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The rates of Americans behind on auto loan and credit card bills continue to rise — in fact, both are at the highest levels in more than 10 years. Rising delinquencies indicate that more people are in financial distress. When auto loan or credit card payments are missed, consumers dig themselves deeper into debt and see major drops in their credit scores, so it’s usually an outcome people try to absolutely avoid.

ESPN sports commentator Stephen A. Smith may be a left-winger, but he does not seem to be on board with the Biden regime’s open-border policies. On his Tuesday podcast, he ripped the millions being spent on illegal aliens while natural-born Americans are left wanting. As Smith wrapped up his show on Feb. 6, he left sports and entertainment behind to address politics in America. And he started his segment by saying that Donald Trump will be reelected as president in November “even if he’s a convicted felon” by that time. The commentator went on to explain why he feels that...

CV NEWS FEED // An agency of the federal government “flagged” Bible purchases as an indication of “extremism” in communications with banks following the events of January 6, 2021. “We now know the federal government flagged terms like ‘MAGA’ and ‘TRUMP,’ to financial institutions if Americans completed transactions using those terms,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-OH, wrote on X. “What was also flagged? If you bought a religious text, like a BIBLE, or shopped at Bass Pro Shop.” Jordan serves as the chairman of both the House Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal...

Under Bidenomics, with its high inflation rate and crushing negative wage growth, consumers are draining their savings and living on a prayer …. and consumer credit to cope. US consumer credit just rose to $17.3 trillion, up dramatically since Biden’s inaugaration as El Presidente of the United Banana Republics of America. ffffff A closer look at credit card delinquency rates on a year-over-year (YoY) basis, showing the fastest growth in delinquencies since the Covid economic lockdowns. Then we have commercial real estate delinquencies are now the highest the have been since 2013. Meanwhile, University of Michigan consumer sentiment about inflation...

Is Biden trying to burn down the economic house? Under Bidenomics, America’s middle class and low wage workers are suffering from a wild, wild life in terms of inflation. First, food prices are up 20% since December 2020. Talk about destruction of middle class wealth! That is in addition to gasoline prices are up 64% under Biden while rent growth is up 252%. Well, Biden waived through millions of illegal immigrants and rent had to rise. Biden and Washington DC’s broken borders is Livin’ La Vida Loco. To cope with inflation (that Paul Krugman claims is over but the last...

Square, a company that supplies point of sale (POS) systems to small businesses that allow for credit card processing, has been down all day Thursday, affecting users in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, France, and Spain. Square is one of the largest suppliers of POS systems to all kinds of businesses, like restaurants, salons, tattoo parlors, boutiques, and much more. According to the website, Square is “Trusted by millions of businesses worldwide.”Without the ability to process credit cards, many businesses have reported turning away customers who don’t have cash—or taking an enormous risk and writing down credit card...

U.S. consumer credit card debt has reached a record-high $1.03 trillion, according to the New York Federal Reserve’s latest quarterly household debt report released Tuesday. In the second quarter of 2023 alone, credit card balances grew by more than 4 percent, a possible sign that consumers are relying on their cards more than ever to get through a period of relatively high inflation. But even though credit cards can be helpful tools for building financial security, carrying a balance month to month can quickly become overwhelming and lead to expensive debt and a tarnished credit score. Here are three methods...

Americans are increasingly turning to their credit cards to cover everyday expenses, with debt surpassing $1 trillion for the first time at the end of June, according to a New York Federal Reserve report published Tuesday. In the three-month period from April to June, total credit card debt surged to $1.03 trillion, an increase of $45 billion, or 4.6% from the previous quarter. It marks the highest level on record in Fed data dating back to 2003. The rise in credit card usage and debt is particularly concerning because interest rates are astronomically high right now. The average credit card...

For those out there unaware, when you’re being booked into jail the hidden bullet behind your testicles counts as contraband. So when you’re asked if you have any “drugs or contraband” the answer to that question is “yes, I have a bullet hidden behind my testicles.” Otherwise when the strip search reveals your hidden testicle bullet you’re going to get another charge placed on top of whatever it is you’ve been taken to jail for. Unfortunately, Michael Keanu Brennen learned this lesson the hard way. The 24-year-old was hit with a felony for possession of contraband in a county facility....

The first-quarter dip never happened. Some observers say that’s a problem. Credit-card balances hit $986 billion in the fourth quarter, but remain largely unchanged in the first quarter of the year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its most recent quarterly report on household debt. It looks increasingly likely that credit-card debt is on track to hit the $1 trillion mark this year, and experts say that this number could be an indicator of a looming economic downturn.

As inflation continues to squeeze Americans, some are turning to buy now, pay later (BNPL) options to scrape by. A new LendingTree survey shows about 46% of consumers used BNPL this year. That’s up from 43% a year ago and 31% in 2021. While many consumer goods retailers, both online and brick and mortar, are providing these services to generate revenue, it’s a "bad outcome" for consumers’ balance sheet, O’Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O’Leary warned. "This is not new. This is late-cycle consumer activity and debt starts to flare up, and of course, if you extend it on credit cards,...

A darkweb website known as “BidenCash” released more than 2 million credit and debit card numbers and details, security researchers have warned. ... Threat research website Cyble wrote that “the data within the leak included Personally Identifiable Information such as names, emails, phone numbers, home addresses, and the main offering: payment card numbers, expiration dates, and CVV codes, with the expiration dates ranging from early 2023 up to 2052.” “This leak contained at least 740,858 credit cards, 811,676 debit cards, and 293 charge cards,” according to a blog post dated March 1. “The inherent risk is higher for debit card...

Politicians lean on the financial industry to target activities they don’t like.The first credit card processor to announce plans to track purchases at gun shops is Discover Financial Services. The company hints that its competitors, specifically Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, are on the same schedule to implement a controversial gun-specific merchant category code announced last year. Given that the ideologically charged bank behind the new code has big plans for targeting gun purchases you can expect more fireworks to follow. "Discover Financial Services, a provider of credit cards, told Reuters it will allow its network to track purchases at...

Credit card companies have a plan in place that will, to some degree, allow the tracking of gun and ammo sales. This was a move politicians pushed for, despite absolutely no one being able to actually show us how it will reduce mass shootings, violent crime, or anything else. This is simply the latest step the financial industry has taken to hurt the firearm industry. A lot of people are anything but keen on seeing something like this in place. In Florida, a bill will seek to implement a $10,000 fine on each instance of a company tracking the sales...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is moving ahead with a plan to place new limits on credit card late fees that it says will save consumers money and prohibit companies from charging excessive penalties. But banking groups say the proposal would result in higher costs for consumers. The proposal comes less than a year after the bureau found that credit card companies in 2020 charged $12 billion in late fees, which have become a ballooning revenue source for lenders.

A larger number of U.S. consumers are having a tough time paying off credit card dues every month in an environment of elevated inflation, with those making lower income less likely to clear their debts while accruing greater interest payments. Roughly 46 percent of credit card holders do not pay off their dues in full each month, according to data from Bankrate in December. This is up from 39 percent a year back. Roughly 43 percent of those with credit card debt are not aware of the interest rates charged on their cards. “People may not be fully aware of...

State Treasurer Riley Moore today announced the introduction of legislation he proposed to lawmakers prohibiting the use of credit and debit card transactions to surveil lawful gun and ammunition purchases in West Virginia. House Bill 2004, The Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, would prohibit financial institutions from using credit card merchant category codes assigned to firearm and ammunition retailers to discriminate against West Virginians’ constitutionally guaranteed right to bear arms or enable government agencies to track lawful gun and ammunition purchases. “Woke activists in Congress and their allies on Wall Street continue to find new ways to undermine our freedoms...

This is a direct result of savings accounts being drained because of Bidenflation. We’ve simply run out of cash. And good luck trying to liquidate your fun, expendable assets, like boats, motorcycles, and RVs, because most people can’t afford to buy them. US Treasury debt now 150% of GDP. Which means government can not pay off any part of principle. Annual budget deficits are running multiple Trillion dollars now. US Treasury is currently paying out Billion dollars every day of the year in interest payments. That will soon double or triple due to federal funds interest rate jumping from less...

Decision comes a week after New York and California asked American Express, Mastercard and Visa to support a merchant category code. The international organization responsible for creating merchant category codes for credit card purchases has given its approval to establish one for transactions made at gun stores. The International Organization for Standardization’s Registration and Maintenance Management Group met on Wednesday to discuss a request made by Amalgamated Bank to set up such a code. An ISO spokesperson told The Center Square that RMMG members could not decide whether to approve the application. That elevated the discussion to the ISO leadership...

A major outage of mobile and internet networks caused widespread disruptions across Canada on Friday, affecting banks, police emergency lines and customers in the second outage to hit one of the country’s biggest telecom providers in 15 months. Customers gathered at coffee shops and public libraries to access alternate networks, while financial institutions reported problems with everything from automated machines to cashless payment systems. Rogers Communications said its technical teams were working to restore services as quickly as possible. The outage is likely to add to concerns about competition in the industry that is dominated by Rogers. The company, which...