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
Taking more than $10,000 out of your bank triggers a federal report, and splitting it up is itself a crime
Withdraw or deposit more than $10,000 in cash at a bank in a single business day, and the bank does not ask permission first. It...
Federal prosecutors charged Jay Goswami with running a $7.5 million cash-and-gold scheme that drained nine older victims
Federal prosecutors in Buffalo have charged Jay Sunilbharthi Goswami, 21, with running a cash-and-gold fraud scheme that authorities say drained more than $7.5 million from...
A Flo Health privacy settlement of $59.5 million is open to app users through October 15
Flo Health, Google and Flurry have agreed to a combined $59.5 million settlement over claims that the popular period and ovulation tracking app shared users’...
Lands’ End shoppers can claim up to $60 in a settlement before the October 22 deadline
Lands’ End has agreed to settle claims over a December 2024 data breach that exposed a wider set of identity documents than most retail hacks...
Generic drugmakers will pay states $96 million over price-fixing; buyers can register now
Forty-eight states and territories have settled with generic drugmaker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals for $29.6 million over allegations it conspired with competitors to inflate generic drug prices,...
Pfizer’s $44 million Chantix settlement is paying eligible buyers who file by September 14
Pfizer has agreed to pay $44 million to resolve claims that its smoking-cessation drug Chantix was contaminated with a nitrosamine, a substance regulators classify as...
A True World breach settlement pays a no-proof $50 by September 8
True World Holdings is not a household name — it is a wholesale food distributor most people have never bought anything from directly — which...
A settlement is paying Farmers Insurance customers up to $160 over unwanted calls, with a September 14 deadline
Farmers Insurance customers who fielded repeated marketing calls or texts from the company’s agents can file for a payment of up to $160 under a...
The FTC warns of “recovery” scammers who target past fraud victims with a fake promise to get the money back
The Federal Trade Commission is warning that scammers are specifically targeting people who have already lost money to fraud once, promising to recover the stolen...
Banks must send a change-in-terms notice before raising a fee or rate, giving you time to move money
A bank cannot simply raise a checking account’s monthly fee or cut a savings account’s interest rate without warning. Federal rules require a depository institution...
A Missouri credit union failed this month; insured savings moved without loss
The National Credit Union Administration liquidated African Diaspora Federal Credit Union in Saint Ann, Missouri, on August 6, after examiners found the small institution insolvent...
Credit union deposits are federally insured up to $250,000, just like a bank
When a regional bank fails, federal deposit insurance kicks in automatically to make depositors whole up to a set limit. Fewer people realize the same...
The SEC charged 38 firms with faking filings, even forging a certificate, to pose as real investment advisers
The Securities and Exchange Commission says it has charged 38 entities with lying on the paperwork that let them pose as legitimate investment advisers, including...
Medicare blocked $1.6 billion in fake lab billing, revoking 157 providers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says its enforcement actions have stopped more than $1.6 billion in fraudulent or potentially improper Medicare laboratory payments,...
Grubhub is mailing $23.8 million to 640,000 customers and drivers automatically, and the checks expire in 90 days
The Federal Trade Commission has begun mailing more than $23.8 million to 640,038 Grubhub drivers and diners the agency says were harmed by the delivery...
Social media has become the top starting point for scams that drain older adults, with reported losses up nearly ninefold since 2020
Reported losses from scams that began on social media climbed nearly ninefold among Americans age 60 and older between 2020 and 2024, the sharpest increase...
Top certificates of deposit pay near 4%, the average savings account 0.38%
Popular Direct is paying 4.50% annual percentage yield on its three-, four- and five-year certificates of deposit this week, and CFG Bank offers a flat...
A federal court threw out the $8 cap on credit card late fees, so the typical penalty is back near $32
A consent judgment signed in a Fort Worth federal courtroom in April 2025 erased the $8 ceiling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had placed on...
A credit card’s grace period skips interest when you pay the full balance
The grace period is the single feature that lets a credit card be used without ever paying interest, yet it is widely misunderstood as automatic....
Several no-proof data-breach settlements are paying eligible people $50 to $100, with deadlines landing in September and October
A cluster of court-approved data-breach settlements is offering a flat cash payment to eligible consumers who file before deadlines that fall in September and October...