Payday Pundit

Ohio’s public radio station reports that, following their coverage of last week’s rally in Colulmbus, they received the followed email from a listener:  

 ”YOU ALL SOUNDED LIKE ELITIST PIGS. I AM A 51-YEAR-OLD FULLTIME WORKER, BUT I HAVE NEEDED TO USE PAYDAY LENDERS FROM TIME TO TIME. THEY ARE MUCH BETTER THAN USING CREDIT CARDS IF YOU GET […]

[Read more →]

Bankrate has a great calculator to help you figure out what you end up paying if you pay only your minimum credit card payment each month.

[Read more →]

From a Texas blog:
I have to ask, are the poor going to be offered low rates like the rich? Are they going to be offered overdraft protection? Are they going to be paid interest on their checking accounts? Probably not.
I think it far more likely these accounts will turn out to be like the credit […]

[Read more →]

The Feds are serious.  Apparently, big announcements will be made today regarding new rules for credit card companies to end deceptive practices.  The Washington Post is playing it big, making it the top story of the day.  From the piece:
The proposed regulations, which could be finalized by year’s end, would label as “unfair or deceptive” […]

[Read more →]

The federal regulators that oversee the savings and loan industry are proposing new regs to prevent ”deceptive acts or practices regarding credit cards and overdraft protection.”  The Payday Pundit says it’s about time.      Key paragraph from the announcement:
Today’s proposal addresses practices that have raised concern about fairness and transparency. For credit cards, the proposed rule would […]

[Read more →]

What’s All This Fussing About? has an interesting (if lengthy) diatribe against increasingly pervasive and arbitrary fees from banks and credit cards.  A taste:
Examing banks further; the fees we’re paying for accounts have nearly tripled in the past decade. Beyond the familiar maintenance fees and minimum balance fees, a NSF (nonsufficient funds) charge has reached $45, and […]

[Read more →]

This is a big development.  As this article describes, the Fed is going to bar companies from raising interest rates on card holdings barring a default from the cardholder. 
Banks are also fending off federal legislation to crack down on credit card abuses. 

[Read more →]

An article in the New York Sun reports, “Credit card companies offer residents of majority black communities a lower credit limit than residents with the same profile who live in white neighborhoods, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has found.”
The study, “Credit Card Redlining”  is by Ethan Cohen-Cole.
Cole found that a 1% increase in the percentage […]

[Read more →]

Last night on PBS, Frontline re-ran a program called: Secret History of the Credit Card. The show highlighted some facts about credit cards that make the criticisms about payday lending look like child’s play. 
What Payday Pundit found particularly interesting is that by paying only the minimum balance every month, it could take you 35 years […]

[Read more →]