One would think that your credit score would be helped by paying off old debts.  After all, if you were penalized for failing to pay the debt, then paying the debt in full - even if your payment was not on time - should boost your credit score.  Sounds logical, but alas, it does not [...]

I’ve generally been skeptical of the many “solutions” that newspaper reporters offer to individuals struggling with credit card debt.  Some of these solutions offer advice that those deep in credit card debt can’t possibly follow - such as the suggestion to pay off your credit card debt every month so that you don’t have to [...]

The debate over proposed credit card reforms by the Federal Reserve and the United States Congress may have paused in September to handle the financial crisis, but it has received a big push into the spotlight at the end of October.  Undoubtedly, the numerous articles in mainstream media warning of the coming credit card debt [...]

Irrational exuberance is back.  That’s my best explanation for the ten percent plus gains in the stock market today following the historic cascading collapse (as it was called on CNBC’s Fast Money) of the stock market last week.  There are other explanations, of course.  You can say that a bottom was established.  You can blame [...]

A survey by Americans for Fairness in Lending ranked Alaska number one for median credit card debt with $3,384.
The states with the 5 highest levels of median revolving debt were:
Alaska
New Hampshire
Connecticut
Maryland
Colorado
Surprisingly, none of the top five worst offending states were on the list of the states with the highest bankruptcy rates in 2005.  The five [...]

4.03% of all credit card debt owed to the nation’s six largest credit card lenders was more than 30 days past due in June.  Read more about the nation’s overdue credit card debt at the Boston Globe.

Representative Carolyn Maloney celebrated on Friday “the first time a congressional committee has ever passed consumer protections for credit cardholders.”
With credit cards in existence since the 1950s, the question is:
What took so long?

There have been a number of stories in newspapers lately about the toughening consumer credit conditions.  These articles noted anecdotal increases in interest rates and decreases in available credit among consumers.  But in a recent Los Angeles Times article, a Washington Mutual employee seemed to say that concerns about tougher credit are overdone:
Anthony Vuoto, president [...]

The trend recently has been for credit card companies to reward consumers for using plastic at the pump with discounts through gas rewards. Now, the Connecticut government may be instituting a different kind of reward - for using cash.
Connecticut is considering legislation to allow gas stations to give discounts to consumers paying cash - [...]

The Associated Press reported last week that the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission announced its consideration of regulations requiring credit card companies and others making loans to disclose to consumers when the lender is using the borrower’s poor credit history to justify an increase in interest rates.
The notice would not be [...]