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
Adding a trusted relative as an authorized user on a long-held credit card can quietly lift their credit score
Families looking for a low-effort way to help a young adult or credit-thin relative build a stronger credit profile have long turned to a simple...
Compex data-breach victims can claim $100 to $200, or up to $5,000 with proof of losses, before the August 19 deadline
People affected by the Compex Legal Services Inc. data breach face a narrow window to file claims for payments ranging from $100 to $200, or...
Signing up for free USPS Informed Delivery shows you photos of incoming mail so you can spot a stolen check or card
Federal prosecutors charged three Philadelphia-area men for allegedly stealing checks from USPS collection boxes and washing them for redeposit, while the FBI warned that mail-theft...
A payable-on-death beneficiary on a bank account skips probate entirely
When a bank account holder dies with a payable-on-death designation in place, the named beneficiary can walk into the branch with a death certificate and...
A new federal student-loan plan called RAP launches July 1, replacing the income-driven options millions of borrowers use now
Millions of federal student-loan borrowers will lose access to every existing income-driven repayment plan when a new option called the Repayment Assistance Plan takes effect...
A 401(k) loan lets you borrow from your own balance and pay the interest back to yourself instead of a bank
Workers who need short-term cash but want to avoid bank interest payments have a built-in option sitting inside their retirement accounts. A 401(k) loan allows...
Flagstar Bank will pay data-breach victims about $60 with no proof, or up to $25,000 with documentation, if they file by August 11
Roughly 1.5 million people whose personal information was stolen in a late-2021 hack of Flagstar Bank now face a decision with a hard deadline: file...
A free one-call fraud alert forces lenders to verify your identity before opening credit, and it lasts a full year
Any consumer in the United States can pick up the phone, call one of the three major credit bureaus, and place a fraud alert that...
A lawsuit says Bitcoin Depot’s crypto ATMs let scammers drain $76,000 from a victim
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed a lawsuit against Bitcoin Depot, alleging the crypto ATM operator let scammers drain $76,000 from a single consumer...
No real government agency will ever ask you to pay with gift cards, wire transfers, or cash handed to a courier
Scammers posing as federal agents are pressing victims to buy gift cards, wire money, or hand cash to couriers, and three separate U.S. agencies have...
Report a lost debit card within two days and your fraud liability is capped at $50; wait longer and it can hit $500
Anyone who has ever lost a debit card knows the sinking feeling of checking a bank balance and finding charges they never made. Federal law...
A new rule taking effect July 1 lets the Education Department strip some employers of public-service loan forgiveness eligibility
Borrowers counting on Public Service Loan Forgiveness to erase their federal student debt face a new threat: a final rule that, starting July 1, gives...
Medicare Advantage insurers reversed 36% of long-term-care denials on appeal, the watchdog found, so appealing often works
Medicare Advantage enrollees who challenged denials of long-term acute care won reversals 36% of the time, and those who fought skilled nursing facility denials won...
Many credit cards quietly add a year to a product’s warranty and refund recent price drops, perks people rarely claim
Millions of credit cardholders in the United States carry cards that automatically extend a product’s manufacturer warranty by up to a year and reimburse the...
The FTC is mailing a third round of refunds from a $586 million fund to people who were scammed through Western Union
About 6,000 people who lost money through fraud schemes facilitated by Western Union are receiving checks as the Department of Justice distributes roughly $66 million...
You can tell your bank to turn off overdraft coverage so a $5 debit-card purchase can’t trigger a $35 fee
A single debit-card swipe for coffee or gas can still cost a bank customer $35 in overdraft fees, but federal rules give consumers a straightforward...
Imposter scams remain America’s top fraud, and the safest move is to hang up and call the number yourself
Americans lost nearly $3 billion to impersonation fraud in 2024, and the single best defense costs nothing: hang up the phone and call the company...
Scammers copy the codes off store gift cards before you buy them, so check the packaging first
Thieves are tampering with gift cards hanging on retail store racks, copying the card numbers and PINs, then waiting for an unsuspecting buyer to load...
$250,000 per person is FDIC-insured at each bank, so spread cash to cover more
Anyone holding more than $250,000 in a single bank account faces a straightforward risk: the amount above that threshold is not federally insured. The Federal...
Report an unauthorized debit-card charge within 60 days and your bank must put the money back
Anyone who has watched a mysterious charge drain their checking account knows the panic that follows. Federal law sets a hard deadline: consumers who notify...