Not everyone has heard about ChexSystems and, considering how much of an affect this agency can have on your ability to open a bank account, that can be a problem. ChexSystems is a consumer reporting agency, just like Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Those three are better known, because they report on your credit history and [...]

Banks and lenders are working hard to cover their own tails. They’re reducing credit limits even for reliable customers on everything from HELOCs to credit cards — even on customers with excellent repayment histories. The Wall Street Journal reported last week on American Express’ changes, looking at one couple in particular: John and Monica Bell, [...]

On Friday, Henry Paulson (the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury) and James Lockhart (the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency) announced that the U.S. government is putting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship — the government is bailing the two companies out. The move is an effort to guarantee that there is still [...]

Unless you’ve managed to avoid borrowing money in the past 21 years — we’re talking everything from credit card purchases to buying a home — you’re probably eligible for a class action settlement that TransUnion is offering.
TransUnion is offering free credit-monitoring services to settle the claims that the company had illegally distributed private information about [...]

It’s surprisingly easy to get a lower interest rate on your credit card. My husband had an American Express card with a fairly high interest rate and, last week, he decided to ask for a lower rate. Yep, all he had to do was ask and American Express gave him a better deal.
There were a [...]

When you send off your monthly payment to the credit card company, it just gets applied to your debt, right? Some goes to paying interest, but it makes sense to think that credit card companies just automatically apply payments to your oldest debt.
That’s not how it works, though. Credit card companies are out to make [...]