Although the hearing was designed to highlight the impact these crimes have on the elderly, it also resulted in some genuine action. In its own written testimony before the committee, Green Dot Corporation, one of the leading suppliers of prepaid debit cards, announced that it would eliminate the MoneyPak PIN, which allowed money to be added to an account to take place via phone.
Author: Chris Warren
How To Fix Your Credit Report
A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) study conducted last year found that five percent of consumers had errors on their annual credit reports that could cause them to have to pay more interest on their loans.
Advice To Homebuyers: Boost Your Credit Score
Another bit of advice Green offers is to note how close you are to the credit limit on any of your cards. If you’re near the limit, that is a black mark against you in a lender’s eyes – the ideal is to have a balance of less than 30 percent of your credit limit. If you can’t pay down the limit, Green suggests asking the credit card issuer to up your card’s limit to get it below that 30 percent threshold. Paying close to attention to credit scoring details, insists Green, can up your score by 100 points in no time.
Turning Student Debt Into Good Credit
There are times when even the most well-meaning and responsible graduate just can’t make those loan repayments. When that is the case, Raghavan writes that the best approach is to defer the loans. Defaulting on the debt will do lasting harm to your credit score. “As a good rule of thumb, remember that it’s OK to defer, but not to default,” she writes.
IRS Rule Change Targets Identity Thieves
The new procedures will go into effect in January of 2015 and are meant to make it more difficult for criminals to steal taxpayer identities and hijack their deposits. Currently, an identity thief or unscrupulous accountant could set up an account or obtain a prepaid debit card into which they could funnel multiple tax refunds.
A Wave of Debit Card Fraud
It’s the sort of call that is becoming unnervingly common these days. Police in the city of Gilbert, Arizona near Phoenix, recently warned that criminals impersonating law enforcement officers were phoning residents and threatening them with arrest unless they pay outstanding traffic tickets. The way to pay the fictitious tickets? By handing over credit card… Continue reading A Wave of Debit Card Fraud