Professor Cardworthy, the “Money Explainer” of all things financial, was resurrected by Senior Payments Analyst Robert McKinley, reprising his role first developed in 2007 as the actor in a series of 50 “Cardworthy” YouTube consumer instructional videos. The 2007 project was shelved while Mr. McKinley was in a cancer battle and later placed on hold…
Credit cards saturation in the U.S., by most measurements, was reached in the first three months of this year. As of April 1, 2019 there were 694 million general purpose credit and charge cards carrying the Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover brand, in-force. It is projected the 700 million milestone will be passed by…
Credit scores are the lifeblood of personal lending around the world and, if they fall below 660 it can become a “scarlet letter,” a sign of personal financial mismanagement. Repeated surveys confirm job loss, medical expenses, divorce, natural disasters or personal disasters are the major factors destroying a personal credit score. Missing one credit card…
Debt settlement companies are most often for-profit companies claiming they can negotiate with your credit card company to reduce the amount you owe. Credit card companies generally do not have special offers available to only debt settlement firms, so you are paying the debt settlement company for work that you can do yourself. The Consumer Financial…
The unprecedented economic turmoil unleashed on U.S. consumers since December, by the longest U.S. government shutdown ever, is driving Americans’ bananas, heading to food banks, payday lenders and fighting off lenders and landlords. Tax Refund Mess Adding more insult to the financial injury is the reduced tax refund amount produced by last year’s Tax Cuts…
Credit scores did not exist in the late 1960s until BankAmericard and Mastercharge cards were mailed out willy-nilly to Americans coast-to-coast, without regard to creditworthiness. In the 1970s credit cards exploded nationally as competition heated-up. In the late 1980s debit cards were issued to most anyone with a bank account. Over the past 20 years,…
Average credit scores for consumers in the U.S. continue to hover around 700. Over the past ten years, consumer FICO credit scores have increased from 689 to 704. Interestingly, the percentage of Americans with low or sub-prime credit scores has increased while consumers with very high or super-prime scores has also increased by approximately the…
If you are a “pawn” caught up in “Great Trump Shutdown” with no paycheck or reduced earnings, then you should take some steps to preserve your credit cards and credit score during the credit card shutdown. Having a credit card late payment posted to your credit file at the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and…
Nearly one out of four U.S. consumers, who are delinquent on telecom services, such landline or cell phone, cable, and internet, have discovered the collection activity listed on their credit reports. While the telecom collections item on a consumer’s credit record will not help their personal credit score, the change in score before and after…
The Department of Defense (DoD) now has 24X7 “eyes” on your credit file looking for past-due bills, excessive debt, collection activity and/or a high debt-to-income ratio that could jeopardize your clearance status. Ironically, the President of the U.S., who has a long documented history of stiffing vendors, bankers, and employees, recently issued a directive that…
