The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its latest enforcement action Tuesday, ordering GE Capital Retail Bank and subsidiary CareCredit to refund as much as $34.1 million to consumers who thought they were signing up for interest-free credit cards, but the cards accrued interest to be applied at the end of a promotional period. The refunds,… Read More

Consumers sharply increased their credit card spending in October, adding $4.3 billion to their balances since September, according to the latest consumer credit data from the Federal Reserve. The 16-day partial government shutdown left thousands of federal employees without paychecks for much of the month, and consumers reached for credit cards to cover costs. “The… Read More

We know … just about everyone loves gift cards. Most people have them on their wish lists, and most of us plan to give them this holiday season. And yet, not everyone’s a fan. Consumer advocate and author Clark Howard hates them so much he designed a gift certificate to give with the cash to… Read More

Plenty of things can help a consumer’s credit scores, and even more can hurt it. But not everything is positive or negative. Some things in the financial world just don’t matter when it comes to credit. This may be a relief to some people who are worried about hurting their credit because of issues relating… Read More

For nearly all of us, buying a home represents one of the biggest financial transactions of our lifetime. There’s really nothing that compares to buying a home, since not only do we have to put up thousands of dollars of our own money but we also (usually) have to borrow much more than that. There’s really no… Read More

The recent hack attack that compromised nearly 2 million Internet passwords worldwide highlights consumer vulnerability online—and the need for users to get more sophisticated when it comes to security. Hackers stole nearly 2 million website log-in credentials from Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and other sites, according to the cybersecurity firm Trustwave. One reason for the widespread… Read More

Zero percent balance transfer credit cards are a brilliant idea. Think of them as a loss leader for the credit card industry. A credit card issuer offers below-market rates in exchange for getting a new cardholder who may use the card for years to come. But are these 0% offers a good deal for consumers?… Read More

For most people, balancing personal budgets is a tedious and time-consuming process. These days, though, the task has become even more challenging. According to the Federal Reserve, average household debt in the U.S. increased 5.25% during the quarter ending Sept. 30, which isn’t surprising given that annualized real (net of inflation) wage growth continues to… Read More

Every year, charitable giving spikes toward the end of December as Americans celebrate the holidays and take advantage of their last opportunity to make a tax-deductible donation in the calendar year. Credit cards are typically part of this effort in one of two ways: Cardholders may use credit cards as a secure and convenient method… Read More

I recently read a disturbing article in a financial-industry publication. In it, the writer attempts to explain why so few student loans have been refinanced at a time when mortgage borrowers have had little trouble accomplishing the same. This has been the case despite education loan delinquency and default rates that are not only compromising… Read More