Are Your Credit Card Rewards At Risk?

Credit score Card Reward ‘Bait and Swap’ Ways Face CFPB Scrutiny

The Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau is making ready to take a better take a look at bank card rewards applications. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra mentioned his company is eyeing new steering for a way the Digital Fund Switch Act, a 1978 legislation governing digital funds, applies to what he referred to as “non-public digital {dollars}” and different digital currencies, together with crypto. Particularly, Chopra mentioned the CFPB is worried about potential “bait and change” techniques deployed by bank card corporations to entice individuals into signing up for rewards plans. [Bloomberg Law]

Hamas Militants Behind Israel Assault Raised Tens of millions in Crypto

Hamas’s lightning strike on Israel final weekend has raised the query how the group financed the shock operation. One reply: cryptocurrency. Through the 12 months main as much as the assaults, three militant teams—Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and their Lebanese ally Hezbollah—obtained massive quantities of funds by way of crypto. Digital-currency wallets that Israeli authorities linked to the PIJ obtained as a lot as $93 million in crypto between August 2021 and June this 12 months, evaluation by main crypto researcher Elliptic confirmed. Wallets related to Hamas obtained about $41 million over the same time interval. [The Wall Street Journal]

U.S. Small Companies Lean on Credit score Playing cards Amid Inflation and Funding Challenges

A brand new Intuit report underscores an alarming pattern: small companies closely depend on their bank cards amidst the present financial local weather. Publish-pandemic bank card spending by these entities has shot up by a mean of 20%. Nonetheless, this rise in spending is accompanied by a major 26% improve in month-to-month bank card funds, inclusive of curiosity expenses. [Small Business Trends]

Boomers Attain for Credit score Playing cards, Millennials Lean Extra on BNPL to Pay for Leisure Journey

Bank cards proceed to be the popular alternative amongst shoppers for financing their leisure journey bills, with roughly two-thirds of those that traveled or meant to journey this summer time opting to make use of bank cards for his or her funds. In accordance with insights detailed in a brand new examine, whereas bank cards stay the popular alternative for almost all of vacationers, there are distinct variations between older and youthful generations. Older generations are inclined to go for bank cards, whereas the youngest generations lean extra towards BNPL choices. [PYMNTS]

Individuals Are Deep in Credit score Card Debt, however Bidenomics Threatens to Make Issues Even Worse

Bank card debt has hit file highs, a transparent signal that many Individuals are struggling to remain afloat throughout this time of “Bidenomics.” Ballot after ballot reveals that almost all Individuals absolutely perceive that Bidenomics has resulted in rampant inflation, huge authorities debt and a harder surroundings for middle-class America. The guiding philosophy of Bidenomics is that the federal government is greatest suited to drive down costs and make financial selections on behalf of Individuals. This mentality has produced a bunch of failed insurance policies corresponding to hefty subsidies for electrical autos, market-distorting worth controls for prescribed drugs, strict limitations on oil and fuel extraction, and big handouts for giant companies and blue state governments. [Fox Business]

Israeli Victims’ Credit score Playing cards Reportedly Abused by Terrorists after Hamas Onslaught

Hamas terrorists have allegedly stolen bank cards from Israeli victims to make purchases after launching their murderous rampage on Saturday, which has left greater than 1,000 civilians lifeless and wounded hundreds extra. “As a result of safety state of affairs, we have now seen instances the place bank cards and checking account data are being misused,” the Financial institution of Israel mentioned in an announcement. “These conditions have been handled because the outset by professionals on the Financial institution of Israel.” The central financial institution mentioned that it has established a particular Banking Supervision Division crew to work in cooperation with authorities and safety personnel to deal with the bank card theft instances. [The Times of Israel]

How Purchase Now/Pay Later Fintechs Are Reframing Shopper Credit score

Preliminary considerations about purchase now/pay later loans cannibalizing bank card issuers’ market share have not come to fruition, however as BNPL fintechs tweak their merchandise, their loans are wanting extra like conventional bank cards. Massive BNPL fintechs like Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay, which noticed robust adoption with on-line retailers throughout the pandemic, are shifting aggressively into brick-and-mortar shops, with branded debit playing cards sporting credit score card-like options and costs. Touted as handy for on a regular basis use, the debit playing cards ceaselessly allow customers to transform a purchase order right into a mortgage on the level of sale or afterward. One other vital change is BNPL fintechs’ current introduction of subscription charges averaging about $5 a month for customers to proceed accessing zero-interest loans, not not like the price of a bank card’s annual payment. [American Banker]

Rep. Santos Faces New Prices He Stole Donor IDs, Made Unauthorized Prices to Their Credit score Playing cards

U.S. Rep. George Santos stole the identities of donors to his marketing campaign after which used their bank cards to ring up tens of hundreds of {dollars} in unauthorized expenses, in accordance with a brand new indictment. He then wired among the cash to his personal private checking account, prosecutors mentioned, whereas utilizing the remainder to inflate his marketing campaign coffers. The 23-count indictment filed Tuesday replaces one filed in Could in opposition to the New York Republican charging him with embezzling cash from his marketing campaign and mendacity to Congress about his wealth, amongst different offenses. [Associated Press]

CFPB Plans to Rent 50% Extra Enforcement Attorneys, Help Employees

The Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau is embarking on a hiring spree, rising the variety of full-time staff in its enforcement division by 50% and hiring extra workers in its authorized, operations and analysis, monitoring and laws divisions. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra has allotted about 75 new full-time staff to the enforcement division. The CFPB has roughly 150 enforcement attorneys and help workers. The hiring is without doubt one of the largest recruitment drives on the company. [American Banker]

PayPal Sued in U.S. Shopper Case Over Business-Excessive Transaction Charges

Funds big PayPal was hit with a client antitrust lawsuit for allegedly fashioning agreements with e-commerce retailers that artificially keep excessive transaction charges. The potential class-action lawsuit from two shoppers in California and Georgia alleged PayPal’s contracts bar retailers from utilizing worth incentives to steer shoppers to doubtlessly more cost effective cost choices. The lawsuit mentioned PayPal, which owns Venmo, imposes the best transaction charges amongst cost processors. The case is the primary ever to accuse PayPal of violating U.S. competitors legislation by way of its “anti-steering” guidelines. [Reuters]

Don’t Purchase Your Powerball Ticket with a Credit score Card

Whereas it might be tempting to snag a lottery ticket proper now because the Powerball Jackpot spikes to $1.73 billion, the second largest in historical past, shopping for your ticket with a bank card may price you. A lottery ticket bought with a bank card is more likely to be processed as a money advance, which leaves you with excessive charges and no rewards. [CNBC]