On March 21 the US Appeals Court for the District of Columbia overturned a lower court’s July decision that ordered the Federal Reserve to recalculate and lower its 21-cent per transaction cap on the fees charged for processing a debit card payment. Retailers cheered that decision and expressed optimism that the so-called debit card swipe fee would be reduced to as low as 12 cents. This latest ruling means that the swipe fee cap will remain at 21 cents per transaction.
American Express Announces Financial Inclusion Efforts at SXSW 2014
Appropriately enough, American Express chose SXSW as the place to show a trailer to a movie it is helping produce. The film, Spent: Looking for Change, premiering this summer, is a documentary that tells the stories of ordinary Americans who are frozen out of the traditional financial system. Forced to rely on expensive options like payday loans and money orders, the movie shows how time-consuming and costly it is for an estimated 70 million Americans to move money around and pay bills, tasks that people with bank and credit card accounts take for granted.
Sing A Song For Financial Literacy
From its origins as a quirky way to raise money to start a business, crowdfunding has quickly become one of the go-to methods for entrepreneurs who need cash to turn their ideas into reality. Crowdfunding has become so sufficiently mainstream that Entrepreneur now has an annual listing of the top 100 crowdfunded companies, which includes… Continue reading Sing A Song For Financial Literacy
Should You Put Your Tax Refund On A Prepaid Card?
Fast access to your tax refund. Need a faster tax refund? E-filing your return and requesting a tax refund be sent to a prepaid card with direct deposit or a bank account is the fastest way to go, according to the IRS website. The IRS is issuing refunds to taxpayers in as few as 10 days for those who e-file and opt to receive their tax refund by direct deposit.
Chase Liquid Adopts Disclosure Recommendations
Chase has adopted consumer-friendly disclosure recommendations for its Chase Liquid prepaid card. At the same time that the Pew Charitable Trusts unveiled detailed suggestions about the types of fees and other disclosures all prepaid debit card issuers should make available to consumers, Chase announced that it would do exactly what Pew advised. The popular Chase… Continue reading Chase Liquid Adopts Disclosure Recommendations
Report: African-American and Latino Credit Card Interest Rates Are Higher
A new report shows that African-Americans and Latinos pay higher interest rates on their credit card debt than white consumers. According to the research conducted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the think tank, Demos, Latinos pay an average annual percentage rate (APR) of 17.9 percent. By contrast, African-Americans… Continue reading Report: African-American and Latino Credit Card Interest Rates Are Higher