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
Banks rarely refund a Zelle payment you were tricked into sending yourself
When a scammer tricks someone into sending money through Zelle, the bank usually keeps the customer on the hook, because federal law draws a hard...
Anyone demanding payment in gift cards is a scammer, and that money is almost never recovered
Once the numbers on the back of a gift card are read aloud to a stranger, the money is almost always gone for good —...
Tift Regional Health System data-breach victims can claim about $75 with no proof by October 15
People whose information was exposed in the 2022 data breach at Tift Regional Health System can claim an estimated $75 in cash without submitting any...
Doxim data-breach victims can claim $100 with no proof before October 13
A $5.5 million settlement over a data breach at Doxim, a technology vendor that prepares account statements and tax forms for credit unions, lets eligible...
Opting out of pre-approved credit offers is a free way to cut fraud risk
The stack of “you’re pre-approved” envelopes that arrives each week is easy to dismiss as harmless clutter. It is also a quiet security hole. Each...
Banks must refund money for unauthorized electronic transfers you report in time
When a stranger drains money through a debit card, a stolen card number, or a hacked online-banking login, the loss is not necessarily the account...
Scammers value a Medicare number because they can bill fake claims against it
A Medicare number is worth more to a thief than a credit-card number, because it opens a channel to bill the federal government for care...
A credit freeze is free and blocks new accounts opened in your name
Identity thieves do not need to drain an existing account to cause real damage. The more common play is to open something new — a...
The Fair Credit Billing Act gives you 60 days to dispute a wrong credit-card charge
A wrong number on a credit-card statement is not something an account holder simply has to swallow. A federal law written for exactly this problem,...
You can turn off debit-card overdraft and dodge fees that average about $27
For many older account holders, an overdraft fee arrives as an ambush: a debit card swiped a few dollars over the balance, and the bank...
Naming a trusted contact on a brokerage account lets a firm step in if it spots a scam
A single line on a brokerage form, the name of a trusted contact, can be the difference between a scammer draining an account and a...
Banks can now place a short hold on a suspicious withdrawal to stop elder financial abuse
For years, a bank teller who suspected an older customer was being scammed faced an uncomfortable choice: hand over the money as instructed, or risk...
A second-chance bank account can reopen the banking system after a ChexSystems black mark
Being turned down for a checking account can feel like a locked door, and for many older Americans it arrives without warning after an overdraft...
Scammers are targeting people who already lost money, demanding an upfront fee to “recover” it, the FTC warns
Federal regulators are warning that con artists have a favorite new list of targets: people who have already been cheated once. A recent consumer alert...
You can dispute a credit-card billing error in writing and force the issuer to investigate
A wrong charge on a credit-card statement is not something a cardholder simply has to absorb. Federal law gives every consumer the right to challenge...
High-yield savings accounts still pay far more than the big banks’ near-zero rates
The gap between what an online high-yield savings account pays and what a big national bank offers has rarely been this wide. As of late...
A courier scam talks seniors into handing cash or gold bars to a fake investigator
The knock at the door is the last step in a scam that can cost a retiree a lifetime of savings. A supposed federal agent,...
Thieves are “washing” checks stolen from mailboxes, so pay bills online or at the counter
A stolen check rarely stays the amount it was written for. Mail thieves lift envelopes from home mailboxes and the blue collection boxes on the...
A flat $80 with no proof is on the table for people caught in the Lucent Health data breach
About 37,000 people notified in the Lucent Health Solutions data breach can now claim a flat $80 with no documentation required, part of a $1.95...
A \”brushing\” scam sends an unordered package to use your stolen personal data
An unordered package arriving on a doorstep can look like a harmless mistake or an unexpected gift, but investigators treat it as a warning light....