Filed under: Banks
It sounds incredible, especially to those of us who have been covering the banking industry, but Bank of America is ending the practice of issuing overdraft fees.
The practice will end, according to The New York Times, sometime in mid-June.
Filed under: Debt, Make Money Fast
While many gambling towns offer minimum table-game bets that are anything but minimal, WalletPop found a few cities that welcome you with open arms and low-end wagering.
Steve Bourie, author of the “2010 American Casino Guide,” took WalletPop on a quick tour of the nation’s bargain gaming dens, focusing on blackjack with a nod to craps and roulette.
Filed under: Banks, Home, Real Estate, Recession, Mortgages
It’s a variation of “you can run, but you can’t hide,” in the case of underwater homeowners (those whose homes are now worth less than the remaining mortgage). In increasing numbers, according to reports, people are simply walking away from their homes. Now banks and other lending institutions are starting to run after them.
Filed under: Debt
If you haven’t heard of Prosper.com until now, a $1,000 contest and a new web site might get you interested.
Prosper.com is a peer-to-peer lending site. The idea is that if you’re having trouble getting a loan at a bank, or maybe you’re feeling a bit anti-bank these days and would rather see someone else profit off your money, you might want to seek out a loan with Prosper.com.
Filed under: Borrowing, Money College, Debt, School
Many people seem to be confused about my last post about Sallie Mae and student loans. I am not asking for a hand-out. I am asking that loans with interest rates above 7% (I will even concede to 8%) be deemed illegal.
Filed under: Debt
Age discrimination comes in all forms. FindLaw.com, a legal information Web site, just came out with a new survey that indicates that the younger you are, the harder it will be to get a loan.
According to their survey, more than one in five (22%) people between the ages of 18 and 34 say that they’ve been turned down for a mortgage, loan or credit card within the last 12 months. But the percentages start doubling once you get to be 35 years of age or more.
(Continue the story…)
Filed under: Banks, Borrowing, Banking – Checking Account
Starting this August, if you try to use your debit card to make a purchase without having the funds in your linked checking account, that purchase will be declined. Right in the store. Or the restaurant. No longer will your bank be able to approve the transaction and then hit you with a $35 overdraft fee — unless you decide that you want to be able to charge without having the funds, and opt in – signing on some dotted line to signal that you want this protection.
Filed under: Banks, Credit, Credit Cards, In the News
Banks may have successfully stopped efforts for an independent consumer finance agency, and we have Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to thank for their success. Based on news reports this morning, Dodd has worked out a compromise with Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, for a compromise that will kill the idea of an independent consumer finance agency and instead place it inside the Federal Reserve.
Filed under: Debt
Personal finance can be something like a horror movie. In this case, the slasher is an online payday lending service.
For anyone thinking of signing up and taking out a loan, the Better Business Bureau has just released a press release, warning anyone thinking of using an online payday lending service: Don’t.
Filed under: Banks
As you may have heard, Citibank messed up. Big time. It accidentally sent out more than 600,000 mailings to customers with their Social Security numbers printed on the outside of the envelopes.
One of WalletPop’s editors was one of those 600,000, and she received a letter from Citibank that read in part (entire contents at American Banking News):