Cell phones are usually used to communicate with people far away. This year, they’ll get the ability to do the opposite: communicate with things that are close enough to touch. It may not sound immediately useful, but phones will get some surprising capabilities with the addition of chips for so-called Near Field Communications, a wireless [...]
The nation’s largest banks are testing how much their customers are willing to pay for checking-account services that used to be free. Bank of America Corp. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the two biggest banks as measured by assets, have begun trying new fees in pilot tests from Hayward, Wis., to Newnan, Ga. They [...]
Credit card users didn’t suffer a holiday hangover this year. The top six U.S. credit card issuers posted the lowest rates of default and late payments in two years on Tuesday, a strong sign that consumers had a handle on paying their bills in January. The improvements followed a return to credit card use during [...]
Sometimes it seems that the more dire your need for a loan, the more likely you are to be ignored by the banks. While there has reportedly been a loosening in the credit market, the reality for many people feels quite different. It’s not surprising then, that peer-to-peer lending is increasingly catching on with borrowers, [...]
New card regulations could cost U.S. card issuers up to $25 billion a year in lost revenue, according to a study from Boston Consulting Group that is one of the first to add up the total cost of various regulatory changes. The consulting group said various changes from the CARD Act, the Durbin amendment and [...]
Interest rates are now hovering near record highs, at an average rate of 14.72%. And if your credit is bad enough, you could even end up with a rate as high as 59.9% APR. That’s because while the CARD Act helped crack down on certain fees and requires more disclosures, it didn’t cap every credit [...]
Computer glitches have caused continues problems at TD Bank. The bank was experiencing an overnight transaction posting delay, TD Bank spokeswoman , Rebecca Avecedo said Wednesday. The delay occurred after the banks converted their two systems to one over the weekend, she said.The bank hoped to have it fixed by Wednesday evening. But it seems that some [...]
American Express today announced it is eliminating monthly fees on all of its gift cards. This includes all gift cards that have already been purchased and those that are in stores now. This means consumers no longer need to worry about their gift card losing value if they don’t use it quickly. American Express is [...]
Struggling state and local housing agencies could receive much needed aid to help them continue offering mortgages to low- and moderate- income borrowers, under a program that would provide as much as $35 billion. The measure would involve the administration purchasing the debt that these housing agencies rely on for financing. The Treasury Department, along with [...]
The trend is gaining some traction- banks are reducing overdraft fees amid criticism from lawmakers that charges are excessive and assessed too frequently. Bank of America and Chase announced their drastic overhaul programs Tuesday, and yesterday Walls Fargo joined them. Both Chase and Wells Fargo said they will eliminate fees for accounts overdrawn by $5 [...]
