Credit card

Scams abound targeting holiday shoppers’ personal information

Scam artists are trying to take advantage of the holiday season to get your personal information. Audri Lanford from Scambusters.org has information on some of the biggest scams and best ways to avoid them.

College students skirt rules to get credit cards

Bankruptcy 101

Unemployment and credit card debt

Cyber crime bust

Environment

Good credit card customers targeted for higher rates

Credit card companies are expected pass on more costs to good customers — in the form of annual fees, higher rates, and more.

Citibank hackers expose lack of safety, regulation

Environment

Banks are often focused on old ways of stealing credit cards, instead of new computer hacks. And the government hasn’t caught up with appropriate regulations.

Lending Circles: Helping Immigrants in America Build Credit

For most of us, when we want to make a major purchase, we apply for a loan. But what if you have no credit score? That’s the case for many immigrants living in the US. One non-profit in San Francisco has adopted a novel way to try and change that.

The Tendency to Overestimate What Others Will Pay

The Journal of Consumer Research  recently published a study called “Overestimating Others’ Willingness to Pay” which outlines the “overvaluing bias”: the tendency to overvalue what another person would pay by nearly 40 percent. While this phenomenon is not new to social psychologists, it clearly influenced the years of easy credit and has more broadly moved Americans […]

The World

Listener responses: Bank of America’s new charges

Last week, Bank of America announced that it would begin imposing a $5 monthly fee for checking accounts that use debit cards. Other large banks are expected to follow suit. We share listener comments.