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ATMs are getting a new face — literally, a human face. Some bank customers are already encountering what might be called ATM cyborgs, in which a machine includes a screen showing a bank teller’s head. The teller, in a remote location connected via webcam, is able to perform tasks that traditionally have been handled only by bank employees in person, such as check cashing.
There’s no question anymore: Prepaid debit cards have shifted from the fringe to the mainstream. The tipping point was Tuesday, when JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced a pilot program to launch a prepaid debit card called Liquid. It’s currently in 200 branches in two markets and will be available everywhere else this summer.
Colleges are slamming graduating students with credit card offers that sound sincere but amount to a hard sell. Yes, the right card will help build a good credit score. But watch out for the accompanying advice on how to go about it.
Coming soon to a magazine, newspaper or Web page near you: emotionally charged public-service messages designed to jolt parents into having “the talk” with their kids. Not that talk. The tougher one about how to budget, save and otherwise manage money.
Conventional wisdom has been that low-income people are better served by mainstream financial institutions than by check cashing storefronts, payday lenders and other providers of fringe financial products. But now, that wisdom is getting turned on its head as fee-starved banks start peddling these expensive “subprime” products to their poorest customers directly.
A bunch of new surveys about teens and money all point one direction: The kids are learning less and feeling terrible about it. Where is the adult supervision?
Apple fans can be a little crazy in their devotion to anything with an “i” tacked onto the front of it, but a new survey shows just how far that cult-like following stretches: Nearly half of people who use Apple devices would be willing to trust the computer giant with their savings.
A payday loan by any other name is still a raw deal for consumers. That’s the message watchdog groups have in response to the growing number of short-term, high-cost loans being offered by banks and even credit unions. Since regulatory changes have cracked down on other bank moneymakers like overdraft and interchange fees, financial institutions [...]
What happens when you take companies many Americans love to hate and place them into something we all love to love – namely, a tournament bracket? Welcome to The Consumerist’s Worst Company in America 2012 tourney!
Updated: 6:15 p.m., March 1 Bank fees are in the spotlight again. The Wall Street Journal reported that Bank of America is planning to roll out new checking-account fees, and the news stirred up negative sentiment in the social mediaverse almost immediately, with consumers reacting angrily to the idea. Chase, meanwhile, wants to charge customers even [...]
It’s hard to overstate how much bank customers hate overdraft fees, but we still shelled out nearly $30 billion on them last year. The Federal Reserve attempted to rein in the “gotcha” factor with new rules in 2010, but banks have exploited loopholes in them and increased the fees. Now, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [...]
