Imagine to your horror opening up your monthly credit card statement only to find that your credit card purchases are double what you thought they were.  Credit card theft and identity theft are one of America’s fastest growing crimes.  Although more than just credit cards, Social Security Cards and other information can be gleaned from various documents.

Avoid being one of the estimated 70 million identities that will be stolen this year by using the following simple tips: …Read more

There is an emerging trend that is pushing consumers to go green by using less paper, less energy, less manpower with a goal of saving more and wasting less. Is an imposed credit card statement fee of $1.00 one more way to push the environmental agenda, make up for lost revenue as a result of the credit card act or both?

The Credit card Act of 2009 is expecting to cost the banking and credit card industry billions because of the regulations being put into effect in an effort to protect credit card customers from countless and unrestricted fees. As a result of that reform credit card companies are desperate to find other ways to recoup lost revenue.  The $1.00 fee is just one example of the consequences of a plan that was put in place to protect consumers from the mounting debt associated with having a credit card; or multiple credit cards.  Credit card debt is a national issue that continues to be the cause of many financial problems. Credit card availability, excessive use fees, hidden charges and irresponsible spending behaviors have driven many Americans to bankruptcy. …Read more

President Obama recently signed the CARD Act (Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure) Legislation which calls for better behavior on the part of credit card issuers. The Act will officially go into effect on February 22, 2010, and both the consumers and card issuers are bracing for some big changes.

As the name of the Act says, the federal government is looking to clean up some of the financial irresponsibility on the part of both the consumer and credit card companies that led to 2008’s worldwide economic crisis and ongoing credit card woes. …Read more

It’s nearly impossible to go into a department store and not get asked the famous question “Will this be on your [name of store] credit card?” If you answer “No, I don’t have one”, that’s immediately followed by “Would you like to apply for one?  You get [such and such] off your total purchase.” You fill out the application and wham! You’re a card-carrying, lifelong, faithful customer of that store.  And many others like it. And you’ve got the bills to prove it.
Sound familiar? …Read more

Longtime Olympic sponsor VISA is gearing up for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and also looking two years into the future.  The credit card giant recently announced that they would continue their exclusive corporate sponsorship through 2020, including the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.  VISA has been an Olympics sponsor since 1986.

But what exactly does a corporate sponsor do?  Obviously, these major companies foot some heavy-duty bills for the event itself.  Most major sponsors, such as Visa and Coca-Cola, spend approximately $100 million in sponsorship dollars for such events.  In return, they receive prime advertising air time and print space, their corporate name and logo attached to anything and everything Olympics-related, and the opportunity to flex some serious endorsement muscles for the games’ top athletes. …Read more

College students will find it more difficult to get a credit card once President Obama’s new card legislation, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act goes into effect on February 22, 2010. Among other accountability measures, the new policy calls for stricter approval policies for card applicants under 21. Students will need a co-signer who would also be liable for late or non-payments and proof of income in order to apply for a card.

In the past, young consumers were easy targets for credit card companies.  College students would barely arrive on campus for freshman orientation before the card applications would start arriving by the dozen.  Companies were playing on students’ relative inexperience with credit and offering attractive incentives for filling out an application.  Living off plastic was great at first—until the bills started coming in, complete with those late fees.  Soon, the unemployed student was getting a crash course in the reality of adult personal finance. …Read more

Whatever the number you have, I bet is isn’t as many as Albert Gomez.  The Miami man admitted to stealing 40 million credit and debit card records last September.  He now faces 17 – 25 years in prison for pleading guilty on a second charge.

Scheduled to appear in court, Mr. Gomez faces charges on 130 million stolen credit and debit card accounts.  The card information was gleaned from Payment Systems Inc., 7-Eleven Inc., Delhaize Groups Hannaford Brothers Co. and two other national retailers. …Read more

If you live in the twenty first century then you probably have a credit card.  With the New Year unfolding in front of us what changes will be coming down the plastic pipes in the upcoming year?

Using your plastic card to make reservations, take trips, buy movie tickets and groceries is a common occurrence and living without a credit card would be difficult.  For credit card companies and banks their job is to make money or in some cases, more money.  To glean more money from people who use cards, more and more card issuers will be opting to add credit card user fees in 2010. …Read more

You don’t have to worry about hitting the ATM before your next visit to your favorite “cash only” corner deli. Thanks to Square, a new plug-in device recently launched by Twitter co-founder and company president Jack Dorsey, you can process credit card payments on your iPhone rather than relying on a merchant’s credit card machine.

The idea is simple.  The Square plugs into the headphone jack of an iPod or iPhone.  The user swipes the card through the slot, the device reads the information stored on the card’s magnetic strip, the customer signs the transaction on the touch screen, the information is sent to a remote wireless router, and voila, the transaction is complete. …Read more

Thanks to all of the social networking sites out there, you would think that your friends know everything they could possibly know about you.  Think again.  Web entrepreneur Philip Kaplan recently test- launched Blippy, a Twitter-like social networking site that lists users’ credit card purchases.   Where Twitter answers the question “What are you doing?”, Blippy answers the question “What are your friends buying?” …Read more