Have you ever had a credit or debit card transaction declined for insufficient funds when you thought you had money in your account? You may have a credit or debit card “hold,” reserving funds that you haven’t spent.
Merchants and service providers set a credit or debit hold on a purchase when the total isn’t
Checking & Savings Accounts
Can your checking account affect your credit score? It’s possible, but only in certain circumstances that you should avoid.
Your credit score is calculated using information from your credit report, which is a history of all of your credit-based transactions. Checking accounts are funded by your deposits – there’s no borrowing of money involved. Normal
You prefer the simplicity and the spending limit security of a debit card, but you also like the cash-back rewards associated with credit cards. Zero, a San Francisco financial startup, may have the perfect card for you.
The Zerocard is a unique blend of debit and credit card. Zero’s full package is composed of a
Never mind what’s in your wallet – what’s in your savings account?
A savings account is your buffer against unexpected expenses. Without sufficient savings, you’ll probably rely on credit to handle financial setbacks – exposing you to interest charges at best and a potential debt spiral at worst.
According to a new study from ValuePenguin,
You don’t have any financial issues to hide from your partner … do you? According to a new survey from CreditCards.com, almost 1 in 5 of us does.
The survey found that 19% of Americans have at least one financial account that they hide from their spouse or live-in partner – either banking or credit
By Amy Beardsley
You are given the option of “debit or credit” when making purchases with your debit card. As it turns out, there’s a lot more to consider before swiping your debit card to pay for that next purchase. Although debit cards may look like credit cards, they don’t function like credit cards. When
Your Christmas gift from the Federal Reserve is here. Surprise! It’s another 0.25% hike in the Federal Funds rate. Sure, you’ve already gotten this same gift three other times in 2018, and nine times since late 2015 – but what else would you expect to receive from the Fed?
Interest rate hikes from the Fed
Are you finding it difficult to open a new bank account due to a previous mismanaged account? Your bridges with your bank may not have burned down completely. Get back into your bank’s good graces with a second chance checking account.
Fresh Start, Second Chance Checking Account According to an FDIC National Survey, as of
Life can be hard without a checking account. It becomes more difficult to pay your bills and handle daily money transfers without resorting to handling cash and dealing with check-cashing outlets that can take a significant cut of your funds. Unfortunately, you can be denied a checking account for a negative association with one of
Most consumers know that credit cards can come with fees other than interest charges applied to balances. Annual fees, late payment fees, balance transfer fees, cash advance fees, foreign transaction fees … the list goes on.
Did you know that debit cards could have fees as well? If not, don’t feel bad. In a recent
By Sandra Parsons
While Cardi B is topping the charts, “Card Cracking” is ruining some music fans’ lives. Rapper Young Ash and five others were recently indicted for running a card cracking ring that recruited accomplices through her Snapchat channel. Learn how card cracking works and how you can avoid falling victim to
Prefer using debit cards over credit cards, but miss earning rewards? Some debit cards offer cash-back rewards – either as a straight points-based redemption program or as a perks-based program directed at purchases with specific merchants. You may have debit card cash-back benefits through a perks-based program and not even realize it.
Cardlytics is
According to Collegedata.com, the average annual cost of tuition and fees for the 2017-2018 school year was $9,970 at an average public college for in-state residents. Out-of-state collegians paid an average of $25,620, while those attending private colleges saw average bills of $34,740.
Throw in a typical $10,000-$12,000 for housing and meals, another $1,200 for
Isn’t it nice when your bank pays you instead of you paying them? Competition in the banking market has opened up opportunities for you to get paid simply for opening a checking account.
Banks are often willing to part with cash, gift cards, interest-bearing checking accounts, or other rewards in order to gain your long-term
Automatic payments from your bank account can be a great convenience, but they can also be a source of problems if you don’t pay attention. Do you check your payments on every bank statement? If not, you may be paying incorrect amounts or making automatic payments for a service or subscription that you don’t want
Credit card usage is dropping among the millennial generation. A surprising 67% of Americans between 18 and 29 years of age have no credit cards at all, according to a recent survey. That compares to only 45% of Americans between the ages of 30 and 49, and 38% of those aged 50-64 without credit cards.
Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) may be the best resource for low-income Americans that you have never heard of. They are matching savings accounts that are targeted to promote savings in lower-income families and help them to achieve a savings goal that might otherwise be beyond their reach. Typical goals are buying a home, starting a
Many people might believe that to get a good credit score, they need a checking account. For households conducting most of their financial transactions with money orders and prepaid cards, it might seem essential. But financial expert Jeff Richardson says that having a checking account isn’t necessary.
Talking about the myth, Richardson said, “It’s probably
Theft of debit card information from ATMs is on a major rise, according to FICO. From the beginning of the year until April 9th, debit card information theft rose 174% over the same period in 2014 through ATMs located on bank properties and a staggering 317% in ATMs on non-bank properties. The surge represents the
Imagine that you visit an ATM to withdraw cash and instead of completing your transaction through scanning a card and entering a PIN, you simply tap the screen and scan a code to receive your cash. You don’t have to imagine it; in some locations, you can experience it.
Cardless ATM transactions through mobile apps
You are struggling just to pay your monthly bills, not to mention dealing with the occasional car breakdown, home maintenance item, or unexpected medical bill. You have had to resort to high-interest short-term payday loans to fill the gap, which puts you even further in debt. How can you even think about saving money in
If you have children under the age of twelve, you already know that very few of them have saving for college anywhere on the radar. It probably doesn’t crack the top one-hundred in their priority list, and may even rank below cleaning their room. However, as parents, we know how important it is to save
You probably earn periodic bonuses with purchases on your cash-back credit card. How about a cash bonus on your savings account that doesn’t require any purchase at all? In these days of minuscule interest rates on savings accounts — the national average is around 0.15% — that is an offer that catches people’s attention.
Capital
We hear ads for free or no-fee checking all the time, but are these accounts really free? There are four different account components to consider.
Maintenance Fees – These are monthly fees that the bank charges you simply to maintain your checking account. Some banks list maintenance fees but allow them to be waived under
Who needs scratch-off lottery tickets and Powerball? Some credit unions are offering a program that allows you to win prizes as you save your money, at no risk to you. Not surprisingly, the program is called Save to Win.
The program was developed in Michigan in 2009 as an innovative way to encourage lower- and
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a U.S. Government regulatory agency that has three primary purposes:
Insure bank deposits of member banks;
Assist with banking regulations;
Deal with failing banks.
Let’s look at each of these jobs in a little more detail.
Deposit Insurance
The FDIC does insure bank deposits in
CD or Savings Account: One, Both, or Neither? Finding an investment product that best meets your unique needs can be confusing and frustrating. There are so many out there, including mutual funds, money markets, stocks, bonds, and annuities, to name a few. Books have been written comparing and contrasting each one of these. This article