CFPB finalizes rule to make it easier for consumers to switch banks
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Tuesday that protects personal financial information and will allow consumers to switch banks […]
Banks
Don’t interact with your bank on social media
In its newsletter for October 2024, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation cautioned people about interacting with their financial institution on
Credit card company trapped vulnerable consumers in to signing up for high-fee membership cards with limited use, CFPB says
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Horizon Card Services and its CEO Robert Kane Friday for tricking consumers into signing
Finally, something may be done about corporate price gouging that’s contributing to inflation
Thursday I wrote about how more than 50 percent of inflation is caused by corporate price gouging and wondered why politicians don’t talk about it and news organizations don’t cover it. Friday I was going to write about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suing Acima and its former chief executive officer Aaron Allred for illegal lending activities.
Corporations continue to charge consumers high prices, leading to record profits, which is a major cause of inflation
It’s amazing that corporate price gouging gets such little attention. It’s responsible for more than 50 percent of inflation that’s causing consumers so much stress and hardship. However, it gets little publicity. Accountable.US, a consumer watchdog group, reports lots of information on this, but I seldom see it in the press. Here are a few examples:
FTC taking a look at surveillance pricing, which links the price of an item to a customer’s data
What’s surveillance pricing? It’s when a company looks at information about you and sets the price of an item or service you want to buy based on that information. The FTC issued orders to eight companies offering surveillance pricing. It wants to know about the possible impacts these practices have on privacy, competition, and consumer protection.
Big banks make huge profits while taking more than $2.5 billion in junk fees from struggling American families
As the Biden administration works to curb junk fees, big banks keep charging the fees while earning record profits and some even want to increase the fees. CitiGroup, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. – three big banks that continue to charge junk fees – announced Friday more than $26 billion in combined second quarter earnings.
Be careful when using nonbanks
Consumers are used to depositing their money in banks and savings associations, which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission. However, some consumers are opening accounts these days with nonbank financial companies, usually online or through mobile apps, such as technology companies providing financial services.
Cities where credit limits are decreasing the most
A decrease in your credit limit can limit your purchasing power, which can hurt your credit score. However, it may also help you spend less and have less credit card debt. Credit limit decreases can also reflection either poor handling of credit or economic uncertainty, so large average decreases in a city might indicate that residents are in financial trouble.