It seems like everyone from bloggers to your next-door neighbor doles out financial advice these days. It can be difficult figuring out who to believe, and bad tips can pop up as frequently as thunderstorms in the summertime. In …
credit cards
5 Weird Reasons You Might Get Rejected for a Credit Card
5 Smart Strategies to Eliminate Your Credit Card Debt
Minimum payment due, reads the box on your credit-card statement. What an enticing idea: Pay a small amount and you’re off the hook for the whole bill—for a while, anyway. Alas, as the more than 45% of Americans who carry a …
12 Things You Should Always Haggle Over
You know the saying “Everything is negotiable”? It’s true, and the mind-set that no price is set in stone can be applied to a wide variety of goods and services. Some people are intimidated by the idea of haggling or think it …
Do Credit-Card-Comparison Sites Work as Promised?
Tech tools that let you comparison-shop are awesome: You go to a single destination, plug in a little info, and some app or bot combs the universe looking to match your needs with the best deal. That’s the idea, anyway. …
On Square, Biohazards, Biting and the Psychology of Money
The deal announced this week between Square and Starbucks is exciting but worrisome. Square streamlines the transactions that define our everyday economic lives — just say your name and you’ve paid. Partnering with the coffee …
CFPB Shows Its Teeth: Capital One Fined $210 Million For Deceptive Marketing
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau flexed its enforcement muscle for the first time today, fining Capital One Bank for deceptive credit-card marketing practices. The mega-bank has to pay $210 million in total, the vast …
Retailers Can Now Charge Extra For Credit Card Buys — But Will They?
The 7-year fight between merchants and credit card companies over interchange fees on credit cards has finally been resolved. A settlement was reached on Friday that gives retailers a little over $6 billion in a lump sum payment, …
Vacation Spending: Credit or Debit?
Packing for vacation inevitably involves some decision making: Do I bring extra sunglasses? Flip flops or sandals? But a more important question is whether you should use a credit or debit card for vacation spending. Debit cards, …
Credit Card Surcharges May Be Coming to a Retailer Near You
Retailers have been fighting for the right to charge people more if they pay with a credit card. They may soon win that battle.
The Credit Card Companies With the Most Consumer Complaints
Consumer advocates cheered and the banking industry fumed when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made its credit card complaint database public last week. Banking analyst Ken Thomas got to work. Thomas sifted through this …
How to Pick a Cash-Back Credit Card
The idea of a credit card that gives you money for spending is pretty appealing, which goes a long way to explaining the enduring popularity of cash-back credit cards. The more you spend, the more you earn.
