In what is being described as a significant political victory for the Obama administration, the Senate voted to pass an omnibus financial reform bill, but experts are divided over the way in which it will affect consumers looking to consolidate debt. Senators Russ Feingold and Maria Cantwell, the only two Democrats to vote against the […]
Debtmerica is known as an authority in the debt services industry and as a part of our commitment to this we publish a news journal covering topics in and around consumer spending, debt management, and other debt related news topics. Writers Harry Langenberg – “Chief Editor and Orchestrator” Harry is a Managing Partner at Debtmerica […]
Three companies offering U.S. consumers assistance in consolidating their debt were effectively closed down Thursday by a federal court order enjoining them from practicing their deceptive telemarketing. The Federal Trade Commission said that the FBI, IRS, and Secret Service were also interested in the three companies, and while a criminal complaint has not yet been […]
Military personnel in financial trouble could find it difficult to concentrate on their critically important duties, so the Defense Department recently announced several new programs to help service members consolidate debt and stay out of fiscal minefields. A program analyst for the Pentagon’s military community and family policy office, Marcus Beauregard, said that "anything that […]
The demand for credit among American consumers is heading upwards, according to a FICO study released on Wednesday, but this could cause an uptick in credit card delinquencies going forward. Bankers surveyed by the research firm generally agreed that the combination of the slowly improvingeconomy and the effect of soon-to-be-implemented federal regulations would cause them […]
In the wake of a successful amendment to the Senate’s financial reform bill that would cap debit card processing fees for issuers, Bloomberg News reports that credit card processing fees could be next. The news agency cites a client note from Stifel, Nicolaus and Co. analyst Chris Brendler, which asserted that credit card interchange fees […]
While debt collectors are an important part of the consumer financial ecosystem, some agencies have been accused of threatening, harassing, and lying to consumers in pursuit of unpaid debts. The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, recently announced tough new restrictions on those companies. Bloomberg said that "the measures we are announcing today will help […]
It’s possible for a consumer to imitate the methods of professional debt settlement companies and many people report success in negotiating a debt settlement for themselves. Initiation of negotiations can begin by calling the customer service department of the credit card company. In general, the credit card company will only deal with a consumer when […]
An amendment to an omnibus financial regulation bill currently being considered in the U.S. Senate – which was recently approved by that chamber with 64 votes – will place strict caps on so-called interchange fees that credit card issuers charge merchants for processing payments made with debit or credit cards. According to financial news and […]
While the U.S. credit card market is still plagued by heightened levels of delinquency and above-average amounts of consumer debt, the major card issuers say that the trends are moving in a broadly positive direction, according to the Wall Street Journal. Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods analyst Sanjay Sakhrani told the Journal that "we are definitely […]