Skip to main content

The Money Overview

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

Fraud & Scams

TikTok hashtags like #CreditHacks grew 162% in one year — and 70% of early auto loan defaults are now tied to fraudulent applications

In May 2026, Frank McKenna, chief fraud strategist at Point Predictive, told attendees at the firm’s annual Auto Lending Fraud Summit that the industry was...

Fraud & Scams

Fake EZ-Pass and toll-road texts are the fastest-growing scam in America — imposter fraud losses hit $3.5 billion last year

A North Carolina driver gets a text about a $6.99 unpaid toll on a road she drives every weekday. A Colorado commuter sees a nearly...

Fraud & Scams

Fidelity flagged a $15 billion fraud wave targeting Americans’ savings — scammers now send 100,000 texts a day, and AI voice clones need just 3 seconds of audio

A retired teacher in Ohio picks up the phone and hears her grandson’s voice, panicked, saying he’s been in a car accident and needs bail...

Bank Accounts & Fees

The best high-yield savings account pays 4.10% APY today — and zero rate cuts are priced in for 2026, so that number isn’t going anywhere

A savings account paying 0.39% earns you about $39 a year on a $10,000 deposit. Move that same cash to a high-yield savings account paying...

Loans & Lending

Subprime auto loan delinquencies just hit a 32-year record — and unemployment is 4.3%, not 9% like the last time car defaults were this bad

Picture a borrower with a 520 credit score who financed a used pickup in 2023 at 14% interest. The monthly payment: $587. Today that borrower...

Loans & Lending

The average new car payment just hit $773 a month — and 1 in 5 buyers is now locked into payments above $1,000

A $773 monthly car payment would have been unusual five years ago. Now it is the average. According to Edmunds’ Q1 2026 auto financing data,...

Loans & Lending

7.5 million borrowers just lost the SAVE plan — they have 90 days to switch or the government auto-enrolls them in a plan that could triple monthly payments

On July 1, federal loan servicers will begin mailing notices to every borrower still enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan. Each letter will contain a...

Loans & Lending

Subprime auto loan delinquencies just hit a 32-year record — and the average car payment climbed to $767 a month for a new vehicle

In October 2025, 6.65% of subprime auto borrowers tracked by Fitch Ratings were at least 60 days behind on their car payments. That is the...

Loans & Lending

The new student loan repayment plan launches in 53 days — and it’s the only income-driven option left after Trump killed SAVE, Grad PLUS, and every other IDR plan

If you owe federal student loans and haven’t been paying close attention, here is the short version: every income-driven repayment plan you’ve heard of is...

Fraud & Scams

Imposter scams stole $3.5 billion from Americans last year — and fake toll-road texts are the fastest-growing version in 2026

The text arrives between errands: a short notice claiming you owe $4.15 in unpaid tolls, with a link to settle up before late fees kick...

Fraud & Scams

The FTC says fake EZ-Pass and SunPass texts are the fastest-growing scam in America — government imposter reports jumped 40%

The text arrives without warning: “You owe $6.99 in unpaid tolls. Pay now to avoid additional fees.” It includes a link, a logo that looks...

Fraud & Scams

Imposter scams stole $3.5 billion from Americans last year — and the FTC says fake toll-road texts are the fastest-growing version in 2026

It starts with six dollars and twelve cents. That was the amount in the text message a Virginia commuter received in March, claiming she owed...

Fraud & Scams

The FBI says bank spoof callers are draining accounts in minutes — one Chase customer lost $40,000 after a call that showed Chase’s real number on caller ID

A Chase customer picks up the phone, sees Chase’s own number on the screen, and hears a voice warning that someone is moving money out...

Loans & Lending

Private student loan volume is expected to double after Trump killed Grad PLUS — and 40% of Americans wouldn’t even qualify for a private loan

The federal program that let graduate students borrow up to the full cost of their degrees is gone. Congress eliminated Grad PLUS lending through the...

Fraud & Scams

One in five Americans was hit by financial fraud last year — total losses reached $84 billion, and only $21 billion was recovered

About 50 million American adults lost money to financial fraud in 2024, according to the Federal Reserve’s annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED). That...

Bank Accounts & Fees

High-yield savings accounts still pay up to 4.10% APY — the Fed hasn’t cut rates once this year, and markets now expect zero cuts for all of 2026

The Federal Reserve has met three times in 2026. Three times, it left interest rates exactly where they were. And three times, the best online...

Fraud & Scams

Fidelity flagged a $15 billion fraud wave targeting Americans’ savings — scammers now send 100,000 texts a day, and AI voice clones need just 3 seconds of audio

The call came on a Tuesday afternoon. A retired teacher in Ohio heard what sounded exactly like her grandson’s voice, panicked, telling her he had...

Fraud & Scams

1 in 10 Americans has been targeted by an AI voice clone scam — and it only takes 3 seconds of audio for the software to copy your voice

A phone rings. The voice on the other end sounds exactly like your daughter, your boss, or a government official you trust. The panic in...

1 … 46 47 48 49 50 … 52