Consumers' Checkbook

1 week ago | checkbook.org | Herb Weisbaum

A federal court judge in Texas scrapped a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that would have limited “excessive” credit card late fees to $8. Judge Mark Pittman, who had already blocked the CFPB from implementing the fee cap, decided the rule illegally prohibited credit card companies from charging “reasonable and proportional” fees.

1 week ago | checkbook.org | Herb Weisbaum

In a major win for the banking industry, Congress has overturned a Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) rule that would have limited overdraft fees to $5 at the nation’s largest banks and credit unions (those with more than $10 billion in assets that levy more than 80 percent of all overdraft charges each year). The rule, one of the CFPB’s last regulatory efforts of the Biden Administration, was projected to save U.S. consumers roughly $5 billion annually.

3 weeks ago | checkbook.org | Herb Weisbaum

Click below to listen to our Consumerpedia podcast episode. Buying a late-model used vehicle will become even more challenging as prices rise due to declining supply and higher demand. In early March, the average price for a used car hovered around $25,000, according to Cox Automotive. Industry experts told Consumers’ Checkbook that a sharp decline in lease volume during the pandemic is largely to blame for higher prices.

3 weeks ago | checkbook.org | Herb Weisbaum

If you receive a text message requesting payment for outstanding toll charges, assume it’s a scam. The volume of these fake messages has surged since Checkbook first warned about them in June 2024, when the FBI warned it had received thousands of complaints from at least three states. The scam has now spread “coast to coast,” according to a consumer alert posted earlier this year from the Federal Trade Commission.

1 month ago | checkbook.org | Herb Weisbaum

Companies increasingly use data they scoop up about us and AI-generated algorithms to decide what to sell us and for how much. These sophisticated tools are used by banks when making lending decisions, by employers screening job applications, and, in most states, used by auto and home insurance companies when setting premiums. If trained to ensure fairness and accuracy, AI can expand access to credit and reduce discrimination caused by human bias. If not, it can do enormous financial harm.