Do you find credit card rewards programs confusing? Are your points easy to spend? Or are they like airline miles, so laden with restrictions that they seem, well, pointless? Federal regulators say they are looking into the issue, which is making card issuers nervous. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau chief Rich [Keep reading]
What happens to student loan debt when the borrower dies? The answer: It depends, based on the type of loan. Federal student loan debt can be discharged through a relatively simple process; private loan debt, however, can shift to parents or other co-signers. As the families of many deceased borrowers [Keep reading]
How much do people hate going to auto repair shops? A new survey says 41% of Americans would rather do their taxes — by hand! — than head to a garage for car repairs. And why not? About 60% say they think they’ve been ripped off by an auto repair [Keep reading]
If you like rising prices, less competition, crowded planes, and decreased service, you’ll love the deal announced this week that gives US Airways and American Airlines the right to merge. Sure, the airlines made a small, novel concession that will give a boost to low-cost airlines flying in and [Keep reading]
Kevin Trudeau made millions telling U.S. consumers he was an outsider sharing secrets the government or corporations “don’t want you to know.” The famous late-night pitchman appears to have been silenced now. He was found guilty of contempt of court on Tuesday after a week-long trial in a Chicago courtroom [Keep reading]
It’s getting harder to tell what’s an advertisement and what’s “real” content online. For example: Google has been testing a new background color for its sponsored search results for a while. I just noticed it this week, when Googling with a laptop on battery power caused my display to be [Keep reading]
Gotcha capitalism means companies lurk until you make a tiny mistake, then punish the heck out of you — such as a $39 overdraft fee for a $5 mistake. That’s sinister enough. But you know what’s worse? Gotcha governing. It’s epidemic in America. Local and state governments are hurting for [Keep reading]
Home borrowers got a reminder Thursday that the mortgage process remains a potential minefield. A nationwide mortgage firm accused of paying employees bonuses to steer borrowers into less-favorable mortgage terms has agreed to pay $13 million in penalties to settle the charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thursday. Utah-based Castle & [Keep reading]
Spanish bank Banco Sabadell announced last month that it was the first financial institution in the world to release a banking app for Google Glass. Months earlier, a Ukrainian bank demoed its Glass app. Analysts are predicting that here in the States, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Fidelity are [Keep reading]
Home Depot’s Twitter timeline was full of what seemed like endless apologies on Thursday afternoon after the firm tweeted a picture that it now calls a “dumb tweet,” and others are calling racist. “We are deeply sorry for the dumb tweet and have deleted it,” the firm Tweeted dozens of [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan