The online bank ING Direct is introducing a new debit card and e-banking account designed specifically for teenagers. But considering how the product works, it'll probably appeal more to moms and dads.
A judge recently granted class-action status to a group of consumers who filed a lawsuit against Union Bank, claiming the San Francisco-based institution manipulated the order of transactions in order to maximize overdraft fees. Consumer advocates say that if the consumers prevail, it will send a strong message to other banks that they can’t get away [...]
According to a new study, checking accounts at the nation’s ten largest banks come with a median length of 111 pages of disclosure documents. Getting to the bottom of all of your account’s requirements, fee schedules, addendums, and other terms and conditions is like reading a short novel—a horrendously boring, annoyingly legalistic, and purposely confusing [...]
The era of free checking appears to be on its last legs. For months, signs have been regularly appearing indicating that this day would come: early rumors that Bank of America would roll out fees to make up for lost revenues due to new overdraft regulations, BofA testing new checking fees around the country, other [...]
Over the years, the primary way banks make money has shifted from collecting interest on loans to collecting fees from customers using their debit and credit cards and other bank products. As regulations make it more difficult to collect some fees—namely, debit card overdrafts—banks are growing more interested in prepaid debit cards.
The economic crisis has brought about a “new normal,” in which Americans are adjusting their expectations concerning work, investing, spending, and one’s “lifestyle.” The recession has also brought with it new words and phrases, like “new normal.”
Also, is it wrong to take advantage of freebies? And: How much should you be saving for college? (If you’re dropping off your kid at school next week, this is an issue you probably should have addressed earlier.)
These carefully-phrased services sound quite nice, don’t they? But if you read the fine print carefully, you’ll discover that these programs are strategies for banks to collect fees on customers who are careless with their account balances.
You’re not supposed to spend money you don’t have. But this is what you’re doing when you buy something with a debit card and don’t have enough in your bank account to cover the tab—in other words, an overdraft. Since banks make money when their customers spend money they don’t have, the banks basically encourage [...]
Here are nine scenarios in which it’s easy to overpay, get scammed, or come out on the losing end of negotiations.
