Borrowers stuck with oppressive private student loan debts continue to get little mercy from lenders, which is bad for both consumers and the financial institutions, according to a report issued Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While distressed mortgage holders have several opportunities to appeal for lower monthly payments, and federal [Keep reading]
Credit cards equipped with smart chip technology are slowing edging towards reality here in the States. On Friday, The White House announced it would start requiring government-issued credit and debit cards be equipped with chips. That means folks who receive federal benefits on debit cards will get new plastic with [Keep reading]
Sorry, but I’m about to waste the next 20 or so minutes of your day. Click on over to ESRI’s website and look up your zip code. Or anyone’s zip code. And you’ll see precisely the kind of people who live in that place. Esri is the big Geographic Information [Keep reading]
I was hiking this weekend and suffered the bad luck of having a bee (or wasp?) literally fall inside my shirtcollar. A moment later, I felt a prick on my neck, and whatever it was flew away. That stinks, I thought. But one person I was with immediately started turning [Keep reading]
Samantha Huffman, by any millennial measure, would be considered a smashing success. Not only has she been using her college degree in civil engineering from Louisiana State University in the post-Katrina construction boom around New Orleans for the past six years, but she was smart enough to buy a duplex [Keep reading]
UPDATE: Many of you are probably far less selective with your LinkedIn connections than you are with Facebook friends. Based on this news, I’m now advising people to reverse that strategy. Any former LinkedIn connection with an axe to grind could cost you your next job. Stop what you are [Keep reading]
Mass-produced non-compete agreements are anti-capitalist, anti-free market, and decidedly un-American. I’ve covered the topic extensively before, but it needs little elaboration. Preventing a worker from changing jobs, even after quitting or being fired, is unconscionable. Worse, it’s nearly always done by corporations who engage in all sorts of free market [Keep reading]
Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard something like this from your boss: “Sorry, we can’t give you a raise. But be patient. We’ll take care of you.” Now, put your hands down if you were taken care of. I thought so. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella nearly broke the Internet yesterday [Keep reading]
Consumers lured by M&T Bank’s free checking account marketing campaign were misled, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday. Customers who thought their accounts were fee-free were switched into fee-based accounts without their permission, costing $5-$14 monthly, the bureau said. The CFPB ordered the bank to refund $2.9 million to [Keep reading]
It’s one of the more cynical gotchas consumers face, and finally, a big mobile phone company is paying the price. AT&T has agreed to pay $105 million to settle charges that it enabled, and profited from, massive phone bill cramming. In cramming, consumers unknowingly signed up for useless text-message [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan