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Posted
Jan 06 2009, 05:22 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
Credit unions exist to help their members. Commercial banks exist to enrich their shareholders.
You read that right. That's why credit unions often have better interest rates on both loans and deposits. Commercial banks are businesses. Their sole purpose is to figure out how to make more money from customers (you). Interest rates on accounts are often very low (or nonexistent), and they always try to sell you new products.
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Posted
May 04 2009, 05:03 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
On the first day of college, I opened my first bank account.
The gym was filled with registration tables, not just for classes and clubs, but also for local businesses wanting to sell themselves to the students. There were even a couple of banks. Because I was getting a small payment from the school to cover living expenses, I needed to open a checking account.
The two banks had very different methods of attracting students. One displayed a sign that said "free checking." The other was handing out Frisbees. My choice was easy. I wanted the Frisbee. (Free checking? How boring.)
I signed up for my checking account, got my free Frisbee, and spent the afternoon on the quad, tossing the disc back and forth with my roommates. When it was time for dinner, I took the Frisbee up to my room, put it in the closet, and never used it again. But I had that checking account for nearly 17 years.
Classes started. I forgot about the Frisbee, and I forgot about the checking account. The next month, I received my first bank statement. There was a $5 service charge, but I didn't care. It was just $5, right? I accepted the fee as part of the package, and as part of being an adult. My parents had always paid service charges on their bank accounts, and I expected I always would, too.
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Posted
Jan 22 2009, 12:41 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Bank of America customers, here's some good news for you: If you paid an overdraft or over-limit fee after using a BofA debit card in recent years, you may be able to apply for $78.
The proposed lawsuit settlement, reported by TopClassActions.com, covers a time period from Dec. 6, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2007. It may also apply to customers of several other banks.
Other details:
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Posted
Oct 01 2008, 06:32 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The federal government's new $300 billion Hope for Homeowners program opened for business today with the intent of staving off foreclosure for 400,000 homeowners in trouble. But we just have to wonder how effective it will be.
Here's a clue, from an Associated Press report: "Lenders, rather than borrowers, will decide whether to participate in the program, which requires them to take a loss on the initial loan."
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Posted
Jul 24 2009, 07:05 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Earlier this week we took a look at how to get your free FICO credit score from myFICO.com. Operated by the Fair Isaac Corp., creator of the FICO credit score, it offers consumers a free credit report and FICO credit score when they sign up for a 30-day trial of Score Watch. The FICO credit score myFICO.com provides is from Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus.
And that's where some confusion can creep in.
There are three major credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. And each of these credit bureaus calculates a consumer's FICO credit score, which can be and usually is different for each credit bureau. In other words, you likely have a different FICO credit score from each of the three major credit bureaus. And to add to the confusion, each of the credit bureaus calls its version of the FICO credit score by a different name.
So let's quickly sort all this out:
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Posted
Jul 29 2009, 11:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from James Limbach at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
A new survey of overdraft fees charged by the nation's largest banks reveals that bankers are hiking fees, adding new fees, and shortening time limits to trigger fees when banks pay overdrafts and extend credit to families struggling to make ends meet.
The Consumer Federation of America blames the Federal Reserve for failing to protect consumers from escalating and multiplying overdraft fees.
Testifying before Congress recently in support of President Obama's proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, the CFA said regulatory inaction in just this one area is costing hard-pressed consumers more than $17.5 billion during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
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Posted
May 05 2008, 09:17 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Putting all your change in a jar each night is a time-honored frugal hack. One guy bought himself a new pickup after setting aside coins for years. A Smart Spending message board reader named "Amberstorck" wasn't aiming that high -- she just wanted to save some money.
But now she's having trouble unloading the lucre. Local grocery stores refused her rolled change. Her bank charges a 6% coin-counting fee. "What is the point of saving coins if nobody will take them?" Amber wrote in a message board thread.
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Posted
Dec 29 2008, 01:53 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
If you're a saver, the Fed has rained on your parade. It dropped interest rates and introduced "quantitative easing," two things that will make interest rates plummet.
Here's how to protect yourself.
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Posted
Jun 26 2009, 05:00 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Have you ever been turned down for a checking account? While denials are more common when applying for credit, you can also be declined when applying for a bank account.
If you have been declined, it's likely due to a reporting agency that many have never heard of, but has a lot of information about and influence over banking customers. It's called ChexSystems.
Most have heard of the three major credit reporting agencies -- Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. But there is a lesser-known but equally important reporting agency for checking accounts called ChexSystems. Run by Chex Systems Inc., ChexSystems provides account-verification services to its financial institution members to aid them in identifying account applicants who may have a history of account mishandling (for example, people whose accounts were overdrawn and then closed by them or their bank).
We'll take a look at ChexSystems and how it works. Then we'll look at how you can get your ChexSystems report.
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Posted
Jan 29 2009, 10:32 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We've read that some credit card companies may ding those who use their card in bars or tire-retreading shops, or live in an area with lots of foreclosures, but this takes the cake: If you're an American Express cardholder, your credit limit could be reduced if other customers who shop where you do have fallen behind on their Amex bills.
Is this yet another way credit card companies are penalizing responsible customers because their own bottom lines are hurting?
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