Banking & Credit Cards
How banks, credit cards, and payment systems work. Covers products, rates, fees, regulations, and what consumers need to know to navigate the banking system.
Latest in Banking & Credit Cards
Federal agents caught the accused ringleader of a $250 million gold-and-cash scam that drained older Americans as he tried to flee through JFK airport
A criminal network accused of stripping more than $250 million from older Americans lost its accused top money-mover this week. Authorities caught the man investigators...
Splitting money across banks keeps every dollar under the $250,000 federal insurance limit
A single number governs how safe a bank deposit really is: $250,000. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage protects checking accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit...
A verbal password on a bank account blocks a caller who spoofs the bank
A phone rings with the bank’s own customer-service number on the display, and the caller already knows the account holder’s name and the last four...
Fake security-alert scams are draining older Americans’ life savings, with reports of $100,000-plus losses up nearly sevenfold since 2020
Reports of business and government impersonation scams costing older Americans more than $100,000 apiece climbed nearly sevenfold between 2020 and 2024, according to a federal...
State officials are warning that “tariff rebate” texts promising a $2,000 check are a scam, because no such payment has been approved
State officials in Idaho are warning residents that text messages promising a $2,000 “tariff rebate” check are fraudulent, timed to exploit real political chatter about...
Comcast is paying Xfinity customers up to $10,000 over a data breach, or a flat $50 with no receipts, if they claim by September 14
Comcast will pay eligible Xfinity customers as much as $10,000 apiece, or a no-paperwork $50 flat rate, after a federal judge approved a $117.5 million...
A my Social Security account guards against a scammer diverting your benefits
A free my Social Security account closes off a specific fraud pattern the Social Security Administration has warned about for years: an identity thief who...
A bank must give provisional credit for a disputed debit charge within about 10 business days
Federal banking rules do not give a bank unlimited time to sit on a customer’s money while it investigates a disputed debit-card charge. Once a...
A fraud alert placed with one credit bureau automatically covers all three
Placing a fraud alert with any one of the three national credit bureaus sets off a legal notification requirement that automatically covers the other two,...
Freezing your credit is free at all three bureaus and blocks a thief from opening accounts in your name
A federal law that took effect in September 2018 made it free, nationwide, to freeze a credit report at each of the three major credit...
Opting out of debit-card overdraft coverage stops a bank from charging about $35 when a purchase overdraws
A federal rule requires a bank to get a customer’s explicit opt-in before it can charge an overdraft fee on a debit-card purchase or ATM...
Credit-card interest rates are stuck near 22%, the most expensive consumer-debt cycle on record
The interest rate on credit card balances that actually accrue a monthly finance charge averaged 22.15% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the...
A federal sweep charged 25 people in a $65 million scam ring that drained thousands of seniors, seizing luxury cars and $4.2 million
Federal prosecutors in San Diego are moving from guilty pleas to prison time in a $65 million fraud and money-laundering ring that spent years draining...
Naming both a primary and a backup beneficiary keeps an account out of probate if the first dies
A payable-on-death designation is one of the simplest ways to keep a bank account out of probate, but the simplicity depends on naming more than...
A SIM-swap scam hijacks a phone number to break into a bank or brokerage account
A phone that suddenly loses all service, no calls, no texts, no data, can be the first sign that a scammer has just taken over...
A verbal password on a bank account can block a scammer who spoofs the bank’s number
Caller ID showing a bank’s real name and number no longer proves a call is genuine, because scammers can fake, or “spoof,” that same information...
FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, and beneficiaries can raise that limit
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each account ownership category, a ceiling that has not moved since...
A fake-overpayment scam pressures seniors to wire back money they never received
A buyer for an item listed online sends a check or money order for more than the agreed price, then asks the seller to wire...
Heirs of a reverse-mortgage borrower have limited time to repay or sell before foreclosure
When a reverse-mortgage borrower dies, the loan does not simply pass to whoever inherits the house; it becomes immediately due and payable, and a clock...
A total and permanent disability discharge can wipe out federal student loans for disabled borrowers
A federal loan discharge that erases a borrower’s entire remaining student debt is available to anyone certified as totally and permanently disabled, and most people...