Portia Powell, the first African American woman to lead One Detroit Credit Union, shares her journey from Detroit girl to CEO.
A study by the FDIC finds that more than one-fifth of black households are unbanked, using alternative financial services like money orders to meet banking needs.
By Alexis Garrett Stodghill Ikenna Njoku of Auburn, WA tried to deposit a check for $8,463.21 at Chase Bank, and ended up spending five days in jail instead of getting his money. Even though the check was issued by Chase and had his correct name and address on it, the institution regarded Njoku as suspicious. […]
(Wall Street Journal) — A set of new debit-card restrictions proposed by the Federal Reserve on Thursday was more aggressive than investors feared, potentially causing billions of dollars in lost revenue for U.S. banks and stiffening competition for credit-card providers. The new restrictions, most of which won’t be made final until April 21, aim to […]
(LA Times) — The days of free checking accounts in America are waning. New laws that reduce overdraft fees and the charges that banks impose on merchants for handling transactions are cutting deep into bank revenues, prompting many financial institutions to add charges or extra conditions on their checking accounts. The portion of checking accounts […]
(Time) — Banks used to be good not just as holding pens for your money, but as places your money could grow slowly but surely. But considering the evil combo of rising fees and pathetic interest rates, the net result is a slow but sure loss of value even when there’s not much inflation. The […]
(New York Times) — Savers just can’t catch a break. Because of persistent low interest rates, anyone looking for decent returns that are also safe has had a tough time this year. Most of the best savings accounts, for instance, don’t even top a 1.5 percent annual yield. Sure, some people have made out nicely […]
(Wall Street Journal) — Big banks may soon start pushing a different type of plastic to their customers. Financial institutions such as U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. are exploring prepaid cards as a way to make up revenue that will likely be lost from federal restrictions on debit cards. That is because […]
(Danbury News Times) — A national consumer coalition plans to file a series of landmark federal fair housing complaints beginning Monday challenging a widespread practice by banks and mortgage lenders: Requiring borrowers who apply for FHA loans to have FICO credit scores well above the 580 minimum score set by the FHA itself for qualified […]
(Wall Street Journal) — As the holiday-shopping season kicks off, there is one thing most consumers won’t be leaving home without: an overdraft cushion. Rather than face the embarrassment of being declined a purchase, 75% of consumers are opting to pay a fee—sometimes as much as $34—each time they overdraw on their debit-card account, according […]
(Businessweek) — If you haven’t had luck landing a business loan or credit line from the big banks you’ve approached, don’t expect your odds to improve any time soon. The Basel III guidelines, intended to prevent further financial crisis, will require lenders such as Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Wells […]
(LA Times) — Pull out one of your checks and take a close look at it. Along the bottom is a series of numbers that include the bank’s routing number and your account number. That information, along with your name and address printed on the check, is everything an “unscrupulous company or person” needs to […]