Tag Archives: consumer banking

You buy toilet paper and ammo there, so why not a home? Consumers are indicating they would trust Walmart and other non-banks with their mortgages, and some experts believe that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While they seem mostly satisfied with the services of the big banks, “continued frustrations with current mortgage processes . . . could drive consumers to alternative home loan providers,” according to a recent survey by a consulting firm whose clients include some of the largest …

Alternative Financial Services (AFS) businesses are a major source of banking and credit services for the un- and under-banked,  low-income and working poor consumers, residents of minority neighborhoods, and consumers with heavy debt burdens and less-favorable credit histories. Often, these individuals or families are thrown for a financial loop when faced with unexpected expenses and emergencies. AFS providers fall outside the system of traditional, federally insured financial institutions. They include check cashing and money order outlets, lenders and even retail …

Discover Defrauds Customers, Must Pay $200 Million You may get calls from credit card companies asking whether you’d like to hear about additional products they offer. If you said yes to a call from Discover between December 2007 and August 2011, you may be in for a little extra cash. Discover has settled deceptive marketing charges brought by the FDIC. The bank was accused of tricking customers into paying for extra credit protection programs. Find Out More…   Avoid Defaulting …

U.S.consumers are $18.7 billion dollars behind on their credit card debt. Increasingly, banks are taking delinquent borrowers to court, suing them for payment. Often, these borrowers never show up in court to contest the charges. This can be a big mistake, especially because the documents submitted to the court frequently include costly errors.   Failure to Act Has Consequences When a debtor fails to contest credit card charges or show up in court, the bank or collection agency wins the …

Nobody wants to pay $35 for a cup of coffee or loaf of bread, but that’s essentially what has happened to debit card users around the nation, according to class action lawsuits against dozens of banks. In July, U.S. Bank, Bank of the West and Bank of Oklahoma joined a parade of financial institutions agreeing to fork over millions of dollars to settle claims that they manipulated debit card transactions to trigger overdraft fees. Other cases are still winding through …