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
A Virginia couple handed a courier their savings in a phone-scam ring tied to over $1 million in thefts
A Virginia couple lost their life savings after handing cash to a courier dispatched by phone scammers posing as government officials. Three people were arrested...
$50 a month toward your loan principal is the new match when a student payment barely dents the balance
Federal student loan borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans are watching their balances grow even as they make every required payment on time. The math...
Circle K data-breach victims can claim $50, or up to $2,000 with proof, by September 3
People affected by a data security incident at Gas Express LLC, a company tied to Circle K convenience store operations, face a September 3 deadline...
A Tennessee retiree lost $268,000 in gold bars to callers who posed as her bank and a federal agent
A retiree in Putnam County, Tennessee, handed over $268,229 in gold bars and coins to strangers who called her pretending to be her bank and...
Comcast will pay Xfinity customers $50 with no proof over a 2023 data breach, if they file by August 14
Xfinity customers affected by a late-2023 data breach tied to a known software flaw can collect $50 from Comcast without submitting proof of harm, as...
46,000 borrowers rushed into the new student-loan plan on day one, and new borrowers get no other choice
Tens of thousands of federal student-loan borrowers moved quickly when the U.S. Department of Education opened enrollment in its new Repayment Assistance Plan, with reports...
Thirteen people are charged in a scheme that drained older Americans with fake tech-support and government calls
Federal prosecutors have charged 13 people for running a transnational fraud operation that used fake tech-support and government phone calls to steal from more than...
Disney+ subscribers may get a settlement check over the service’s pricing and auto-renewal practices
Disney+ subscribers could be in line for a payout tied to how the streaming giant handles consumer data and account practices. California Attorney General Rob...
A caller posing as bank rep ‘Miss Barbara’ drained $162,000 from a 65-year-old California caretaker
A 65-year-old California caretaker lost $162,000 after a caller who identified herself as “Miss Barbara,” a supposed bank representative, convinced the victim to hand over...
Fake toll-payment texts are one of the FTC’s fastest-growing scams, and one tap can cost you
A single text message claiming a driver owes a few dollars in unpaid tolls has become one of the fastest-growing fraud tactics in the United...
Thieves copy gift-card codes on store racks; buy from behind the counter and check the seal
Shoppers who pick a gift card off a retail display rack risk handing their money to thieves who already copied the card’s numbers and PIN...
Albany Park will pay nearly $15 million over fake ‘sale’ prices; buyers can claim by August 18
Buyers who purchased homes from Albany Park and were shown inflated “original” prices to make discounts look real now have until August 18 to file...
An Arizona mother wired $50,000 after scammers used an AI clone of her daughter’s voice
Jennifer DeStefano, an Arizona mother, told a Senate subcommittee that scammers used artificial intelligence to clone her teenage daughter’s voice during a fake kidnapping call....
A new federal student-loan plan sets your payment at 1% to 10% of income, or $10 a month
Federal student-loan borrowers earning less than $30,000 a year will soon face a sharply different repayment structure. Public Law 119-21, enacted on July 4, 2025,...
Cash App is mailing settlement checks to users automatically after a $175 million CFPB order
Block, Inc., the parent company of Cash App, is sending settlement checks directly to affected users after federal regulators ordered the company to pay $175...
Naming a payable-on-death beneficiary moves a bank account to heirs without probate
Bank account holders who die without a payable-on-death designation in place can leave their heirs waiting months for a probate court to release funds, even...
Sprouts shoppers can claim data-breach cash by August 5
If you paid with a credit or debit card at Sprouts Farmers Market during the past several years, you may be entitled to a cash...
2.6 million more borrowers were pushed into student-loan default collection early this year
About 2.5 million borrowers fell into default on federal student loans between September and December 2025, pushing the total number of defaulted borrowers to roughly...
Parents who take a new PLUS loan after July 1 lose any path to public-service forgiveness
Families counting on Public Service Loan Forgiveness to offset the cost of borrowing for a child’s education face a hard deadline. Starting July 1, 2026,...
Most cardholders who simply call and ask get their interest rate lowered, yet almost no one with a 21% card does
Millions of Americans carry credit cards with annual percentage rates above 21 percent, paying hundreds of extra dollars in interest each year. Survey data archived...