Consumer Financial Savvy Peaks at 53

Short form in plain English could become industry standard

(NEWSER) - The government's consumer finance watchdog has created a credit card agreement that's five times shorter than usual and written in plain English. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking for the public's feedback on the prototype, which can be viewed here . The agreement is just over 1,000 words long and does away with much of the legalese that studies show befuddles up to two-thirds of credit card users, AP reports. More»

Card makers jack prices in face of new regulations

(NEWSER) - Interest rates are tumbling for US Treasuries, companies, and home-buyers. The prime rate is extremely low. Yet for some reason, credit card companies are charging more and more, with average rates hitting a nine-year high of 14.7% in the second quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports. Companies say they’re reacting to new regulations that prevent them from charging penalty fees and raising rates without warning customers. More»

Visa and other companies judge you based on what you buy

(NEWSER) - Visa knows if you’re going to get a divorce. It knows that you just moved and, most importantly, it knows if you’re going to miss a payment—maybe before you do. Credit card companies have developed eerily accurate models for predicting consumer behavior based on the things they buy, the Daily Beast explains. “Card companies don’t really care about divorce in and of itself—they care whether you’re going to pay your card off,” explains one law professor. More»

Some simple moves can net $1K or more

(NEWSER) - On the eve of the first serious workday of the New Year, take a hard look at your finances and see where you can cut back in 2010. A relatively small investment in time can result in some serious savings, Kathy Kristof writes for the Los Angeles Times :

• Save automatically: "Try having just $25 a month put into a savings account at the beginning of each month." You can still spend it, but if all goes well, "you'll just find a way to spend that much less."

Foe of 'usury and plunder' won't pay 'til CEO watches video

(NEWSER) - A California woman who says she kept paying her credit card bill even after she lost her job has had enough: She's pledging not to pay down her Bank of America account until the creditor lowers her interest rate, the Huffington Post reports.. It’s “the proverbial first shot fired in an American debtors' revolution against the usury and plunder perpetrated by the banking elite,” Ann Minch says in a YouTube video that's quickly going viral. “Stick that in your bailout pipe and smoke it.” More»