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banks
banks
Spin The Wheel, Get A Different Story About Why Wells Fargo Flagged Your Card
By Laura Northrup on February 8, 2012 8:00 AM
15 Comments
Craig's Wells Fargo debit card was flagged for fraud because he was trying to buy a speaker at a high-traffic Apple Store. A merchant he made a recent purchase from has been hacked, and he will receive a new debit card soon. He's finally receiving an "upgraded" Wells Fargo card for his former Wachovia account, even though the account changed over more than a year ago.
Each of these stories has been told to Craig on separate interactions with Wells Fargo. The problem is, he doesn't know which one is true. And neither does anyone at Wells Fargo, apparently. More »
I Don't Want Ads In My Online Bank Statement!
By Laura Northrup on January 20, 2012 11:30 AM
50 Comments
Dave normally likes his bank, PNC, but they recently made a change that annoys him. There are little ad snippets underneath some of the transactions on his online statement. Do we really need more ads in our daily lives? "I get enough advertising smashed into my skull on a daily basis; I don't need it from my bank," writes Dave. That's true. But at least these ads aren't hard to banish. More »
Bank Of America Thinks I'm My Own Dad, Turns Me Away During Emergency
By Laura Northrup on January 4, 2012 8:00 AM
46 Comments
When Bank of America issued Jorge's credit card in 1998, for some reason that remains unclear, the card was issued in the name of "Jorge [Lastname] Sr." Jorge doesn't have a son named Jorge Junior, and there's no reason why the account should be set up that way, but Bank of America assured him that this wouldn't be a problem. And it wasn't. Until he needed an emergency cash advance, and couldn't prove to the unfamiliar branch's satisfaction that he hadn't, say, stolen his dad's credit card. More »
New Banking Service Says It Won't Treat You Like Those Big Bad Banks Do
By Mary Beth Quirk on December 20, 2011 4:00 PM
31 Comments
As widespread distrust and dislike for big banking spreads across the country, a new online service called Simple is aiming to woo those disgruntled customers with no-hassle, no-fee banking. Its goal? To be everything those other banks aren't. More »
Armored Car Sprinkles $200K In Cash On Pennsylvania Highway
By Chris Morran on December 1, 2011 2:30 PM
68 Comments
Pennies may not actually fall from heaven (and if they did, we would advise that you not try to catch them, because... ouch) but paper money does fall out of the back of an armored car. More »
This One E-Mail Address Puts Fear In The Hearts Of Corporations
By Laura Northrup on November 18, 2011 10:30 AM
39 Comments
Perkstreet is an online bank that offers a 2-5% cash back debit card. This sounded pretty great to Carolyn, and she applied for an account. Only they wouldn't issue her one, and refused to tell her why, even though they're required to do so. What got their attention, and got Carolyn her shiny new debit card? Copying The Consumerist on an e-mail to them. More »
Wells Fargo Tries To Predict The Future, Sucks At It
By Laura Northrup on November 17, 2011 9:15 AM
34 Comments
A few months before her wedding, Megan bought her bridesmaids' dresses at J. Crew, and opened a store credit card account to get 20% off. She scheduled a payment through her bank, Wells Fargo, to pay off the balance, then panicked weeks later when she saw a large chunk of money leaving her bank account that she didn't remember authorizing. She called to cancel, remembered what the payment was for, then canceled the cancellation. This led Wells Fargo's fraud-flagging systems to believe that the next time Megan opened a store credit card and paid the bill, they should just go ahead and cancel the payment. More »
(poolski)
The New Sneaky Fees Banks Are Adding
By Ben Popken on November 14, 2011 4:00 PM
115 Comments
Just because the monthly debit card fee battle has been won doesn't mean banks are gonna stop trying to squeeze more profit off basic checking accounts. Here's a bunch of the recent fees banks have invented: More »
BofA Says "Sorry" For Paying Your Real Estate Taxes Late
By Ben Popken on November 14, 2011 2:00 PM
81 Comments
Banks are happy to jump all over you and ratchet up the fees when you're late. But when they're late, not so much. More »
New Wave Of Mortgage Defaults On Horizon
By Ben Popken on November 9, 2011 11:00 AM
80 Comments
Some of the crappiest mortgages ever made were issued in 2006, and right now those 5-year introductory teaser periods are expiring. That's leading to a 300% increase in monthly payments for already strapped borrowers, and it's what's driving the first increase in delinquent mortgages since 2009, a banking expert tells Credit.com. More »
Judge Approves BofA's $410M Overdraft Settlement
By Phil Villarreal on November 8, 2011 8:45 AM
88 Comments
To settle a class-action suit over reordering transactions to maximize overdraft fees, Bank of America agreed to pay out $410 million months ago. A judge has now approved the settlement, and the bank has coughed up the money into an escrow account from which it will be distributed to customers who were part of the suit. Those who had a Bank of America debit card between January 2001 and May 24, 2011 will automatically receive a payment of at least 9 percent of the fees they paid. More »
(indi.ca)
BofA Charges Man $39.23 On A $0 Balance
By Ben Popken on November 7, 2011 4:00 PM
88 Comments
Bank of America charged Roger $39.23 in interest on his credit card, even though he had a zero balance. How could that be? More »
Video: Occupy Portlanders Open Credit Union Accounts On Bank Transfer Day
By Ben Popken on November 7, 2011 11:00 AM
65 Comments
Saturday was the fifth of November, and many remembered to take a stand and shut down their big retail bank accounts, transferring their cash to a new credit union account. Here's a video out of Occupy Portland covering what happened on Bank Transfer Day. Interviewees talk about why they're switching to a credit union, and how this is just the beginning. More »
Proponent Of Costing Banks More Money By Mailing Back Weighted Business Reply Envelopes Defends His Cause
By Ben Popken on November 4, 2011 5:00 PM
131 Comments
Earlier this week I wrote about a viral video that promised you could "Keep Wall Street Occupied" by sending back credit card business reply envelopes stuffed with anti-corporate messages and wooden shims. The video said this would increase mailing costs for the banks and force them to engage in a dialogue with their customers. Responding to my review where I called this idea "terrible," the video's maker sent me a note defending his campaign. More »
Credit Card Bumper Crop Boasts Low Teaser Rates, New Snags
By Ben Popken on November 4, 2011 3:00 PM
18 Comments
After being such prudes for so long, credit card companies are raising their hemlines and lowering their standards. They're actively deluging customers with credit card offers and using low teaser rates as a crooked finger. However, they're also coming with new hidden baggage you need to watch out for, like cash back rewards that are high, but have to be opted in again every few months. More »
Video Of People Closing Down Their Accounts At Big Banks
By Ben Popken on November 4, 2011 10:00 AM
51 Comments
Tomorrow is Bank Transfer Day. By this date, people all across America are shutting down their accounts at large, costly, name-brand banks and transferring their funds to new bank accounts at their local credit union or community bank. Here is an excellent video made in Portland that follows along with several different people as they close their bank accounts and give their reasons for doing so. One person wants to save money, another disagrees with the bank's foreclosure practices, a third is mad about the bailouts, and the last is a union withdrawing its funds to show solidarity with holding Wall Street accountable. More »
Sending Back Protest Messages In Pre-Paid Credit Card Envelopes Isn't Going To Occupy Wall Street One Bit
By Ben Popken on November 2, 2011 10:00 AM
125 Comments
A YouTube video has racked up over 300,000 hits promoting the idea that you can really mess with the banks by sending back activist messages in those pre-paid response envelopes that come with the credit card junk mail. The theory is that if enough people do it, it will force people in the bank mailrooms to have a meeting about all these Occupy Wall Street slogans showing up in their mail, and making banks engage in a dialogue with their customers, revolutionizing how they operate to a way that's more responsive to the common good. This is a terrible idea and a waste of time. More »
Feds Investigate $600 Million Allegedly Missing At MF Global
By Phil Villarreal on November 2, 2011 9:15 AM
33 Comments
Federal investigators are attempting to sort out how New York-based derivatives broker MF Global has apparently up and lost $600 million of customers' money. The FBI, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission are all reportedly investigating, amid accusations that MF Global has broken federal rules for keeping customers' money separate from the business's own assets. More »
Man In "ZZ Top Beard" Tries To Rob 2 Banks In 10 Minutes
By Ben Popken on October 25, 2011 4:00 PM
24 Comments
A man sporting a "ZZ Top" style beard is wanted in Philadelphia after he robbed two different banks in 10 minutes. More »
Bill Introduced To Let You Keep Your Account Number When You Switch Banks
By Ben Popken on October 21, 2011 4:00 PM
124 Comments
When you switch phone companies, you're allowed to keep your phone number. So why isn't there this "number portability" for bank accounts? Well, a bill has been introduced in Washington to let you do exactly that. More »
