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
Restarted student-loan collections can garnish wages, tax refunds, and part of your Social Security check
Borrowers who defaulted on federal student loans now face the return of the government’s most aggressive collection tools: wage garnishment, tax-refund seizures, and reductions to...
Online savings accounts still pay above 4%, unlike most brick-and-mortar banks
The official national average interest rate on savings accounts is stuck at 0.38 percent, according to recent federal data, even as online banks continue to...
The average tax refund climbed this year as new breaks for tips, overtime and car-loan interest pushed the IRS to pay out $30.7 billion more
The Internal Revenue Service has paid out roughly $30.7 billion more in income tax refunds so far this filing season than at the same point...
Equifax breach victims can still claim free credit monitoring or cash
Millions of people whose personal data was exposed in Equifax’s 2017 breach still have access to free credit monitoring and identity restoration services for years...
Bank of America customers hit by the Infosys data breach can claim up to $6,000 from a $17.5 million settlement
More than six million people whose personal data was exposed in a late-2023 breach at Infosys McCamish Systems now face a deadline-driven decision: whether to...
The FBI warns “wrong number” crypto texts have cost Americans billions
Americans lost billions of dollars to cryptocurrency investment fraud that often begins with a single, seemingly innocent text message sent to the wrong number. The...
A Florida woman, 79, lost $200,000 to scammers, then had detectives in her living room when they called back for $30,000 more
A 79-year-old Manatee County woman had already lost $200,000 to scammers when the same callers dialed back to demand another $30,000. This time, detectives from...
A free state search can reunite you with forgotten bank accounts, paychecks and deposits held as unclaimed property
Forgotten bank accounts, uncashed paychecks and dormant deposits are sitting in state custody right now, waiting for their rightful owners to file a free claim....
A Maine couple in their late 70s lost their entire $1.3 million savings after impersonators told them to wire it to crypto
A couple in Maine, both in their late 70s, lost $1.3 million in retirement savings after scammers posing as federal agents directed them to wire...
Scammers copy the codes off store gift-card racks, so buy from behind the counter and check the packaging
Gift card fraud cost victims nearly $800,000 in a single federal case targeting the retailer Target, and a separate laundering ring moved more than $2.5...
Comcast breach victims can file for a payout until September 14
Nearly 35.9 million people affected by a late-2023 Comcast data breach now face a deadline to file claims for a payout, with the window closing...
STIIIZY customers can claim up to $7,500 for a data breach by September 10
Customers of cannabis brand STIIIZY who had personal information exposed in a data security incident have until September 10, 2026, to file claims for payments...
The FBI says older Americans lost $7.7 billion to scams last year, much of it to the “phantom hacker” ploy
Americans aged 60 and older lost $7.7 billion to fraud in 2023, according to the FBI, with a fast-growing share of that total tied to...
Your bank deposits are insured up to $250,000 per depositor, and spreading money across banks covers more
Anyone holding more than $250,000 in a single bank account risks losing the excess if that institution fails. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sets the...
The SAVE student-loan plan is ending, and 7.5 million borrowers get 90 days to switch
Roughly 7.5 million federal student-loan borrowers enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan now face a hard deadline to pick a new path or be pushed...
Western Montana Clinic patients can claim up to $5,000 over a data breach by September 15
Nearly 8,829 patients tied to Western Montana Clinic face a tight window to file claims worth up to $5,000 each after a data breach that...
Continental Café data-breach victims can claim $50, or up to $700 with proof, by July 28
People whose personal data was exposed in the Continental Cafe Holdings, LLC breach now face a tight window to file claims. The company’s breach notification,...
Enroll in automatic student-loan payments by September 30 and the government trims your interest rate by 1%
Federal student-loan borrowers who sign up for automatic payments by September 30, 2026, will receive a 1 percent interest-rate reduction on eligible Direct Loans, a...
An 82-year-old St. Louis woman handed a courier $250,000 in gold bars after callers posed as tech support and her bank
An 82-year-old woman in St. Louis purchased approximately $250,000 in gold bars and handed them to a courier after callers impersonated tech support and her...
Oak View Group data-breach victims can claim $50, or $150 in California, by August 15
People whose personal information was exposed in the Oak View Group data breach have until August 15 to file a claim for $50, or $150...