FORT WORTH, Texas --
With consumer confidence on the decline and many shoppers tightening their belts, retailers are surprised to report how many people are paying for purchases.
For six years, Norma Talbott has owned and operated a small Frisco jewelry store. In a tough economy she said her sales have been surprisingly stable with the exception of one major change, people are now paying with cash.
For some, life without credit cards has been a way of life for a while. For others, it's a changing mindset brought on by Wall Street woes.
Visa and MasterCard both reported growth in their last quarterly earning statements, but Visa said that growth was due in large part to its debit card business as consumers shift away from traditional credit card spending.
Mike Davis with the Cox School of Business said if the trend sticks it's a good sign that consumers are getting wiser.
"It certainly means people are being more careful, that they're feeling stressed about this economy and they ought to," said Davis.
The thing Davis said would be really concerning is if the economy continues to head south and credit card spending goes up.
Davis said that is an indicator people are in an emergency situation and credit is the only source of money available.
News Source : http://www.nbc5i.com/
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Four in the net for Rs 1cr credit card fraud
NEW DELHI: Though just a Class XII pass out, 32-year-old Sajid Ahmed Choudhary is an expert in computers and has allegedly cheated several banks of nearly one crore. The special staff of the south district police arrested Choudhary and his three step-brothers for the crime on Thursday.
According to the police, the gang had set up a fake travel agency called Diamond Tours and Travels. Choudhary used to approach different banks and rent out card swiping machines or EDCs from the bank. Using these machines, they used to allegedly swipe stolen credit cards to transfer money into their account. The police picked them suspecting to be terrorist, however, later found their involvement in a cheating case.
While investigating their links, the police learnt they had duped Citibank, ICICI bank and DCB bank. The first complaint was received from Citibank manager Harminder Mann in Gurgaon.
It was alleged that two persons by the names of - Vishal Verma and Anil Verma - had approached the bank. The duo opened a current account no 0005724284 in the name of Diamond Tours and Travels. Vishal Verma was shown as the proprietor of the firm, which according to the duo was functioning out of G-5, Krishna Complex, main road Nithari, Sector-31, in Noida.
The two had, reportedly, given an address in Ashram as their residence address. They deposited Rs three lakhs and requested for one EDC machine. As proof of residence, Vishal Verma submitted a copy of Passport No. E-0472233 which carried an Ashram address.
‘‘Over the next few months, it was found that several credit cards of different banks were swiped from this machine and money worth Rs 71.5 was credited into the travel agency’s account. Interestingly, all the swiped cards were issued by foreign banks to foreign customers only,’’ said DCP (south) HGS Dhaliwal. Citibank woke up to the fraud only when several of its customers started disputing the charges debited to their credit card accounts and the bank started having disputes with the card issuing banks. ‘‘During the investigation, we found Vishal Verma was actually Sajid Ahmed Choudhary of Mumbai. On Thursday, a team led by inspector Vijay Singh of the special staff conducted a raid and arrested Choudhary along with his three associates,’’ added Dhaliwal.
An expert at hacking, Choudhary revealed he had studied only up to Class XII. While working on the internet, he changes the Internet Protocol address as well as browsers to hide his presence and location. He also, allegedly, creates viruses and uses them to hack the administrative control of the website. His gang had been operating for the last four years. Initially settled in Mumbai, he started placement jobs for Reliance Infocom. He was arrested in 2005 when he hacked a Reliance website. While in jail, he met another fraudster, Kamal Kumar, who advised him on online hacking. After getting bail in the year 2005, he again started cheating.
He was arrested by the Mumbai ATS in January this year on grounds of suspicion and later, was found to be involved in a cheating case. He was released on bail in March. Since then, he shifted base to Delhi. Here, Kamal Kumar, allegedly, had already been operating a fake travel agency using the fake identity of Anil Verma since January.
The other three accused - Shabbir Ahmed, Sabir Ahmed and Shahnawaj - are his step-brothers. The accused were arrested from Madanpur Khaddar on Thursday. Among other things, Rs 7.5 lakhs, 28 credit cards of different banks and three card swiping machines were seized. Meanwhile, a police remand for eight days has been sought for the accused.
News Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
According to the police, the gang had set up a fake travel agency called Diamond Tours and Travels. Choudhary used to approach different banks and rent out card swiping machines or EDCs from the bank. Using these machines, they used to allegedly swipe stolen credit cards to transfer money into their account. The police picked them suspecting to be terrorist, however, later found their involvement in a cheating case.
While investigating their links, the police learnt they had duped Citibank, ICICI bank and DCB bank. The first complaint was received from Citibank manager Harminder Mann in Gurgaon.
It was alleged that two persons by the names of - Vishal Verma and Anil Verma - had approached the bank. The duo opened a current account no 0005724284 in the name of Diamond Tours and Travels. Vishal Verma was shown as the proprietor of the firm, which according to the duo was functioning out of G-5, Krishna Complex, main road Nithari, Sector-31, in Noida.
The two had, reportedly, given an address in Ashram as their residence address. They deposited Rs three lakhs and requested for one EDC machine. As proof of residence, Vishal Verma submitted a copy of Passport No. E-0472233 which carried an Ashram address.
‘‘Over the next few months, it was found that several credit cards of different banks were swiped from this machine and money worth Rs 71.5 was credited into the travel agency’s account. Interestingly, all the swiped cards were issued by foreign banks to foreign customers only,’’ said DCP (south) HGS Dhaliwal. Citibank woke up to the fraud only when several of its customers started disputing the charges debited to their credit card accounts and the bank started having disputes with the card issuing banks. ‘‘During the investigation, we found Vishal Verma was actually Sajid Ahmed Choudhary of Mumbai. On Thursday, a team led by inspector Vijay Singh of the special staff conducted a raid and arrested Choudhary along with his three associates,’’ added Dhaliwal.
An expert at hacking, Choudhary revealed he had studied only up to Class XII. While working on the internet, he changes the Internet Protocol address as well as browsers to hide his presence and location. He also, allegedly, creates viruses and uses them to hack the administrative control of the website. His gang had been operating for the last four years. Initially settled in Mumbai, he started placement jobs for Reliance Infocom. He was arrested in 2005 when he hacked a Reliance website. While in jail, he met another fraudster, Kamal Kumar, who advised him on online hacking. After getting bail in the year 2005, he again started cheating.
He was arrested by the Mumbai ATS in January this year on grounds of suspicion and later, was found to be involved in a cheating case. He was released on bail in March. Since then, he shifted base to Delhi. Here, Kamal Kumar, allegedly, had already been operating a fake travel agency using the fake identity of Anil Verma since January.
The other three accused - Shabbir Ahmed, Sabir Ahmed and Shahnawaj - are his step-brothers. The accused were arrested from Madanpur Khaddar on Thursday. Among other things, Rs 7.5 lakhs, 28 credit cards of different banks and three card swiping machines were seized. Meanwhile, a police remand for eight days has been sought for the accused.
News Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Monday, September 29, 2008
You may soon use your mobile phone as credit, debit card
NEW DELHI: In a development that could completely liberalise mobile commerce, the department of telecommunication (DoT) will soon write to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking guidance on linking telephone networks with banking services.
While the RBI recently announced certain guidelines for mobile banking in India, it only provides for a few basic banking services which can be undertaken through mobile phones. The new DoT move will allow consumers to virtually use mobile phone as a debit or credit card.
Sources told SundayET that the ministry would seek RBI's consultation to provide full-fledged mobile banking services to the customers, in line with discussion held between the 13th Finance Commission team and DoT officials on September 18, 2008. According to a senior DoT official, the ministry has so far not taken any initiative on linking telephone networks with banking services, but is keen on it as it will generate revenues, in addition to giving more value to telephone customers. "These services can increase the share of value-added services from the existing 7-8% of total revenues from the sector to almost about 25% which is the case in the developed countries," DoT said to the Commission's team. SundayET has a copy of the discussion paper prepared by DoT.
Explaining how the new initiative would help Indian consumers, Romal Shetty, director at KPMG India, said it would change the entire face of banking in the country. "So far, consumers can make only a few basic transactions through the mobile, but this will mean using your mobile as your credit or debit card. All you have to do is to send a message to make a payment," he said.
Mobile commerce in India has been limited primarily to basic banking transactions, purchase of travel tickets and payment of some utility bills, checking your account balance and last few transactions. Sanjiv Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Telesoft, that provides mobile banking facility to the customers in collaboration with Barclays Bank feels that both, banking and telecom industry, will have to come together to make mobile commerce a success in India. "There are certain laws to be considered regarding money remittances. Considering the IT security condition, coming together of both is a good sign," he said.
The DoT has informed the Finance Commission's team that revenues from auction of spectrum for 3G and BWA services could go up to Rs 30,000 cr. The 13th Finance Commission asked the DoT to give the revenue projection from the telecom sector between 2010 and 2015.
News Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
While the RBI recently announced certain guidelines for mobile banking in India, it only provides for a few basic banking services which can be undertaken through mobile phones. The new DoT move will allow consumers to virtually use mobile phone as a debit or credit card.
Sources told SundayET that the ministry would seek RBI's consultation to provide full-fledged mobile banking services to the customers, in line with discussion held between the 13th Finance Commission team and DoT officials on September 18, 2008. According to a senior DoT official, the ministry has so far not taken any initiative on linking telephone networks with banking services, but is keen on it as it will generate revenues, in addition to giving more value to telephone customers. "These services can increase the share of value-added services from the existing 7-8% of total revenues from the sector to almost about 25% which is the case in the developed countries," DoT said to the Commission's team. SundayET has a copy of the discussion paper prepared by DoT.
Explaining how the new initiative would help Indian consumers, Romal Shetty, director at KPMG India, said it would change the entire face of banking in the country. "So far, consumers can make only a few basic transactions through the mobile, but this will mean using your mobile as your credit or debit card. All you have to do is to send a message to make a payment," he said.
Mobile commerce in India has been limited primarily to basic banking transactions, purchase of travel tickets and payment of some utility bills, checking your account balance and last few transactions. Sanjiv Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Telesoft, that provides mobile banking facility to the customers in collaboration with Barclays Bank feels that both, banking and telecom industry, will have to come together to make mobile commerce a success in India. "There are certain laws to be considered regarding money remittances. Considering the IT security condition, coming together of both is a good sign," he said.
The DoT has informed the Finance Commission's team that revenues from auction of spectrum for 3G and BWA services could go up to Rs 30,000 cr. The 13th Finance Commission asked the DoT to give the revenue projection from the telecom sector between 2010 and 2015.
News Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Credit Card Companies Reducing Some Card Limits
You may start feeling the effects of the credit crisis, if you haven’t already. Many families are already relying on credit cards to pay their basic expenses, such as gas, groceries, bills. Now some banks and credit card companies are cutting back on the credit and loans they’re offering. You may soon find you have less credit available or can’t get a loan you need.
Counting on your credit card to make a major purchase? Check your credit limit first. Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are all lowering credit limits on some card holders to reduce the risk of customers not making payments. The New York TImes reports limit cuts are being placed on customers with heavy debt, who live in areas with high foreclosure rates, or work in troubled industries.
Certified Financial Planner Rick Van Der Noord says that could, and should, force families to change the way they spend. Said Van Der Noord, “If you have to use credit for your living expenses, it wasn’t smart and it’s not smart, but it might not even be an option at this point.”
But lowering your limit can reduce your credit score. It forces your debt to credit ratio to go down. That could mean paying higher interest rates on your other credit cards or a car or home loan. Not to mention if you overspend your new credit limit, you’ll be hit with fees.
But Stuart says students won’t see much if any change in Federal or State school loans. Said Stuart, “Most of our loans go through the South Carolina Student Loan Authority and their funding is fine.”
Stuart says Federal loans are still available but schools may have to find different banks to back those that are not backed by the government.
If you’re having trouble getting a student loan, Stuart says go back to your financial aid office. Many schools are now offering loans they fund themselves. You may also try using a co-signer for a private loan.
How can you fix your credit score if your credit limit has been lowered? Try asking the lender to raise it again. If you have a good payment history, point that out. Ask other cards for an increase, open a new account, or pay down the balance.
News Source : http://www.wspa.com/
Counting on your credit card to make a major purchase? Check your credit limit first. Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are all lowering credit limits on some card holders to reduce the risk of customers not making payments. The New York TImes reports limit cuts are being placed on customers with heavy debt, who live in areas with high foreclosure rates, or work in troubled industries.
Certified Financial Planner Rick Van Der Noord says that could, and should, force families to change the way they spend. Said Van Der Noord, “If you have to use credit for your living expenses, it wasn’t smart and it’s not smart, but it might not even be an option at this point.”
But lowering your limit can reduce your credit score. It forces your debt to credit ratio to go down. That could mean paying higher interest rates on your other credit cards or a car or home loan. Not to mention if you overspend your new credit limit, you’ll be hit with fees.
But Stuart says students won’t see much if any change in Federal or State school loans. Said Stuart, “Most of our loans go through the South Carolina Student Loan Authority and their funding is fine.”
Stuart says Federal loans are still available but schools may have to find different banks to back those that are not backed by the government.
If you’re having trouble getting a student loan, Stuart says go back to your financial aid office. Many schools are now offering loans they fund themselves. You may also try using a co-signer for a private loan.
How can you fix your credit score if your credit limit has been lowered? Try asking the lender to raise it again. If you have a good payment history, point that out. Ask other cards for an increase, open a new account, or pay down the balance.
News Source : http://www.wspa.com/
Friday, September 26, 2008
Credit card nightmares prompt long-awaited crackdown
WASHINGTON — What prompted a slew of new federal proposals to combat abusive practices in the credit card industry depends on whom you talk to in Washington.
Some say the new recommendations by the Federal Reserve Board were the result of congressional pressure and public outcry.
Others say that regulators, stung by their own inaction in the subprime mortgage meltdown, feared a similar mistake would cause the growing credit crisis to snowball.
While there's disagreement about what sparked the move, even the most jaded political observers now agree that, after years of complaints, relief is finally on the way for cardholders who feel victimized by their plastic.
"I've not seen anything like this out of the Federal Reserve ever," said Travis Plunkett, the legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America. "These problems have been coming up for a decade, and they've been asleep at the switch. But that's changing. It's a new world."
And not a moment too soon for such folks as Kathi Parlier of Newnan, Ga., whose credit card interest rate jumped from about 7 percent to 32 percent in 2004 after a property foreclosure damaged her credit rating. Parlier, 42, said she'd never made a late payment on the card.
"I could deal with it going to 12 to 15 percent, but considering I was never late, they never should have gone up on it like that," Parlier said. "They shouldn't be able to do that."
New rules proposed by the Fed wouldn't stop rate increases like Parlier's, which are known as "universal defaults." But they would prohibit card companies from applying the higher rate to the existing card balance — unless the cardholder was more than 30 days late on his or her bill.
That provision alone would have saved Parlier thousands of dollars. Her card balance was nearly $7,000 when the rate hike kicked in. The higher interest rate — now about 29 percent — means only a small portion of her payments go toward her debt.
"I paid $160 last month and $108 of that was finance charges, so I've only got $52 going to principal," Parlier said. "I always pay a little more than the minimum, otherwise I would never get it paid off."
The Fed's new recommendations were drafted in concert with the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration.
News Source : http://www.idahostatesman.com/
Some say the new recommendations by the Federal Reserve Board were the result of congressional pressure and public outcry.
Others say that regulators, stung by their own inaction in the subprime mortgage meltdown, feared a similar mistake would cause the growing credit crisis to snowball.
While there's disagreement about what sparked the move, even the most jaded political observers now agree that, after years of complaints, relief is finally on the way for cardholders who feel victimized by their plastic.
"I've not seen anything like this out of the Federal Reserve ever," said Travis Plunkett, the legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America. "These problems have been coming up for a decade, and they've been asleep at the switch. But that's changing. It's a new world."
And not a moment too soon for such folks as Kathi Parlier of Newnan, Ga., whose credit card interest rate jumped from about 7 percent to 32 percent in 2004 after a property foreclosure damaged her credit rating. Parlier, 42, said she'd never made a late payment on the card.
"I could deal with it going to 12 to 15 percent, but considering I was never late, they never should have gone up on it like that," Parlier said. "They shouldn't be able to do that."
New rules proposed by the Fed wouldn't stop rate increases like Parlier's, which are known as "universal defaults." But they would prohibit card companies from applying the higher rate to the existing card balance — unless the cardholder was more than 30 days late on his or her bill.
That provision alone would have saved Parlier thousands of dollars. Her card balance was nearly $7,000 when the rate hike kicked in. The higher interest rate — now about 29 percent — means only a small portion of her payments go toward her debt.
"I paid $160 last month and $108 of that was finance charges, so I've only got $52 going to principal," Parlier said. "I always pay a little more than the minimum, otherwise I would never get it paid off."
The Fed's new recommendations were drafted in concert with the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration.
News Source : http://www.idahostatesman.com/
Thursday, September 25, 2008
UPD seeks help in stolen credit card case
UTICA, N.Y. -- Utica Police are asking for your help in a grand larceny case. They are looking to identify three people who used stolen credit cards at different stores on December 9th of last year.
The first is a female wearing a tan coat with light brown or blond hair that used a stolen card at a Wal-Mart. The second person is described as a female wearing a black coat with dark hair. She used the cards at a Walgreen’s. They are also looking for a third person, a man.
Anyone with information about these people is asked to contact the Criminal Investigations Division by calling (315) 223-3510 or logging on to www.UticaPD.com.
News Source : http://news10now.com/
The first is a female wearing a tan coat with light brown or blond hair that used a stolen card at a Wal-Mart. The second person is described as a female wearing a black coat with dark hair. She used the cards at a Walgreen’s. They are also looking for a third person, a man.
Anyone with information about these people is asked to contact the Criminal Investigations Division by calling (315) 223-3510 or logging on to www.UticaPD.com.
News Source : http://news10now.com/
Monday, September 22, 2008
TransUnion.com Quarterly Credit Card Analysis Reveals That National Credit Card Debt Moves Up Again While Delinquency Rate Continues to Creep Downward
CHICAGO, Sept 16, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- TransUnion.com released today the results of its analysis of trends in the credit card lending industry for the second quarter of 2008. The report is part of an ongoing series of quarterly consumer lending sector analyses focusing on credit card, auto loan and mortgage data that may be found on TransUnion's Web site.
Statistics
The recent first-quarter drop in average credit card debt was temporary, as data from second quarter 2008 shows a slight increase across the board geographically. National credit card debt per credit card borrower increased 2.63 percent to $1,717 from the previous quarter's $1,673, and 8.6 percent compared to the second quarter of 2007 ($1,581). The highest state average card debt per credit card borrower was in Alaska at $2,494, followed by Tennessee at $2,109 and Alabama at $2,015. The lowest average credit card debt per credit card borrower was found in Iowa ($1,281), followed by North Dakota ($1,318) and South Dakota ($1,388).
The steepest increases in average credit card debt over the previous quarter occurred in the District of Columbia (6.62 percent), Alaska (4.84 percent) and Tennessee (4.75 percent). Alabama experienced the smallest increase in its average credit card debt (0.49 percent), followed by North Carolina (0.73 percent) and West Virginia (0.82 percent).
On a positive note, the national credit card delinquency incidence rate (the ratio of borrowers 90 or more days past due) continued to decline for the second quarter in a row.
Nationally, the ratio of credit card borrowers delinquent on one or more of their credit cards declined to 1.04 percent in the second quarter of 2008, down 12.6 percent over the previous quarter. However, on a year-over-year basis the national delinquency incidence rate has risen 14.3 percent from 0.91 percent in the second quarter of 2007. Incidence of delinquency was highest in Nevada (1.72 percent), followed closely by Florida (1.34 percent) and Mississippi (1.30 percent). The lowest credit card delinquency incidence rates were found in North Dakota (0.59 percent), Vermont (0.68 percent) and Utah (0.70 percent). Quarter-over-quarter delinquency incidence rates dropped across the board. Nevada experienced the smallest drop in delinquency (-1.15 percent), while the District of Columbia's delinquency incidence rate dropped the most (-28.2 percent) from the previous quarter.
News Source : http://www.marketwatch.com/
Statistics
The recent first-quarter drop in average credit card debt was temporary, as data from second quarter 2008 shows a slight increase across the board geographically. National credit card debt per credit card borrower increased 2.63 percent to $1,717 from the previous quarter's $1,673, and 8.6 percent compared to the second quarter of 2007 ($1,581). The highest state average card debt per credit card borrower was in Alaska at $2,494, followed by Tennessee at $2,109 and Alabama at $2,015. The lowest average credit card debt per credit card borrower was found in Iowa ($1,281), followed by North Dakota ($1,318) and South Dakota ($1,388).
The steepest increases in average credit card debt over the previous quarter occurred in the District of Columbia (6.62 percent), Alaska (4.84 percent) and Tennessee (4.75 percent). Alabama experienced the smallest increase in its average credit card debt (0.49 percent), followed by North Carolina (0.73 percent) and West Virginia (0.82 percent).
On a positive note, the national credit card delinquency incidence rate (the ratio of borrowers 90 or more days past due) continued to decline for the second quarter in a row.
Nationally, the ratio of credit card borrowers delinquent on one or more of their credit cards declined to 1.04 percent in the second quarter of 2008, down 12.6 percent over the previous quarter. However, on a year-over-year basis the national delinquency incidence rate has risen 14.3 percent from 0.91 percent in the second quarter of 2007. Incidence of delinquency was highest in Nevada (1.72 percent), followed closely by Florida (1.34 percent) and Mississippi (1.30 percent). The lowest credit card delinquency incidence rates were found in North Dakota (0.59 percent), Vermont (0.68 percent) and Utah (0.70 percent). Quarter-over-quarter delinquency incidence rates dropped across the board. Nevada experienced the smallest drop in delinquency (-1.15 percent), while the District of Columbia's delinquency incidence rate dropped the most (-28.2 percent) from the previous quarter.
News Source : http://www.marketwatch.com/
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