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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had the chance to show that it would stand up for the underserved, preventing them from being slapped with exorbitant fees they didn’t anticipate. They could have sent a message to banks: be transparent, be fair, or get out of the game. They could have stuck with an existing law [...]
This just in: the credit card application process is about to get easier. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has unveiled a simplified credit card agreement for card issuers to use in lieu of traditional paperwork. The new, two-page agreement highlights important information in large type and uses plain language to help consumers understand [...]
On November 22nd, the National Retail Federation and four other retail industry associations filed suit against the Federal Reserve, claiming that the debit interchange fee cap it set was far above the “reasonable and proportional” cost of covering debit card fraud. They argue that the Fed failed to follow the key requirements and intent of [...]
While students struggle to pay rising tuition costs, many are also facing a tough lesson in personal finance courtesy of cost-cutting universities and Higher One Holdings Inc., a company that provides student financial aid refunds. Founded in 2000, Higher One now serves over 700 colleges nationwide. Over the past year, student accounts have risen by [...]
The Durbin Amendment had a lot of promise: it would break the Visa-MasterCard processing duopoly, lower prices for consumers and help small businesses struggling in a tough economic climate. In theory. In practice, however, interchange regulation has had an immediate, visible, adverse effect on businesses and consumers alike – and, unfortunately, that effect has been [...]
In a two-part series, NerdWallet Politics assesses whether the Department of Justice’s antitrust investigation into debit card usage fees has merit. Part I focuses on the (sort of) innocent, while Part II finds the true culprit. Even as the Department of Justice investigates major banks for evidence of collusion, the source of anticompetitive pricing escapes [...]
Happy New Year from NerdWallet | Politics! The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s entire short life has been plagued by controversy, only exacerbated by President Obama’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray to its head. But lost in the debate is a central tenet of the Bureau that both Republicans and Democrats should cheer: a focus on [...]
Professor Chris Hoofnagle, director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Law and Technology information privacy programs, wrote blog posts about Bank of America’s fees before it was cool. In a June 2010 post, he spoke out in favor of Bank of America’s new basic checking account fees, making the argument that free checking was never actually [...]
Tomorrow, on October 1st, the first provisions of the Durbin Amendment will take effect. Debit card interchange fees will be capped at 21 cents plus 0.05% of the transaction, with the possibility of an additional cent if banks and card networks comply with certain security procedures. Banks argue that interchange fees are necessary to fund [...]
While students struggle to pay rising tuition costs, many are also facing a tough lesson in personal finance courtesy of cost-cutting universities and Higher One Holdings Inc., a company that provides student financial aid refunds. Founded in 2000, Higher One now serves over 700 colleges nationwide. Over the past year, student accounts have risen by [...]
The Durbin Amendment had a lot of promise: it would break the Visa-MasterCard processing duopoly, lower prices for consumers and help small businesses struggling in a tough economic climate. In theory. In practice, however, interchange regulation has had an immediate, visible, adverse effect on businesses and consumers alike – and, unfortunately, that effect has been [...]
This just in: the credit card application process is about to get easier. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has unveiled a simplified credit card agreement for card issuers to use in lieu of traditional paperwork. The new, two-page agreement highlights important information in large type and uses plain language to help consumers understand [...]
WisTex: Two of my debit cards were closed by the issuer because of the Durbin ...
Kevin Butler: How can you identify a liberal policy: it achieves results exactly opp...
: Durbin loves poor people so what he did was right. Even if it has back...
aeolius: Your comments are filtered through untouchable credo. That society has...
: seriously, any chance they have to squeeze the little guys......