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Daniel P. RayI'm Daniel P. Ray, CreditCard.com's editor in chief, and I've been writing and editing consumer-oriented stories about personal finance -- especially debt-related issues -- for about 10 years. Before joining CreditCards.com in July, 2007, I was an editor at Bankrate.com, including six years as editor in chief...
Credit card spending is up on necessities, sometimes because people have no other option, and sometimes because it's just so convenient nowadays to reach for the plastic.
When you comparison shop for credit cards, go beyond looking at teaser rates and rewards, and include looking at default rates. Because, sometimes, when you least expect it, Paula happens.
In Japan, smart cards are in wide use, and are being put to a noble cause -- preventing kids from buying cigarettes.
Delinquencies and charge-offs were up, but not shockingly so, at Bank of America, according to its first quarter results.
With all the carnage in the financial industry's quarterly reports, Capital One's first quarter results can be described as not as bad as it could have been.
It's official. More regulation is coming this spring from the Federal Reserve to improve disclosures and outlaw some credit card industry practices.
The Federal Reserve says the prepaid and gift card industry isn't as big as it thinks.
A new GAO report details the use of charge cards by government employees, and finds that some of them were irresponsible and a lot of them were sloppy about their paperwork. Hmmm. Where have we seen this before?
Sorry, credit cardholders, last night's rate cut was a bailout for investment bankers. Your cut comes tomorrow.
The "Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights" bill got a first hearing in the House Thursday, and it doesn't bode well for an industry that says it needs no additional oversight to have the overseers recount personal tales of how they got stiffed by their credit card issuer.
With Tuesday's launch of the Emerging Credit Score, Experian joins a growing movement to put more of Americans financial lives unders scrutiny, upping the damage to anyone who occasionally misses a rent payment or a utililty bill deadline.
Americans love the convenience of shopping online, but many still get a twinge of nervousness when typing that credit card number into the computer, and those who have the least harbor the most fear.
What's hotter on the market than the "War kittens" credit card? One that will help fans of over-the-air TV keep using their rabbit ears a bit longer.
According to a study released Friday, sadness and overspending tend to go hand-in-tissue-holding-hand.
The task of obtaining a credit card just got tougher for people with marginal credit. That's the key conclusion that can be drawn from January's survey of senior loan officers, released by the Federal Reserve Board Monday.
Two Democratic U.S. senators have signaled in recent days that they have a pro-consumer, activist agenda in store for the credit card industry.
How I became a deadbeat (once removed), and my experience with getting on debt collectors' lists (never removed, no matter how hard you try).
In a surprise move that underscores the depth of recession fears, American central bankers cut a key interest rate by 3/4 of 1 percent.
The Federal Trade Commission, as part of its effort to fight identity theft, wants feedback on one of the newest ID-theft tools -- the credit freeze.
Credit card issuers' reliance on fees edged up another notch in 2007, according to the annual profit/loss estimate put out by respected credit card industry analyst and investment banker R.K. Hammer.
Millions of Americans get Social Security payments but have no bank accounts. Under a program announced Friday, the federal government would give these "unbanked" Social Security recipients the option of withdrawing their benifits via a new debit card.
Maybe only some chunks of the sky are falling. The American Bankers Association today released its quarterly study of consumer borrowing, and despite an overall gloomy picture, credit card delinquencies were down.
You knew this had to happen: A South Korean bank has issued a combo contactless credit card / USB device to make it easier and faster and more secure to spend your money.
The U.S. lost a round Friday in its effort to clamp down on people who sit at home and use their credit cards to gamble on the Internet. In an unusual ruling, the World Trade Organization ruled against the U.S. and in favor of the offshore gambling haven of Antigua. The odd part: The ruling OK'd piracy.
Congressional heat on the credit card industry just turned up a notch. A key congresswoman is floating a bill that would abolish many of the card issuers' practices that consumers find most offensive, including double-cycle billing, universal default and hiding rate changes in tiny type.
What do you think people do with tax rebates, repay credit card debt or spend the money? In a newly released paper from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, three economists find that most of us saved a little and spent a little. But the picture was worse for one group of people: Those nearly maxed out on their credit cards. For them, it represented an opportunity to rack up more debt.
A slew of "convenience" checks in the mail remind me that shredders are a thoughtful holiday gift.
New research says that person-to-person "social lending" will grow, grow fast, and that one of the major sources of demand for the loans will come from people who want to pay off credit card debt.
That's good news for consumers, because more competition for card customers will exert downward pressure on everyone's credit card rates. |
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They're the pieces of plastic we love, and love to hate. Get the latest news, tips, research and more from the CreditCards.com staff.
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