Credit card companies race to draft new dodgy dealsThe US “Card Act” has restricted some of the tricky billing tactics employed by credit card companies such as inactivity fees. However, the big banks are currently masterminding new ways to fill the US$390 million hole the act has created, writes Jessica Silver-Greenberg.
Credit cards
Could you live without your credit card?
Julia Scott went a month without using her credit card. She spent a whole lot less money, but also found out just how essential they have become to our everyday transactions.
How banks are already cashing-in on Haiti
As well-meaning westerners take out their credit cards to help earth-quake ravaged Haiti, banks and credit card companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars in transaction and processing fees.
Datapig: Banks just go on giving … less, that is
Reward points from the Big Four banks are costing us more every year, as the banks move the goalposts away as fast as we run towards them.
Cut up your credit card
Megan McArdle recently interviewed finance guru Dave Ramsey, who advocates one simple message: ditch your credit cards and live debt-free. Would the world really be a better place without the plastic fantastic?
Tales from Bernie Madoff’s Centurion credit card
What can we learn about the lifestyles and travels of the super rich from Bernie Madoff’s credit card statements? Elite Traveler investigates.
Australians discard the plastic
Australians are reducing their credit card debt and borrowing less in general, according to the latest lending finance figures, with revolving credit commitments down 4.8%.
Give consumers a little credit when it comes to managing their debt
Australian consumers are proving once again they are cleverer than the handwringers give them credit for.
Political snippets: Action against banks needed soon
It’s time for the government to act on banks moving to protect their profit margins by increasing interest rates, says Richard Farmer, plus the Iranian elections and Australians actually pay-off their credit cards.
Will the consumer credit market be the next to collapse?
Despite the problems people are having in paying back, credit cards are still being handed carelessly. Adam Schwab asks, how much of the current overall debt will end up being paid back?
Third bottom line gets tricky for Westpac
Westpac prides it self on its commitment to sustainability and corporate social responsibility. But is Westpac hiding a nasty little secret?
