credit cards

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Target: Up to 40M Hit by Credit-Card Hack

Company had massive breach around Black Friday, through as late as Sunday

(Newser) - Attention, Target shoppers: That Black Friday bargain you scored might have some serious strings attached. Target today confirmed that some 40 million credit and debit card accounts may have been affected by a data breach, after Krebs on Security and the Wall Street Journal yesterday reported the chain was investigating...

5 Charged in Biggest Financial Hacking Case

Data on 160M credit cards stolen

(Newser) - Four Russian nationals and a Ukrainian have been charged with running a sophisticated hacking organization that penetrated computer networks of more than a dozen major American and international corporations over seven years, stealing and selling at least 160 million credit and debit card numbers. Indictments were announced today in Newark,...

Identity Theft Hits 3-Year High
Identity Theft Hits
3-Year High
Feb 25, 2013 2:47 PM CST

Identity Theft Hits 3-Year High

Fraud strikes 12.6 million Americans

(Newser) - Wondering how safe it is to use your credit card? A long-running study shows that identity theft reached a three-year high in the US last year, striking 12.6 million people, LiveScience reports. Fraudsters ripped off $21 billion, the most in 3 years, and stole an identity every three seconds....

Our Credit Card Debt Just Got Worse

Q3 wasn't such a stellar one for plastic-happy Americans

(Newser) - Americans cranked up their use of credit cards in the third quarter, racking up more debt than a year ago, while also being less diligent about making payments on time, an analysis of consumer-credit data shows. The average credit card debt per borrower in the US grew 4.9% in...

&#39;Free&#39; Checking Accounts: Not So Free Anymore
'Free' Checking Accounts:
Not So Free Anymore
survey says
Sep 24, 2012 10:06 AM CDT

'Free' Checking Accounts: Not So Free Anymore

Plus, credit card companies not passing on low interest rates

(Newser) - Free checking accounts were the norm in the 1990s, but not so anymore: Today just 39% of noninterest checking accounts are free to everyone, down from 76% in 2009 and 45% last year, a new Bankrate survey finds. Some banks are doing away with free checking accounts entirely; some are...

Credit Cards Hit Clients With 'Robo-Signed' Lawsuits

Courts flooded with cases based on slim or falsified evidence

(Newser) - Looks like mortgage foreclosures aren't the only things banks "robo-signed." A glut of credit card lawsuits is revealing that card issuers have the same tendency to use shoddy, incomplete, or erroneous documents against clients, the New York Times reports. Companies like American Express, Citigroup, and Discover have...

WikiLeaks: We Need a Million Bucks, Stat

They blame Visa/Mastercard for financial woes

(Newser) - WikiLeaks needs "a minimum" of a million euros ASAP in order to "effectively continue its mission," it announced in a news release today. The anti-secrecy organization has seen its cash reserves plummet from around $983,600 in December 2010 to less than $120,000 at the end...

Cash-Strapped Americans' No. 1 Priority: Car Payment

Yep, ahead of paying off credit card bills and the mortgage

(Newser) - Americans really don't want to lose their rides. A study finds that the cash-strapped among us are paying off their car loans before they pay credit card bills and make mortgage payments. It used to be that Americans would pay their home loans first, then their credit card and...

PayPal Unveils Mobile Payments Service

'Paypal Here' will compete with 'Square'

(Newser) - PayPal has launched a mobile payments service that lets businesses accept credit cards using a small triangular card reader attached to an iPhone. Called PayPal Here, the service is similar to existing mobile payments services such as Square . Customers will be able to pay using credit cards, their PayPal accounts,...

Hackers Spill Israelis' Credit Card Info

Hackers claim to be Saudis

(Newser) - Israeli credit card companies say hackers claiming to be Saudis disclosed credit card information of thousands of Israelis on the Internet. The companies, however, disputed the hackers' claims that 400,000 credit card holders were affected; Israel's central bank put the number at 15,000. The Ynet news website...

Hackers Rob US Security Think Tank

'Anonymous': We stole credit cards for charity

(Newser) - Hackers say they stole credit card numbers from a US security think tank today and began using them to make donations to charity, the AP reports. The hackers are members of the loose-knit movement known as "Anonymous." The victims are members of a highly guarded list of clients...

Mastercard, Visa to Use Purchases in Ad Targeting?

Companies also hope to mine your DNA

(Newser) - What you buy in the real world could eventually determine the ads you see online. Visa and MasterCard are studying ways of tracking consumer purchases in order to target online advertising—a plan that could take a heavy toll on online anonymity, the Wall Street Journal reports. One example offered...

Citi Goes Wild With Credit Card Offers

Have they sent you one yet?

(Newser) - Citigroup is moving aggressively to expand its credit card business, hoping to capitalize on rivals who are toning down their efforts in the area. The bank sent out a whopping 346 million card offers to North American customers in the third quarter alone—which, the Wall Street Journal observes, is...

Paying Cash? Credit Cards Are Still Costing You Money

Rebates drive up prices for all but reward only users of plastic: Economist

(Newser) - Credit card rebates and rewards may seem like a great thing—like getting free money. The problem is that they're driving up the prices of everything we buy, writes economics professor Larry Harris. What's worse, people who pay cash—maybe because they're too poor to qualify for...

PlayStation Hackers: We’ve Got 2.2M Credit Cards

Users report fraud, but it may be coincidence

(Newser) - Chatting in online forums, hackers are citing a huge haul from the attack on Sony’s PlayStation Network : They claim they now have access to some 2.2 million credit cards. The assertion can’t be verified, say experts—but a number of users are reporting suspicious charges on their...

Credit Card Fine Print Remains Indecipherable

... but at least there's hope on the way

(Newser) - Read any good credit card agreements lately? Didn't think so. A follow-up to a July report on the readability of those contracts finds some improvement, but they're still mostly indecipherable and, in fact, beyond the reading comprehension of the average American, reports CreditCards.com . Consumers groups hope the new protection...

Debtor’s Prison Makes Its Ugly Return

Government 'shakes down' citizens for collectors

(Newser) - Strongly worded letters and menacing phone calls aren't enough, it seems, to whip America's debtors into shape. Instead, the country's collection industry is turning to civil courts, using taxpayer money and government resources to pursue "low level deadbeats," finds Reason . The process pits debtors against a system that...

Ignore the Stats: Credit Card Debt Still a Big Problem

Michelle Singletary: Numbers look good because of bank write-offs

(Newser) - A recent spate of reports suggests that consumers are finally getting smart about plastic by paying down their credit card debt. Hold the celebration, writes Michelle Singletary. A closer look shows that one of the big reasons overall debt is shrinking is not because consumers are paying it back but...

Credit Card Debt Drops to 8-Year Low

Falls to an average of $4,951

(Newser) - The average American’s credit card debt hit an 8-year low in the second quarter of the year—even as rates hit a 9-year high . The average combined credit card debt fell to $4,951, down 13% from $5,719 over the same stretch last year, according to figures from...

Watch Out for These New Credit Card Traps

Banks invent ways to circumvent regulations

(Newser) - As expected , banks are coming up with creative new ways to recoup money lost to new regulations on credit cards. The Wall Street Journal runs down a handful:
  • "Professional" cards: These are being aggressively marketed to, well, professionals. The catch: They're not covered under the new consumer regulations.
...

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