday, May 14th, 2009 The stress tests are done. The results were so-so. Financials are up. Unfortunately, foreclosures are still climbing, credit card defaults are growing and could out-pace unemployment, and no one knows how to value toxic assets. But the bank crisis has been solved! Yep, and I'm the king of England. Just as we called back in July 5, 2008, credit cards have and will continue to take it on the chin. But not many people listened: "AXP will be fine," one reader said. "You're blowing the consumer issue...
  • Advanta to cease new credit card lending(credit card crisis starting)

    05/13/2009 9:14:40 AM PDT · by TigerLikesRooster · 13 replies · 1,245+ views
    AP ^ | 05/12/09
    Advanta to cease new credit card lending Advanta plans to cease new credit card lending as it battles losses; shares fall On Tuesday May 12, 2009, 10:20 am EDT SPRING HOUSE, Pa. (AP) -- Advanta Corp. said late Monday it will shut down its credit card lending operations next month as it battles surging loan losses. Shares tumbled more than 6 percent, losing 7 cents to $1.06 in early trading Tuesday. Shares have dropped 88 percent over the past 12 months.
  • Woman Steals Town's Credit Card, Spends Thousands

    05/13/2009 9:03:48 AM PDT · by TigerLikesRooster · 10 replies · 677+ views
    WBZ ^ | 05/12/09
    Woman Steals Town's Credit Card, Spends Thousands DOVER (WBZ) ― The search is on for a woman wanted for using a credit card belonging to the town of Dover to purchase American Express gift cards from Staples stores in several Massachusetts towns. Police say about $7,000 in charges had piled up before the town realized what had happened and canceled the credit card. Dover police say this woman used a town credit card to purchase American Express gift cards from Staples stores throughout the state. Massachusetts Most Wanted
  • Here They Come To Save The Day(Schiff)

    04/26/2009 6:23:28 PM PDT · by TigerLikesRooster · 20 replies · 1,207+ views
    Euro Pacific Capital ^ | 04/24/09 | Peter Schiff
    Here They Come To Save The Day With much fanfare this week, Congress and the Administration began a series of actions designed to protect over-leveraged consumers from the high fees imposed by credit card lenders. As with most other initiatives devised by government, this policy will create a host of unintended consequences that will undermine the benefit the program hopes to create. Anyone who carries a credit card knows that billing practices have become much more aggressive, punitive, and seemingly arbitrary over recent years. Sadly, these fees have become one of the only means the companies can use to compensate...
  • Obama to host credit-card CEOs (Actually, he summons them!)

    04/23/2009 8:46:37 AM PDT · by wk4bush2004 · 24 replies · 824+ views
    WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, appealing to mainstream consumers, is pushing for more legal protection for the millions of Americans who use credit cards.
  • ICE nabs man at LMMIA with 172 fraudulent credit cards

    04/22/2009 4:22:57 PM PDT · by Cindy · 7 replies · 542+ views
    ICE.gov ^ | April 22, 2009 | n/a
    Note: The following text is a quote: ICE nabs man at LMMIA with 172 fraudulent credit cards SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A 28–year–old man was arrested Monday at the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (LMMIA) for credit card fraud following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Secret Service investigation. Alexis De Jesus, a United States citizen residing in New York, arrived at the LMMIA from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and was referred to a secondary inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors. The search of De Jesus and his luggage revealed 172 fraudulent credit...
  • Obama plans credit-card push

    04/19/2009 6:29:08 PM PDT · by Extremely Extreme Extremist · 30 replies · 1,281+ views
    POLITICO ^ | 19 APRIL 2009 | AP
    White House economic adviser Larry Summers told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that President Obama plans to join a push planned by congressional Democrats on “credit card abuses” as part of looking out for the little guy while rebuilding the nation’s financial system. "We need to do things to stop the marketing of credit in ways that addicts people to it," Summers said. Summers told moderator David Gregory that Obama is concerned about “the way people have been deceived into paying extraordinarily high rates that they wouldn't have paid if they knew what they were getting themselves into.”
  • Obama to Target Pricey Credit Card Fees

    04/19/2009 4:17:44 PM PDT · by zaphod3000 · 56 replies · 1,809+ views
    WSJ ^ | Apr 18, 2009 | By AMY SCHATZ
    WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will soon turn his attention to the issue of high credit card rates and other abuses, giving a potential boost to congressional efforts to rein in credit card companies. The president is "going to be very focused, in a very near term, on a whole set of issues having to do with credit card abuses," White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on NBC's "Meet the Press" airing Sunday. He said the abuses include charging consumers "extraordinarily high rates that they wouldn't have paid if they knew what they were getting themselves into." Mr. Summers...
  • Class Action Lawsuits Filed Against Credit Card Companies

    04/06/2009 10:38:40 AM PDT · by TenthAmendmentChampion · 53 replies · 2,656+ views
    BCS Alliance ^ | No published date | BCS Alliance
    Below are summaries of class action lawsuits filed against major credit card banks. This is not a complete list, just a few samples. First USA (which became BankOne which became Chase)-- A class action lawsuit was filed against First USA when it changed the due date so that some customers, accustomed to paying by a certain date each month, would be caught off guard. Many of them would send in their payments late, not realizing that their due date was a few days earlier than they thought. First USA charged customers $29 every time a payment was late. When two...
  • Be Prepared for "Extraordinary Circumstances"

    04/03/2009 9:19:21 AM PDT · by TigerLikesRooster · 10 replies · 786+ views
    Global Economic Analysis ^ | 04/02/09 | Mike "Mish" Shedlock
    Be Prepared for "Extraordinary Circumstances" The last words you want to see in an appropriations bill from Congress are the words "in case of an emergency" or their twin sister "in the event of extraordinary circumstances". When you see those words it is a near certainty that an "emergency" or that "extraordinary circumstances" are right around the corner. Please consider U.S. panel backs FDIC borrowing. A key U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday backed proposals to reform credit card practices and increase the authority of regulators to borrow from the Treasury Department to deal with a slew of expected bank failures....
  • AmEx paying card holders to close their accounts

    02/23/2009 6:09:06 PM PST · by rabscuttle385 · 66 replies · 1,552+ views
    Reuters ^ | 2009-02-23
    NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Express Co (NYSE:AXP), battered by mounting credit card losses, is offering $300 to a limited number of U.S. card holders who pay off their balances and close their accounts, the company said on Monday. "We sent the offer out to a select number of card members," said Molly Faust, a company spokeswoman. "We are looking at different ways that we can manage credit risk based on the costumers overall credit profile." The company did not say how many card holders would receive the offer and did not disclose the total of their card balances. Card...
  • Police: Credit Card Thieves Worked As Waiters

    02/06/2009 12:10:16 PM PST · by george76 · 14 replies · 540+ views
    TheDenverChannel. ^ | February 6, 2009
    The credit card numbers stolen from customers at an Asian restaurant last year were taken by three people who offered to work for tips only... It's believed the threesome stole more than 100 credit card numbers. Lewis said the three people used English names, but spoke in a Chinese dialect. Lewis is working with other jurisdictions around the country investigating similar robberies. "We are sharing information between states,"
  • Credit card delinquencies at record high (rising unemployment responsible)

    02/04/2009 7:40:34 PM PST · by TigerLikesRooster · 24 replies · 1,362+ views
    FT ^ | Saskia Scholtes
    Credit card delinquencies at record high By Saskia Scholtes in New York Published: February 4 2009 23:33 | Last updated: February 4 2009 23:33 US credit card delinquencies hit a record high in January, and further deterioration is likely as the economy slows down and unemployment rises, Fitch Ratings says. Payments at least 60 days late rose almost half a percentage point last month to a record 3.75 per cent, said Fitch. Credit card lenders also wrote off loans to delinquent borrowers at close to record levels, and such “charge-offs” were expected to breach records in the coming months. Michael...
  • Heartland Payment Systems Hacked, Possibly 100M Accounts Stolen

    01/21/2009 3:09:52 PM PST · by xcamel · 56 replies · 4,216+ views
    Daily Tech ^ | January 21, 2009 11:19 AM | Tom Corelis
    Identity thieves install spyware to monitor transactions from the inside In a press release timed to coincide with the inauguration of President Barack Obama, credit card processor Heartland Payment Systems announced Tuesday that it suffered a grievous security breach sometime in 2008, allowing hackers the opportunity to steal credit card information on what is possibly more than 100 million accounts. Heartland is the sixth largest payment processor in the country, and specializes in transaction processing for small-to-medium-sized restaurants and retailers. According to Wired’s Thread Level, it processes more than 100 million transactions a month. Federal investigators determined the source of...
  • Obama to Sign Cardholders' Bill of Rights[Credit Cards]

    01/21/2009 11:34:59 AM PST · by BGHater · 30 replies · 1,271+ views
    Minyanville ^ | 20 Jan 2009 | Scott Reeves
    There's a simple solution to all the flapdoodle about rapacious credit card issuers: Pay your bill in full each month. This avoids interest charges and builds a solid credit rating while using the bank's money interest free for about a month. But this is America, land of the perpetual victim, where no one bothers to review a credit card's disclosure statement. New credit card regulations take effect in July 2010. Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York has reintroduced the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, which offers the same reforms and would become effective 90 days after President Obama signs the...
  • JPMorgan chief says worst of the crisis still to come: FT (coming consumer default)

    01/15/2009 11:37:51 PM PST · by TigerLikesRooster · 12 replies · 1,149+ views
    AFP ^ | 01/14/09
    JPMorgan chief says worst of the crisis still to come: FT Wed Jan 14, 10:13 pm ET LONDON (AFP) – The chief executive of US bank JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, told the Financial Times on Thursday that the worst of the economic crisis still lay ahead as hard-hit consumers default on their loans. "The worst of the economic situation is not yet behind us. It looks as if it will continue to deteriorate for most of 2009," he told the business daily. "In terms of our sector, we expect consumer loans and credit cards to continue to get worse."