How the Banks See the Impact of Credit Card Reform
The Federal Reserve did something very interesting recently. They conducted a poll of banks in the U.S. to specifically ask them how the new Credit Card Reform Act would affect the way they do business going forward for both new and existing customers.
In many cases the answers were predictable, while in a few instances they were somewhat surprising. Right of the bat, and we’ve seen this already from many issuers, they stated that they would raise interest rates, reduce credit limits and tighten requirements for approvals on new accounts.
It’s no secret that banks and credit card issuers are scrambling to find new ways to generate profits. The credit card business once was a cash cow sent from heaven for these companies. Oh how times have changed.
We now find ourselves with unemployment in the double digits for the first time in 26 years – 10.2% nationally as of last weeks jobs report. Unemployment and credit cards are like oil and water. When
Although I knew cats have established a home on the Internet, I was shamefully unaware of the feline finance category — until today.That’s when I saw my blog post, “How to check your gift card balance without leaving home,” was included in the Carnival of 20-Something Finances: Cats Love Money edition. What’s a blog carnival, you ask? Essentially, carnivals collect links to various blogs united by a central topic (in this case, personal finance), with the carnival hosted at a different site each week.If you want to read some great posts about personal finance, look at pictures of cats rolling around in greenbacks (seriously) or both, swing by the Foreigner’s Finances blog. Meow!