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CARDNEWS FOR CONSUMERS
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(9/26/01)
Card Lovers
A dog may be man's best friend, but a credit card may be a woman's best friend. While the nation's male population is growing at a slightly faster rate than the female population, nearly 76.1 million women have or use credit cards, compared with 68.2 million men.
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(9/25/01)
Slipping Up
Americans are slipping up on their card payments at a rate not seen in more than twenty years. The deterioration in consumer credit quality is further evidence that we are, and have been, in a recession since late spring.
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(9/24/01)
Charity Victims
Believe it or not, scamsters see a silver lining in the horror that took New York and Washington two weeks ago. As Americans open up their wallets to charity and pull out credit cards to donate, some scum artists are seizing the opportunity to gather information for fraudulent use.
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(9/20/01)
5% Yield
Amalgamated Bank of Chicago is offering its MasterCard customers a 5% interest rate on a saving account. The bank, which issues standard and gold MasterCards, requires cardholders to deposit a $2,500 minimum to get the special rate.
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(9/19/01)
Bankruptcy Reform
Bankruptcy reform legislation has taken the back burner to more pressing matters, due to the tragic events in New York and Washington last week.
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(9/18/01)
Interlink Revolt
The stink over new merchant fees for the Interlink debit card is spreading. This week Florida-based Publix Super Markets says it will no longer accept VISA's 'Interlink' point-of-sale debit cards effective October 13.
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(9/17/01)
Card Rates
For the first time in the industry's history, average credit card rates have plummeted below the 15.00% level. However average rates could have been hovering below 14.00% if the full impact of the Fed rate deductions had been passed on to cardholders.
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(9/17/01)
Xmas 2001
This could be the weakest holiday spending season since the recession of 1990-91. This year, before the current recession was documented and before the terrorist attacks were launched, holiday sales were predicted to rise only 2.5%.
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(9/14/01)
Red Cross Coins
The green coin counting machines found in many supermarkets can now be used to contribute pocket change to the American Red Cross. Coinstar says that if just half of the Americans who live within two miles of a Coinstar machine donate a handful of change, it can raise $65 million for the American Red Cross.
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(9/14/01)
Economic Fallout
Americans will not spend less and won't necessarily change their personal behavior apart from cutting down on their flying, particularly over the next few days in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attacks.
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(9/13/01)
Fee Waivers
With the air travel system shut-down and mail service moving to a crawl, credit card issuers have indicated they will waive late fee charges. Discover announced it is eliminating all late fee charges effective immediately until normal mail service is restored.
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(9/13/01)
Travel Impact
The days of walking to the airport gate with only a credit card to check-in, are over. The US Department of Transportation now requires travelers to present paperwork confirming their flight information.
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(9/12/01)
Consumers Brake
Yesterday's tragic events coupled with a slowdown by credit card holders, may tip the economy into a full blown recession. For the first time in nine years overall consumer credit failed to grow in two consecutive months and for the first time in four years overall consumer borrowing decline.
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(9/10/01)
Breast Cancer Fund
Between now and the end of October American Express will donate one cent, for every purchase made on an AmEx Card at participating merchants, to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
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(9/7/01)
Beanie Card
The first credit card to be offered with an exclusive, companion Beanie Baby has hit the market. MBNA America and Ty have teamed to offer the Ty Platinum Plus MasterCard that comes with a special Beanie Baby created expressly for MasterCard.
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(9/6/01)
Card Ban
If you live in the western U.S. and use a bank card with the Interlink logo, then you'll be banned at Wal-Mart Stores next month. Wal-Mart announced this week it will no longer accept VISA's Interlink point-of-sale, PIN-based debit cards, as of October 13 at any of its 2,700 stores.
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(9/4/01)
Acquirer Contest
MasterCard is beefing-up merchant acceptance with a contest that gets underway this week. More than $100,000 in prizes are being offered to U.S. acquirers and member service providers that sign new merchants or expand existing merchant programs.
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(9/5/01)
Citibank Fees
Citibank has joined the ranks of issuers pushing up late payment fees above the $29 level. In solicitations for its 0% intro APR "Platinum MasterCards",
Citibank is now charging a $35 late fee on balances of $1,000 or more.
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