October 19, 2010 – 3:57 pm
Welcome to this week’s edition of our Tuesday Top 5, Econ4U’s weekly tips post to help you manage your money in five easy steps. When you’re a little short and need to come up with some cash within 24 hours, what are your options? We look at the five most common scenarios and analyze which ones [...]
A new set of Federal Reserve rules went into effect yesterday that now require banks to get your permission before you’re enrolled in overdraft protection. Before, your bank could enroll you without notice in an overdraft plan that would process the transaction but hit you with a fee for every ATM, check, and debit card [...]
The Wall Street Journal took a fascinating look this week at how new banking regulations that were designed to protect consumers may instead lead to more fees: Bank of America Corp. and other banks are preparing new fees on basic banking services as they try to replace revenue lost to regulatory rules, in a push that [...]
February 24, 2010 – 3:23 pm
This week, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 finally goes into effect. Some parts of the law were phased in as early as August of last year, but consumers had to wait until now for most of the biggest changes. For the most part, the new rules will just stop problems before they start – [...]
January 19, 2010 – 6:52 pm
Welcome to this week’s edition of our Tuesday Top 5, Econ4U’s weekly tips post to help you manage your money in five easy steps. Have you broken your New Year’s financial resolutions yet? If so, today’s edition will help you get back on track by pointing out the most common banking mistakes people make — and [...]
Overdraft fees netted nearly $37 billion for banks in 2008, and with so many major financial institutions like Bank of America hurting for cash this year, consumers can expect an assortment of banking charges to climb even higher in 2009. It’s a double whammy for money-strapped Americans because the people most likely to get slapped with [...]
Wondering how banks are coping with the recession? Easy: They’re dipping deeper into the pockets of consumers who make banking mistakes. The Washington Post yesterday reported on a topic we’ve covered in depth: increased banking fees. Customers are paying more to maintain a checking account and withdraw cash from an out-of-system ATM, and when they bounce a [...]
Account holders may not be aware that banks like Bank of America, SunTrust and Wachovia have increased fees on certain services. At a time when federal lawmakers are cracking down on questionable bank practices like hidden fees, and trying to implement more transparency among financial institutions, consumers should remain vigilant about their own finances to [...]
In a move that will come as a surprise to exactly no one, Bank of America recently announced that its overdraft fee is increasing by $4, a whopping $39. The national average is $28.95. This is hardly unusual behavior. Banks and credit unions make quite a bit of money through fees, so for consumers there are lots [...]
