Atlanta Bankruptcy Attorney Blog

Many parents are shocked to find credit card offers addressed to their children in the mail - yet they don't think twice about signing their kids up for prepaid debit cards.

Credit card companies are smartly marketing prepaid cards as an easy way for parents to teach teens about money. We load a certain amount of money onto the cards, and our kids have to figure out how to budget it. But here's what they don't tell us. Prepaid cards come with as many - or more - fees as regular credit cards, say Atlanta bankruptcy attorneys.

By signing your children up for plastic at a young age, you may be putting them on a path to future credit card debt. While their name contains the word "debit," prepaid debit cards are not the same as the debit cards tied to your bank account. Creditor-issued cards come with a slew of start-up and use costs, like activation fees, maintenance fees, fees for purchases and reloading -even dormancy fees. From the start, you're showing your kids that they need to pay to, well, pay.

Continue reading "Teaching Kids Money Basics Can Prevent Chronic Credit Card Use" »

How about a bank account with that new pair of socks and order of McNuggets? It's possible at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart has always been known for being a one-stop shop, but now the retailer - along with a number of other big-box stores - is taking the designation literally by offering financial services from prepaid cards to check cashing, say Atlanta bankruptcy attorneys. Retailers hope to lure the millions of shoppers who either don't have a banking account or are fed up with the customer service at a big bank. And with Wal-Mart's Money Centers generating between 3 million and 5 million transactions per week, according to MSN Money, it seems to be working. But is it a good change for consumers?

Continue reading "Retailers Begin Offering Banking Services to Atlanta Customers" »

At first glance, prepaid cards might look like a dream come true for those of us with growing credit card debt, according to a recent MSNBC.com story.

By loading one of the many prepaid debit cards available at the local drugstore or supermarket with a certain amount of money, we can swipe it like a regular credit card, but without the risk of exceeding our credit limit, hurting our credit score or busting our budget. Unfortunately, it turns out that prepaid cards come with costs of their own, say Atlanta bankruptcy attorneys.

Continue reading "How Prepaid Debit Cards Might Be Costing Budget-Conscious Atlanta Consumers" »

Maybe we can't improve the economy, but U.S. consumers are sure doing a lot to improve our personal finances.

Last month, Atlanta bankruptcy attorneys reported that consumer debt had dropped to the lowest level in eight years. Now comes the news that significantly fewer consumers are turning to their credit card to make purchases each month - from 87% to 56% in just three years, according to data by Javelin Strategy and Research. Soon, less than half of shoppers could be swiping plastic. It looks like we're finally starting to understand that saving money isn't just about spending less - it's about spending smarter.

Continue reading "Economy Encourages Atlanta Cardholders to Reduce Credit Card Use" »

The price of gas is always going up - but lately, it's getting especially high for some debit card users.

That's because more and more folks who use debit to pay at the pump are becoming victims of identity theft, according to Atlanta bankruptcy attorneys. Criminals can now attach a device called a skimmer to gas pumps. When you enter your card and PIN, a tiny camera in the skimmer reads the information - and gives scammers all they need to take money right out of your bank account. When you're already low on cash and struggling to manage your debt, having some thief steal your hard-earned dollars is like rubbing salt in the wound.

Despite its risks, debit can be a more responsible alternative to credit. The key is to be careful when and where you use it.

Continue reading "How Atlanta Debit Users Can Avoid Identity Theft at the Gas Station" »

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again - it could be the motto of big banks following Thursday's passage of the financial regulation bill.

Banks have for months been attempting to stop the legislation, which will cut into their profits from debit card fees - and which could in turn lower prices for the many folks struggling to pay the bills, say Atlanta bankruptcy attorneys. But now that Plan A has failed, banks are turning to Plan B - shifting fees somewhere else.

Continue reading "Big Banks Add New Fees to Counter Passage of Financial Reform Bill" »

It was years in the making, but it looks the financial reform bill is finally on its way to becoming a reality. The question now is, how much will it actually reform - especially for those of us overwhelmed by debt?

You've probably heard about how the overhaul aims to reorganize the financial system to avoid another economic meltdown like the one that began almost two years ago. But that's not all, say Atlanta bankruptcy attorneys. If it passes, these changes will have an effect on consumers as well, from how we understand our credit card bill to how we pay for things at the store. What won't necessarily change, though, is whether or not we're able to overhaul our own finances.

Continue reading "What the Financial Overhaul Bill Can and Can't Do for Atlanta Consumers" »

My piggy bank has served me well, but he's just not cutting it anymore.

It's not that putting money in a jar doesn't work. Socking away my spare change every week actually helped me pay for college. It's just that, in this day and age, we don't really have spare change since we rely on credit and debit cards rather than cash. And that means folks that rely on their change for saving aren't really saving that much anymore.

But there's hope - today there are virtual savings methods to match our virtual spending habits. You might say that they make saving automatic.

Continue reading "Atlanta Consumers Save Money With Virtual Savings Accounts and Automatic Payments" »

It sounds too good to be true. You don't need a bank account. You don't need a good credit score. You just load your paycheck onto a pre-paid debit card, and you can pay without the hassles of a credit card or the inconvenience of cash.

You've probably started to see pre-paid debit cards in stores - maybe you've even received one as a gift or purchased one for yourself. There's a lot to be said for pre-paid plastic, but unfortunately the old adage pretty much sums it up--if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. As with bank accounts, regular debit cards and credit cards, banks have found a way to profit from our quest for convenience, according to the New York Times.

How? By charging you for everything under the sun, including activating the card, making purchases, checking your balance, going to the ATM and even just possessing it - it's called a monthly maintenance fee. Banks can also charge you for not using the card - an inactivity fee. As you can imagine, you can lose your money in fees faster than you can spend it.

Continue reading "The Expensive Truth Behind Prepaid Debit Cards" »

In light of growing discontent over their unfair debit card fees, some big banks are considering changing their tune - ever so slightly.

Financial giants JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America just announced changes to their overdraft protection policies. Though they won't eliminate the controversial program, both banks plan to limit the amount of overdraft fees a customer can rack up per day and allow consumers to choose whether to opt in to the program, which is currently automatic. But will it be enough?

Right now, many people don't even realize they're part of their bank's overdraft protection program - an ironic name, considering it doesn't do much to protect consumers - until they're surprised by overdraft fees on their bank statement. What is overdraft protection? When you overdraw with your debit card, your bank kindly allows the transaction to go through by covering the difference - without telling you about it.

Continue reading "Banks Limit Debit Cards Fees, But Will it Make a Difference?" »

Imagine opening up your bank statement and finding that the $5 lunch you bought with your debit card last week actually cost you $45. Sound outrageous? It is - but it's happening to bank customers across the county.

As more consumers choose to forgo credit and its accompanying interest and fees, banks are finding sneaky new ways to make money - in this case, through overdraft protection. Don't be fooled by its name. Though it sounds helpful, overdraft programs do nothing to protect consumers. All they protect is banks' bottom lines.

Here's how the program works. Let's say you're buying a $5 sandwich. You smartly figure that you'd rather not pay interest on such a small purchase, so you use debit - what should be the equivalent of cash, since it takes the money directly out of your account. But now let's say you don't realize the check you deposited a few days ago hasn't cleared yet - and you overdraw by 50 cents. Rather than decline your card, your bank let's you go ahead and make the purchase. You don't know anything is amiss until you get your monthly bank statement and see lunch that day cost almost 50 bucks in overdraft fees.

Continue reading "Banks Are Making Some Debit Cards More Expensive Than Credit" »

Faced with sky-high interest rates and increasing fees, many consumers are giving up credit cards in exchange for debit.

Like credit cards, debit cards are convenient - they don't require a trip to the ATM, don't involve making change, and make receipts obsolete since you can usually track your purchases on a bank statement. But they're also free of the major drawbacks of credit. Most importantly, they won't drag you down with that dreaded interest. And because you're limited to the money in your bank account, they don't encourage overspending like credit cards do. In fact, they're an excellent tool if you're trying to reduce your reliance on debt.

Debit cards almost sound too good to be true. And they actually can be if you're not careful. See, banks just had to find a way to make money off this new phenomenon - you didn't think they were going to let you get away with anything for free, did you? So they started quietly enrolling customers in an overdraft protection program.

Continue reading "Choose Debit Over Credit, But Be Wary of Overdraft Protection" »