Banking

Debit Card Fraud

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A debit card is a useful money management tool. It provides credit card-like access to purchases, but the money comes directly from your checking account, not from a line of credit. Many people prefer to use debit cards in order to avoid the pitfalls of credit cards. Some banks and credit unions even offer rewards programs similar to credit card rewards programs. For example, Target offers the Redcard Debit card that offers 5% off of each purchase, just like the Target credit card does. However, there are some very big differences between credit cards and debit cards when it comes to fraudulent charges. Debit Card Charges Fraud One of the major differences between a debit card and a credit card is that a debit card can be used both as a debit card, via a PIN number, and as a credit charge card, via a signature. If you use the PIN number method, you must enter your PIN into a little terminal. Never give your PIN or say your PIN to the person conducting the transaction. If you cannot enter your PIN secretly, then process the transaction as a charge transaction instead. The PIN number provides a little bit of …

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$400 Wells Fargo Free Checking Offer

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wells fargo checking bonus

I have been in the personal finance game long enough to have seen some trends. One of those trends is the increase in free money offers, zero interest offers, and cash back offers, like the $400 Wells Fargo Free Checking offer that showed up in my mail. If you are in your 30s or 40s, you can probably remember the opposite, when credit cards were stingy with approval and even basic checking came with some sort of minimum fee. Banking and credit offers are a lagging indicator. They get good after the economy and markets get good and stay good after the rest of the market rolls over. Wells Fargo Checking $400 Bonus The Wells Fargo $400 bonus works like most cash bonus offers from other banks. There is no Wells Fargo $400 bonus scam, but you need to read all of the requirements before you leap into a new checking account. First, you have to use the special offer code when you open your new checking account with Wells Fargo. That’s the easy part. How Do I Get $400 from Wells Fargo? Then, you have to have $1,000 worth of qualifying direct deposits during the first 90 days your …

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SoFi Banking Scam or Legit – A SoFi Banking Review

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Taking another look at what SoFi offers. This time we are all about SoFi Banking reviews. Is SoFi Banking a Scam? SoFi Banking, including SoFi checking and SoFi savings are products of SoFi Bank, which is a member of FDIC. FDIC membership comes with numerous rules and regulations that are actively policed by several federal regulators. So, we can be quite sure that SoFi is not a scam at least in the stealing your money and disappearing sense. In fact, even if SoFi goes bankrupt, FDIC insurance ensures that you won’t lose a penny, up to $250,000 per account. Is SoFi Banking Legit? So, is SoFi Banking legit? Yes, but like many companies the bold face type, and look here hand waving, hides a few catches to SoFi Banking you might want to keep an eye on. Let’s take a review of SoFi banking and see what it offers. First, SoFi banking offers a very good 1.25% interest rate on your checking and savings deposits. That makes SoFi Checking and SoFi Savings worth having because that is the highest interest rate on savings or checking that you will find that applies to the whole balance. (Lots of banks advertise the …

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Are Colorado Payday Loans Legal and a Good Idea?

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Payday loans have gotten a bad rap, and deservedly so. Payday lenders have behaved in a predatory manner. However recent payday loan rules and regulations have eliminated some of the worst abuses. While a payday loan should be no one’s first choice, when used properly, for the short-term only, a pay day loan may be better than missing out on an opportunity or avoiding a problem. So, are Colorado payday loans legal and are they a good idea? Colorado Payday Loans Law Coloradoans passed Proposition 111 during the 2018 elections. That law capped the interest rate on payday loans at 36%. Colorado law also sets a payday loan maximum in Colorado of $500. In addition, lenders may only charge financing fees up 20% for the first $300 and $7.50 for each additional $100 loaned. The law also limits the interest rate on loan renewals in Colorado to 45%. Only one rollover is allowed. If your repayment does not go through due to non-sufficient funds (NSF), the maximum fee is $25. The minimum term on payday loans in Colorado is six months, but you should pay it off sooner to avoid accumulating more interest. All Colorado payday loans laws apply to …

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Are No-Penalty CDs Worth It?

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no-penalty cd

Banks never stop innovating. For the most part that is good news for customers who have an ever increasing set of products and tools to use for their financial needs. The catch is that with so many permutations of money products and services out there, it can be confusing to know what is the right financial tool for you. Let’s do a no-penalty CD review to find out the pros and cons of a no-penalty CD. What Is a No Penalty CD? A no-penalty CD is like a normal CD, or Certificate of Deposit, except the bank will not charge you a penalty to withdraw your money after a certain date. It sounds like a no-brainer, but as always, the devil is in the details. What Is a CD? Let’s start with what a normal CD is. That will make it easier to understand what a no-penalty CD is. A normal CD, or Certificate of Deposit, is a savings product offered by banks, credit unions, and brokerages. Like a savings account, you deposit money with the bank, and in exchange they pay you interest on those funds. However, unlike a savings account, you cannot withdraw your money at any time. …

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Best Online Bank Rates

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OK, I get asked all the time about where to get the best rates for a savings account.  First off, check your current bank’s offerings for a money market account, which often pays higher interest than a savings account.   Money market accounts pay better rates in exchange for restrictions that should be very easy for you to meet. (You can check here for information about kids savings accounts.) With the low interest rates out there today, getting a high interest rate isn’t easy. Even the best high interest account won’t pay more than 1%, unless they limit how much money earns the higher rate. Remember, a higher interest rate won’t mean much for a small amount of savings. The difference in actual dollars between 1% and 1.5% on something like $500 is just $5 per year. That isn’t worth it if it means you end up with even one overdraft charge. Keep a cushion of savings in your local account so you instantly transfer money to your checking account if you need it. The Online Banks Next, if you are purely interested in rates, then online banks are the way to go.  There is a catch, but it isn’t what …

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Round Up Savings Plans

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Savings is really easy. You just spend less than you have, and voila! Savings! If you don’t want to save, then round up savings plans might be for you. Of course, talking about it, and doing it, are two different things. Recently, there have been several new products that offer to help make your savings easier. There are good reasons for this. Automatically saving money without you having to do anything is one of the most successful ways to save money. Some people have been using the IRS to do automatic savings for years. The idea is simple. You give your employer a W-4 Form with less deductions on it than you actually have, and they take more money out of your paycheck than necessary. Since the money comes out before you get it, you never have a chance to spend it, or even miss it. After a year, all of that extra money has built up into a sizable amount that you get back as a tax refund when you file your taxes. The disadvantages to this method, are also its advantages. Changing your W4 is often difficult making adjusting your savings troublesome and time consuming. Of course, this …

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Bank Merger Signals New Phase of Economy

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OK, here we go. The first big bank merger (or acquisition) since 2008 was announced today. It is significant for several reasons. Banks Are Back? As the financial industry imploded in 2008, it took the banks with them. It also exposed a lot of their shadier practices and brought out new regulations and reporting requirements. As a result, banks were in no way ready for the kind of scrutiny markets, investors, and regulators would perform if they tried to merge or acquire one another. Today, two semi-major banks are merging to become one of the big boys. BB&T and SunTrust are merging. They are going to pick a new name, though they apparently don’t know what it is. Wall Street seems to approve of the deal. Bigger Banks Better? One of the reasons given for the merger is that being a bigger bank is better. The idea is that some of the costs associated with being a modern bank make being smaller less viable. That isn’t entirely true. A small bank, serving one, or a few, states is still a completely profitable and worthwhile venture. Where banks are getting stuck is that area between small, and big. There, it can …

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What Is a Cashier’s Check?

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I’m going to do a whole series on this based on some questions I keep getting, but for now, here is the short version. A cashier’s check is a check drawn on the bank’s funds, instead of a person’s funds. As a result, such a check would never bounce, or fail to clear for insufficient funds. However, there is a rash of scams out there involving fraudulent, or fake, cashier’s checks, so always call the bank to verify a cashiers check before accepting it.

Free Annual Credit Report

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You are probably aware that all three credit bureaus are required by federal law to provide you with a free credit report annually. Each year you can request a free credit report from Transunion, Equifax, and Experian. You may think that the best way to get your free credit report is to call the major credit bureaus directly, but actually the best way is to use the FTC approved free annual credit report website. Free Credit Report Website Unfortunately, as with everything, there are a lot of free credit report scams out there hoping to trick unsuspecting users with official looking websites purporting to offer “free” credit reports. If you look closely, you’ll find some find print saying that these are not the officially, federally endorsed, websites to offer free annual credit reports, but if you just start clicking the big, inviting buttons, you’ll end up on the hook for some expensive services to go along with your “free” services. Free Credit Report Scams First of all, do NOT go to freeannualcreditreport.com or anything with the word FREE in it. The free government mandated credit report website does NOT have the word FREE in it’s name. If you go to …

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