Category: Credit Cards

The fees charged to merchants for accepting credit card purchases may soon be limited in one state, which might allow for some debt relief  for consumers and small businesses alike.

New Hampshire lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would limit what banks can charge for processing credit card purchases to just 1 percent of a transaction's value, according to a report from the Nashua Telegraph. Currently, merchants pay an average of about 1.75 percent of a purchase price but fees range anywhere from 0.67 percent to 4.76 percent, a price the merchant typically doesn't learn until after they've been charged by banks.

This limit would be applied in addition to the new federal cap on debit swipe fees for major banks, the report said. That imposed a limit of just 21 cents per purchase regardless of its size, down from the previous average of 44 cents, based on a percentage of the transaction's value.

The law could help consumers keep credit card debt under control because oftentimes, swipe fees are built into businesses' prices as a way of passing them on to the consumer. If the bill were to pass, some companies may be in a position to reduce their prices

A recent ruling passed down by the U.S. Supreme Court states that telemarketers and other businesses, such as debt consolidation or collection firms, that repeatedly call homes can be sued in state and federal courts.

The decision came as the result of a lawsuit involving a man who was repeatedly harassed by debt collectors with recorded phone calls, according to a report from the Associated Press. The calls came from Arrow Financial Services, which was trying to collect student loan debt for Sallie Mae. The recipient, Marcus Mims of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sued for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The case was originally thrown out of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the law did not give permission for federal suits, only those in state courts, the report said. However, other courts ruled in favor of Mims and the suit moved forward until it reached the nation's highest court.

Consumers should do all they can to educate themselves about the rights they have when dealing with debt collection firms, which sometimes engage in harassing behavior when trying to collect credit card debt.

Many consumers may have noticed that their mailboxes are being filled with more generous credit card offers from a number of major lenders in recent months, but other financial institutions are likely to step up their marketing as well.

Federal credit unions are seen as the next big competitors when it comes to offering credit card debt to those who have had trouble with their accounts in the past, according to a report from Business Insider. That's because they're stepping up marketing efforts, particularly to those with limited or damaged borrowing histories.

These accounts may be beneficial to those with low credit ratings because federal law limits the interest rates on all types of loans – including credit cards – these institutions can offer at just 18 percent, the report said. That's considerably lower than the interest rate most low-credit borrowers can expect from lenders, which is usually closer to 25 percent.

Efforts to market credit cards to consumers who have been locked out of the credit system in the past have expanded in recent months, as many Americans have made more conscientious efforts to reduce debt and have cut instances of delinquent and defaulted accounts significantly.

Consumers who are worried about being hit with fraudulent credit card debt may be interested to learn about a new mobile payment system being shown off by a global card issuer.

CSI GlobalVCard, which issues MasterCard-branded debit and credit accounts, recently unveiled its new virtual credit card payment system at the latest Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to a report from InformationWeek. This system allows consumers to create unique account numbers and have digital credit card images bearing those details emailed to them so that they can be displayed to a cashier when completing a transaction.

The security of this platform comes because consumers can customize the credit limits and expiration dates on each new account they create as debt prevention steps, the report said. However, CSI GlobalVCard also acknowledges that there may be some obstacles to adoption, and future versions of the payment system will involve near-field communications technology to make it even more secure as well.

Mobile credit card payments are expected to be adopted on a large scale by consumers within the next few years, but security concerns are currently seen as the biggest obstacle to that goal.

A new credit card device has recently been introduced and is designed to limit the chances of consumers being hit with bogus credit card debt.

The card, created by Dynamics Inc. and being shown off at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, randomizes six digits of a user's credit card number every time they make a transaction, essentially making the card useless to fraudsters in the event it's lost or stolen, according to a report from tech news blog Ars Technica.

A new number is displayed on a built-in screen only during a transaction, and after the user types in a code on the card's embedded five-button keypad, the report said. Otherwise, the screen, and the magnetic strip on the back of the card, are blank. Citibank is already testing the card in a number of small pilot programs but more lenders may adopt the technology in the near future.

Credit card fraud is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the nation and consumers who lose their credit cards or have them stolen should alert their lenders to the incident immediately so they don't run into issues getting out of debt.

Millions of Americans who have subprime credit ratings are now receiving offers for new credit cards, and some of those are the result of a controversial alliance between lenders and debt collectors.

Some companies are now issuing credit cards to consumers with thousands of dollars in old debts on the condition that they pay back some of the credit card debt lenders long since abandoned as being uncollectable, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Typically, this debt falls outside the consumer's state's statute of limitations for collection.

Consumer advocates say that this debt relief practice is deceptive and federal authorities have looked into some of these companies' practices, the report said. However, lenders and even some borrowers say that those who have bad enough credit ratings should welcome the opportunity to begin borrowing once again.

In general, many of the nation's largest credit card lenders are now offering consumers more opportunities to obtain new lines of credit. Recent studies suggest the average subprime borrower in the U.S. received several offers for new cards in the first nine months of 2011.

Several months ago, American Express launched an online payment platform known as "Serve," and will soon begin issuing Serve-branded prepaid cards that are designed to help consumers better associate those accounts with the digital system and not the lender itself.

American Express is generally viewed by consumers and experts alike as being a lender for affluent people, and the company, in an attempt to reach a wider customer base, is looking for ways to make Serve stand as its own entity in Americans' minds, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. To that end, its new prepaid accounts will now come with the Serve name on the cards and the AmEx-associated branding will be limited.

"A big part of our [research and development] is can we grow this without leveraging the [AmEx] brand," Ed Gilligan, vice chairman of American Express, told the newspaper.

The reasons for this are two-fold, the report said. First, the company would like to expand the brand recognition of its digital platform – which launched in March as an alternative to similar services like PayPal – so that more consumers associate it with convenient payment options. And second, it would like to reach more people who may currently believe they cannot afford or obtain cards bearing the American Express name.

Consumers will be able to load their Serve cards from a number of sources, the report said. That includes credit or debit cards and checking accounts – even those controlled by other financial institutions – as well as the type of "money pack" typically used to reload other prepaid cards. It is also expanding partnerships with smartphone providers and striking deals with merchants to allow consumers to pay through Serve.

Of course, American Express would also like to expand the Serve platform because other companies are entering into the digital payment arena, or will make increased pushes to do so in the coming months, the report said. Companies like Google, Visa and various wireless phone service providers are pushing their own versions of these services, or will in the new year.

Consumers may be able to use these prepaid cards as a means of making convenient payments at a number of businesses without taking on credit card debt.

Beginning in the near future, credit cardholders' complaints will be addressed by a new arm of the federal agency in charge of protecting consumers from predatory or questionable lending practices from financial institutions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened its Office of the Ombudsman on December 8, under the direction of acting ombudsman Wendy Kamenshine, according to a report from U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, writing for the Huffington Post. The purpose of this part of the agency is currently only to advise financial institutions on the way the CFPB will be implementing various aspects of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act.

But beginning this spring, it will also be able to field consumers' complaints related to the way their lenders are handling their outstanding credit card debt, the report said. In addition, it will work to provide information to consumers about their rights when trying to get out of debt.

Currently, the CFPB has a hotline set up on which consumers can lodge complaints about their credit card accounts, particularly if they believe they have been hit by unfair lending practices.

The new federal agency in charge of protecting consumers from financial institutions' predatory lending practices will have to wait at least another month for a chief executive.

Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general who was tabbed by the Obama administration to lead the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will have to wait at least until Congress comes back from its holiday break on January 23 to be approved by the U.S. Senate, according to a report from Reuters. In its last day of business prior to the recess, GOP lawmakers decided to block his appointment, and that of three other nominees for banking regulation positions, because the White House would not give Republicans assurances about recess appointments.

The Senate will also hold "pro forma" sessions during the recess to make sure no such appointments are made, the report said.

The CFPB's primary stated task is to create more protections for consumers when it comes to handling their credit card debt more effectively, such as building a national credit card offer database and starting a hotline where Americans can report complaints about these accounts.