For debt relief companies who have been suffering from a lack of consumer demand, there is news out today that indicates demand might be increasing in the near-term. TransUnion says “total outstanding credit card balances increased 5% on a yearly basis. The increase indicates record growth, the highest yearly growth observed since 2008.” If this trend continues then in a ... Read More »

Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) warned credit card companies against deceptively marketing interest-rate promotions. The Bureau is concerned that some companies are luring in consumers with offers of reduced or zero interest for a specific purchase or balances transferred from another credit card, and then hitting them with surprise interest charges. In the bulletin released today, the Bureau ... Read More »

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered Bank of America, N.A. and FIA Card Services, N.A. to provide an estimated $727 million in relief to consumers harmed by practices related to credit card add-on products. Roughly 1.4 million consumers were affected by Bank of America’s deceptive marketing of their add-on products. Bank of America also illegally charged approximately 1.9 ... Read More »

On Christmas Eve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered American Express to refund an estimated $59.5 million to more than 335,000 consumers for illegal credit card practices. These practices included unfair billing tactics and deceptive marketing with respect to credit card “add-on products” such as payment protection and credit monitoring. American Express will pay an additional $9.6 million in ... Read More »

Is the Wells Fargo Home Rebate Credit Card a smart card to use? Despite an initial flurry of rebates, 3% rebate on gas, grocery, and drugstore net purchases for the first 6 months, cardholders will get 1% rebates that will pay down Wells Fargo home mortgage. So let’s do the math here. First off, a perfunctory hooray for rebates. But ... Read More »

Thanks to an awesome reader, Almost Debt Free in Seattle, I have received the following credit offer to review as part of my I Buy Junk Mail program. This offer is from Credit One Bank for a Platinum Visa card to build a “solid credit history.” These type of major credit cards that report to the credit bureaus are a ... Read More »

The Future of Credit Cards (via Credit.com) At a recent conference devoted to travel and credit card rewards, executives from Chase, Barclaycard, US Bank, Capital One and American Express were on hand to share their views on the future of credit cards — and there was a broad consensus on where the industry is going in the next few years. ... Read More »

Looking to rebuild your credit score, get new credit after bankruptcy or get access to credit when your credit is in the toilet? Folks with low credit scores or recent bankruptcies are getting deluged with pre-approved credit offers that seem too good to be true, according to folks who have sent me copies of the applications recently. So what’s the ... Read More »

You would not believe the number of credit offers I review and see. But this one caught my attention as usually interesting. I have no idea how many people have access to this offer but if you are a Bank of America card holder it might be worth calling customer service and seeing if you are eligible for it if ... Read More »

Citi has just announced a new program called Price Rewind. On a quick glance it looks like an interesting concept. It’s billed as free service for Citi Card holders who register to let the autmated system hunt for cheaper prices on products they’ve purchased using the card. If a lower priced item is found within 30 days from purchase you ... Read More »

You know that Target card you have in your wallet. Not the debit card, but the credit card. Well Target has sold their book of customers and accounts to Toronto Dominion Bank (TD Bank) for a reported $6 billon. The price tag is equal to the entire amount of the amount due on the cards. The agreement does not have ... Read More »

In announcements today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) both announced fines and refunds against American Express totaling more than $100 million and creating refunds due consumers. Part of the issue at hand is how American Express falsely handled debt settlements on their cards. It is alleged American Express subsidiaries ... Read More »

I was just in St. Petersburg, Russia and noticed that credit cards were not accepted everywhere, but yet enough places to separate me from my money. Had I known about Tinkoff Credit Systems when I was in St. Petersburg I would have dropped in to talk to them. It seems that Tinkoff Credit Systems has been generating a lot of ... Read More »

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