Ever since my first day helping people with debt problems it seems there has always been a Sterling Jewelry account involved. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has taken action against Sterling Jewelry for credit issues. “The Bureau’s and the State’s parallel investigations found that Sterling violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by … Read more
I’m always surprised by the number of people who say they are afraid to use their credit card for online purchases. It’s simply misdirected fear. You are at a greater risk of a waiter scamming your credit card information that having it stolen online. I always like to ask people who are afraid of shopping … Read more
The average indebted American household owes over $15,000 which means if you’re one of the few who is not saddled with a mortgage, student loans, or credit card debt, consider yourself lucky. For those of you who are in debt, you’ve got your work cut out for you. There are a ton of cost-cutting measures … Read more
Most of my writing to protect readers has to do with providing advice about what to avoid when getting out of debt. But an awesome reader sent in this mailer his mother received from her most kind credit union. The kicker is she has not worked in 25 years and lives on a fixed Social … Read more
A bunch of really smart people who can collect data and calculate cool looking math formulas have again told us why people are driven by unconscious motivations that lead them into debt. Debt is never the problem but the symptom of the underlying issues that caused the debt. Debt is the scat of previous money … Read more
This has to be the best commercial I’ve ever seen that promotes the honest features of a credit card and a lot of it applies to debit cards as well.
The following is going to be one of my wonky articles that is geared towards anyone who is interested in consumer debt, credit cards, and the debt relief industry. If that’s not your cup of tea, you’ll get really bored. The debt relief industry has long focused on helping people deal with problem unsecured debt. … Read more
We’ve seen the situation a hundred times while standing in line to checkout at a store, the person in front of you is asked if they want to apply for a store credit card and get a fabulous discount on their purchase. And you know what happens next, you are going to be asked as … Read more
This morning, New York Fed President William Dudley spoke to the press about the growing resilience of the U.S. household sector. His speech was followed by a briefing by New York Fed economists on developments in household borrowing. Their presentation included a detailed decomposition on mortgage borrowing and payment trends, and some new research on … Read more
Recently a couple of statements from people I know inside the debt relief industry have struck me. It seems there is a general lack of understanding why it is getting harder to sell debt relief services. Some blame the Consumer Financial protection Bureau (CFPB) for cracking down and some blame me for writing about the … Read more
If you recently stayed at a Hilton Hotel, Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Hampton Inn and Suites, or Waldorf Astoria – a hack may have exposed your financial details. Banks have identified a pattern of fraud that strongly suggests certain payment systems in these Hilton Hotel properties in several locations were hacked, exposing customer payment card information. … Read more
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 … Read more
Is your mailbox getting stuffed with offers from creditors? Here is a recent offer from Discover Bank that appears to be a debt consolidation loan to pay off debt. In order to help people better understand the offer, I’ll break it down for you below, page by page, and point out what I think are … 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 … 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 … Read more