Credit Card Stimulus

What started out as simple and intriguing ways to get rid of your credit card and move your money somewhere else is now something that has spawned "credit card revolts" around the country.  According to an article entitled "Banks, Credit Card Issuers Face Simmering Uprising", the most recent action of the ever-growing credit card revolt is that of a movement entitled, "Move Your Money". Under this campaign, organizers are utilizing the anger that millions have toward big banks and credit ..read more

Even with the second phase of the new law going into effect late last month, there are plenty of things that cardholders must still actively manage in order to make sure that they are not surprised when they get their credit card statement or try to make a purchase.

One important aspect that cardholders must now be more aware of is their credit limit, and any changes that have occurred pertaining to that limit. Unlike other factors such as interest rates, ..read more

Q: I just came out my bankruptcy last September. What is the best credit card after bankruptcy?

A: Thanks for your email Mike. With today’s economy, unfortunately bankruptcy has been almost inevitable for quite a few people in America. Whether it’s due to a job loss or catastrophic medical bills, it’s a very real scenario that most of us are susceptible to. So please don’t beat yourself up over it, because the odds are you were not at a fault. So ..read more

div xmlns=http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtmlJohn O’Doherty, a professor of psychology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), has always believed that the human brain is a device designed to maximize one’s own self interest. And his colleague Colin Camerer, a professor of behavioral economics at Caltech, shares the widespread view with other economists that most people are basically self-interested, and won’t try to help other people.

pBut O’Doherty and Camerer are reconsidering their ideas about human behavior after conducting an experiment that revealed ..read more

Two years ago, Jim Cramer from CNBC’s Mad Money suggested that people walk away from their homes if their value was down 20 percent. And an Arizona law professor recently suggested the same thing in his paper titled “Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis.” Now it seems as if many of you are actually listening and executing their advice.

FICO, the company responsible for the FICO credit scoring system, announced today study ..read more

With the new law in place putting requirements on the ability to get a credit card for those under the age of 21, issuers are now getting creative when it comes to reaching out to students. In the past while they could simply set up booths in and around campus and give incentives for signing up for a card, in today’s environment it is the parents that are being highly targeted because they are likely the ones that will determine whether or ..read more

When it comes to your money, the Federal Reserve is doing more than just informing credit cardholders of the beneficial information that they need to know concerning the implementation of the Credit CARD Act. They are also letting debit cardholders know about the new rules taking place later this year concerning the next biggest issue currently effecting millions of people, which is overdraft fees.

On getting the word out about the changes that consumers will be seeing, the Federal Reserve Board ..read more

While change has come in the form of regulation for consumers via the Credit CARD Act, when it comes to merchants it is a completely different story as it now looks as they will have to wait much longer in hopes of seeing change. This is because as it stands now the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, has stated that he will not seek the regulation of interchange fees in 2010.

When it comes to the increases ..read more

A false positive is a term used to describe the error of thinking that something is what it isn't. When the metal detector in the airport security line goes off and you don't have any metal in your pockets, that's a false positive. On the other hand, a false negative is thinking that something isn't what it is. A terrorist who carries a bomb past airport security without being detected is a false negative. In airport security, it's okay to ..read more

Since the end of last year one common theme that could be seen and heard across America was that millions of consumers were no longer looking to carry a credit card balance from month to month. Instead many have found ways to either pay off the balance or simply not use their plastic. While we would all love the ability to pay off the amount owed each month; when reality sets in, the truth is that not everyone has the ..read more