Third-quarter card debt is expected to take a big hit as the waning impact of one-time consumer stimuli payments, and reductions in unemployment supplemental benefits slam consumer spending. The failure to prop up the American economy may be catastrophic for holiday spending in the final quarter of 2020. While the second-quarter 28% decline in consumer…
Coronavirus breeds device viruses as hackers seek to exploit the fear and uncertainty of the possible physical pandemic. Consumers should look for mandatory arbitration clauses before buying. Loan sites get hit for misleading rankings and your financial health depends on baby steps. Coronavirus Goes Phishing Mimecast discovered a sample phishing email, showing attackers were disseminating…
The October credit card surprise wherein Americans tacked on $8 billion in revolving credit petered-out in November, dropping more than $2 billion, ostensibly due to the very late Thanksgiving Day holiday break. As a result, the year-over-year expansion in credit card debt declined in November by nearly 3%, compared to a near 9% increase in…
Free tax filings were not widely known among low-to-medium income taxpayers as some commercial tax preparation services did their level best to hide them until the IRS got pissed. Trump’s trade war has made every American a loser to some degree, small to big, but nonetheless, losers. Despite demand for housing and low rate mortgages,…
Holiday retail sales solid, hitting projections of 3-4% growth over last year’s shopping season. Specialty apparel was the hottest online retail category. Gizmo sales were driven by Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote and Echo Show 5. The most read and most sold book in the U.S. during this holiday season was…
Holiday season closes amidst a blockbuster turnout for small retail businesses globally. Even though the shortened holiday season may have pushed retail sales down a tad, business owners remain confident about their businesses going forward. Scrooge remained with us as organized crime hijacked truckloads of holiday stuff and gift card scam artists manifest themselves bigly…
Retailers pray for one more week this holiday season as consumer buying habits have been slowly changing. The late Thanksgiving reduced the holiday shopping season by six days, compared to last year. Holiday retail sales have softened, dropping from a projected annual increase of 4% to a potential 2%. Even though the economy appears solid,…
Installment payment options initiated at the cash register or till, with a payment card, may finally be coming to not only to a bank near you, but also globally. After 17 years of experimentation by the Visa and Mastercard networks, the concept of using one payment card with a credit, debit and installment option will…
No matter how you slice or dice it, U.S. consumer sentiment, since the current Administration has taken office, has made no statistical gains building on the robust economic growth coming out of the 2007 to 2009 “Great Recession.” The negative effect of the “GOP Tax Cuts,” with little trickle-down to U.S. workers, and severe “SALT”…
Real-time holiday spending is now available to view, giving you insight into how your fellow Americans are spending with their credit, debit, gifts cards during the holiday season. While geared towards commerce professionals it is an eye opener for consumers. Holiday Insights Launch the Holiday Insights dashboard powered by First Data, reflecting actual transaction data…
