The overwhelming majority of bank customers don’t want overdraft protection. According to one survey, 80% of debit card holders say they’d rather skip on the arrangement, in which banks allow customers to spend more money than their accounts hold, in exchange for a fee of $30 or $35 each time the customer overdraws. The program amounts …
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How Battling the Banks and Credit Card Companies Is Like Whack-A-Mole
Smack down one fee or money-making scheme and others are sure to pop up. And even if you’re really good at the game, there are always more moles than you can possibly whack.
Must-See Recession-Era TV: “The Card Game” and More
PBS’s “Frontline,” which features journalist Lowell Bergman on camera and that awesome, ultra-serious voiceover dude who has the ability to make everything sound like there’s some nefarious conspiracy afoot, takes on the credit card industry—again. Also, TV shows on how to sell your stuff for quick cash, and how to endure financial …
Debit Card Overdraft Reform Gets the OK. Now What?
When Congress introduced credit card reform, the banks and credit card issuers reacted by jacking up rates and adding new fees. Likewise, with the Federal Reserve ruling that banks must reform the way debit card overdraft fees are assessed, there will certainly be unintended consequences: Banks are sure to react with new strategies that …
Cheapskate Wisdom from … Barney Frank
“Don’t do people favors without asking them.”
Ten Bizarre Theories on Saving and Spending
Poker teaches important lessons about saving and investing. Foreclosures are better than mortgage modification programs. Debit card overdraft fees are good for consumers. PMS is responsible for impulse purchases. There is no shortage of strange theories out there—and some of them are actually plausible.
Smartphone Apps that Help You Avoid Bank Fees
One of the frustrations of modern life is that often, you must spend money simply to get your money. I speak of the $3 fee for using an ATM not affiliated with your bank. Now, there are apps for the iPhone and other smartphones to help you avoid ATM fees, as well as other charges, including the ever-annoying overdraft.
New Debit Card Overdraft Law Would Change the Game Entirely
Banks have grown accustomed to reaping in big bucks off of overdraft fees—$35 or so assessed each time a customer uses a debit card when there’s not enough money in the account to cover the tab. This year, banks are expected to take in more than $38 billion (!) in such fees.
261 Freebies and Cheapskate Tips
It’s time for another roundup of money-saving lists, with places to eat for free, household items you can recycle lickety-split for cash, and some unusual schemes—like taking advantage of your local library’s lost and found to snag a free umbrella.
80% of Debit Card Holders Don’t Want “Protection”
Most debit card fees come by way of “overdraft protection,” in which banks allow customers to spend more than what’s in their accounts—and then customers are smacked with fees of around $35 each time they do so. Here’s a real shocker: Very few people actually want that sort of protection.
So Banks Really Want to Help Customers? Here’s What They Should Do
Last week, Bank of America and Chase announced some supposedly customer-friendly changes to the way they assessed debit card overdraft fees. The changes did not impress anyone.
Debit Card Fees: Changed, But Still an Easy Way to Get Ripped Off
The banks say that being threatened with legislation had no impact on their decisions to make annoying debit card overdraft fees slightly less annoying. Instead, Bank of America and Chase say they are changing their fees just to help out their customers. How nice of them.
