Conservative Instapundit blog calls for greater credit card transparency

Seeded on Thu May 8, 2008 2:16 PM EDT (Instapundit.com)

Bit of a surprise coming from a self-described libertarian: "These industries operate as what Scott Adams calls "confusopolies," taking advantage of complexity to bilk customers. I'd prefer transparency to outright regulation, but that's probably hard to accomplish."

business, instapundit, credit-cards, visa, mastercard, banks

Politico: Retailers shopping for lower interchange fees

Seeded on Fri May 2, 2008 11:20 AM EDT (Politico)

When Food City first started accepting credit cards 20 years ago, executives at the regional supermarket saw plastic — even with the 1 percent fee charged by the credit card companies — as an almost certain business win. ...

politics, visa, mastercard, credit-card-industry, credit-card, politico, chris-cannon

College cracks down on deceptive credit card tactics

Seeded on Fri Apr 4, 2008 11:13 AM EDT (fox6.com)

In a statement, representatives with UCSD told FOX6 News: "We at UC San Diego encourage our students to be cautious and prudent when it comes to these kinds of financial matters." We contacted all the major credit card companies on the issue but they did not respond.

education, ucsd, credit-card, visa, mastercard, san-diego, college, university

Is Citigroup's Credit Card Business Restructing an Attempt to Hedge Bank from Antitrust Liability? « WayTooHigh.com

Seeded on Thu Apr 3, 2008 8:11 AM EDT (waytoohigh.wordpress.com)

From Way Too High: Call it what you want, but the attempt by Citigroup Inc. to restructure it's credit card business could be nothing more than a scheme to protect the bank from its multi-billion dollar merchant interchange credit card liability.

business, citi, citigroup, credit, payments

Just How Shady is this Visa IPO?

Seeded on Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:08 PM EDT (creditslips.org)

The Visa IPO creates a company with an unusual 3 stock-class capital structure that can only be explained as an antitrust shelter.

business, visa, ipo, antitrust, interchange, credit-card

Congress Takes On Credit Card Interchange Fees

Seeded on Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:14 PM EDT (consumeraffairs.com)

The "Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008," introduced by House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-MI), would require lenders possessing "substantial market power" to negotiate with merchants and retailers on terms for fees paid when processing card transactions.

politics, john-conyers, credit-cards, visa, mastercard, banking

On Day One | End the War on Terrorism, Focus on the War of Ideas

Seeded on Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:24 PM EST (ondayone.org)

Focus on the reasons, the cause of the terrorism. Fighting them on the front lines won't matter, as we've seen countless times. All we are doing is breeding the next generation of people who hate America. The war in Iraq has now bred a whole new era of hatred. Back off.

politics, war-on-terrorism, united-states, israel, terrorism, military

On Day One: End "Enemy Combatant" Status

Seeded on Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:20 PM EST (ondayone.org)

Sign an Executive Order outlawing the "Enemy Combatant" designation for United States citizens -- under ANY circumstances -- and restore Habeus Corpus.

politics, torture, guantanamo, war-on-terrorism, bush-administration, un-foundation, on-day-one

On Day One | End The Broken Politics in Washington

Seeded on Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:10 PM EST (ondayone.org)

A great message from Barack Obama, responding to President Bush's State of the Union speech. If you still haven't seen it, check it out now. Maybe one of the best political speeches ever.

barack-obama, president-bush, speech, washington-dc

A Marshal Plan for Global Warming

Seeded on Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:00 PM EST (ondayone.org)

Now this is a great idea, from the great website On Day One:

science, nasa-marshal-plan, global-warming, trees, wind-power, electricity, solar-power, nuclear-power

On Day One | Submit Kyoto for Ratification

Seeded on Tue Feb 5, 2008 4:23 PM EST (ondayone.org)

Will the next President submit Kyoto again? Which candidate woule be most likely to do so?

science, global-warming, kyoto-treaty, hillary-clinton, barack-obama, john-mccain, environment

On Day One | Bullying tactics of Barack Obama against Hillary may be a signal for all women in this country. Watch out!

Seeded on Tue Feb 5, 2008 4:13 PM EST (ondayone.org)

I am NOT endorsing this. But it is very interesting, and so is the debate in the comments:

religion, barack-obama, hillary-clinton, sexism, women, stereotypes, controversial

On Day One | Real democracy for America!

Seeded on Tue Feb 5, 2008 4:10 PM EST (ondayone.org)

Let Voters share law-making power with Congress, giving us a check and balance against those who allow torture, domestic wiretapping, Presidential law-breaking via signing statements, etc.

politics, hillary-clinton, barack-obama

Credit Card Fees Are Burning a Hole in Your Pocket

Seeded on Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:21 AM EST (myvestafoundation.org)

All consumers, even those who pay with cash and checks, pay more at the store and more at the pump because these interchange fees are passed on in the overall cost of goods sold.

business, credit-cards, interchange-fees, visa, mastercard

Beyond Big Oil, Big Finance: Fees fueling frustration for region's gas retailers

Seeded on Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:36 PM EST (buffalo.bizjournals.com)

It's more than just the price of crude oil that's impacting prices at the gas pump. A major cause for concern is credit card fees that continue to rise.

business, gas-prices, oil-prices, gas, banking, industry, credit-cards, convenience-stores, gas-station

Liveblogging the Levin Hearings on Credit Card Fees

Seeded on Wed Dec 5, 2007 5:14 PM EST (Consumerist)

Today's hearing will feature two panels. First, three aggrieved consumers will share their horror stories.

business, carl-levin, credit-cards, senate, hearings

If They're Issuing You a Card, they Probably Have it in For You

Seeded on Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:24 PM EST (CNET News.com)

The coalition researched overdraft rules and fees for seven large banks operating in California.

business, california, banks, credit-cards, debit-cards

Credit Cards Lose Ground to PayPal

Seeded on Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:34 AM EST (Business Week)

Internet-based payment services are growing in popularity, as PayPal and others capitalize on fear of identity theft and payment fraud ...

business, credit-cards, paypal, finance, credit, retail

Credit Card Rewards Just Aren't Worth The Risk

Seeded on Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:40 PM EST (delawareonline.com)

"A lot of times the sizzle is not as good as the steak," says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of Lowcards.com, a site that compares credit card offers. "You have to be very careful and study the offers that you are considering."

business, credit-cards, visa, mastercard, card-rewards, credit-card-rewards

Visa Settles with AMEX, MasterCard next?

Seeded on Fri Nov 9, 2007 4:39 PM EST (The Houston Chronicle)

You know some big changes are coming down the road when the duopoly of Visa and MasterCard start settling cases in the billions. But it's still nothing compared to the ongoing class action lawsuit brought by merchants over the interchange system...

business, american-express, mastercard, visa, credit-cards, bear-stearns, supreme-court

Ron Paul Supporters Say, Give Other Candidates $1

Seeded on Fri Nov 9, 2007 3:03 PM EST (unanimocracy.com)

Why? Easy -- to bring down the opponents' average donation. And they also point out, if you give a dollar, that's essentially giving the campaign zero -- because nearly all of it is taken away in the form of credit card fees.

politics, ron-paul, rudy-giuliani, barack-obama, credit-card, visa, mastercard

PBS Frontline: The Secret History of the Credit Card

Seeded on Fri Oct 26, 2007 3:55 PM EDT (PBS)

Edit: This is a couple years old, but still fascinating, and has been playing on PBS stations lately. This is the show that first introduced the concept of "universal default" to most consumers. Click through and there are video segments available for viewing.

business, investigative-journalism, lowell-bergman, credit-card, frontline, pbs, mastercard, visa

EU's Kroes to take decision on MasterCard interchange fees by end of the year

Seeded on Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:43 PM EDT (CNN)

EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said her competition services hope to complete an inquiry into MasterCard Inc (NYSE:MA) and rule on the credit card group's interchange fee payments network by the end of the year.

world-news, interchange, credit-card, neelie-kroes, european-union, mastercard

Don't Want a New Credit Card? Too Bad! Citibank is Giving You One!

Seeded on Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:15 PM EDT (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Customers who hadn't used their Macy's department store credit cards in a few years have been getting surprises in the mail: new Citi MasterCards. The problem? Many say they don't recall authorizing Citigroup to open a MasterCard account in their names.

business, citibank, mastercard, credit-card