consumer protection

The House Financial Services Committee this morning passed legislation to create a new agency designed to protect consumers from tricks and traps in the banking and mortgage industries. Supporters say the agency is vital to prevent a finance collapse like the one that devastated the global economy in the past two years.
The partisan vote — [...]

By 35 percent in just two years, according to a report released today by the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer advocacy group. Those overdraft fees — applied when consumers exceed account balances when making debit card purchases — generated $23.7 billion in 2008, up from $17.5 billion in 2006, CRL found. For context, Americans [...]

Here’s a good game for a rainy Sunday.
Several credit card companies have launched a new Website designed to help struggling card users manage their debts amid the economic downturn. The site includes tips to avoid penalties and links to access counseling services. But the fan favorite has to be an interactive tool allowing consumers to [...]

Newly-minted Sen. Mark Udall (D-Col.), has scheduled a press call this afternoon to announce his plans to introduce legislation to end the abusive practices of credit card issuers. This isn’t enormous news — as a member of the House, Udall had strongly supported the lower chamber’s version of the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights, sponsored [...]

Just off the phone with Travis Plunkett, the legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, who points out an important advantage that the recent elections have lent to supporters of credit card reform legislation: The larger Democratic majority in the Senate next year means that the Senate Banking Committee will seat a few more [...]

With the economic landscape radically altered by government intervention in the financial system and partial nationalization of the largest banks, the ‘deregulation’ phase of financial services is over. It’s time to consider how to protect the consumer.