I hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I also hope your Black Friday wasn’t too hectic (if you participated). Compared to last year, in my opinion the deals this year really sucked, so I didn’t bother getting up before the crack of dawn to go wait in line. However I did make it out to the mall during the afternoon to take a gander and as expected, the sales were not impressive to say the least. I didn’t buy a single thing.

Black Friday: The Online Version
Meanwhile, many others were skipping the stores for another reason… they were doing black Friday online. In fact, since the beginning of the month there has reportedly been a 23% increase in online purchases (according to ReD payment processing). They also claim the increase in fraudulent online activity (or at least, attempted activity) will be 38% greater than last year. And of course virtually all of that involves debit and credit card fraud.

What To Do If You’re a Victim
Fortunately – at least in the United States – if someone uses your account to make fraudulent purchase, you probably won’t be responsible. Why do I say probably and not definitely?

For Credit Cards
Well, when it come to credit cards… you are definitely protected – under federal law, the maximum liability you have is $50. However, pretty much every bank and financial institution has chosen to make that $0 liability… so you really have nothing to worry about when it comes to your credit cards.

For Debit Cards
But debit cards are another story… you are most likely protected, but not always. Your maximum liability increases to $500 with debit cards. Usually banks will not hold you liable for any amount, but they have been known to hold customers liable for the maximum amount permitted by law… it’s extremely rare, but it does happen. PIN-based fraudulent transactions on your debit card are known to be harder to fight. However the biggest danger I feel is with the checking account your debit card is linked to. If a crook spends your money, your balance will drop (at least temporarily) until you detect the fraud. If you have outstanding checks, that may cause them to bounce.

(Credit or debit, we have a card fraud forum to help victims)

The Safest Option?
The truth is you will probably not be held liable for debit card fraud if you detect it within a reasonable amount of time, so I wouldn’t worry about that. But as mentioned, the temporary drop in your checking account balance can pose a problem, especially if you use checks to pay your rent or mortgage. For that reason, I feel it’s safest to stick with credit cards.

The last couple decades, it seems as though we’re being forced into mandatory arbitration agreements with every product and service we use. Whether it’s doctors, cell phone providers, or banks… pretty much everyone is forcing us to have our disputes handled by arbitration, waiving our rights to take a matter to court

Why It’s Unfair
Although arbitration saves big money for the business, it’s rarely fair to the consumer. Because the company is paying for the process (and often using the same arbitrators over and over) you can guess how the rulings usually go. Add in the fact that there’s no jury and you’re only allowed to present very limited evidence, it’s not very consumer-friendly. To make matters worse, even when the business is found to be at fault, the awards are typically only a tiny fraction of what you would get in court.

A Move In The Right Direction
On Friday, Chase announced they would drop forced arbitration on their credit cards – starting in 2010 and they will do so for at least three and a half years. Why? It’s the result of a class action lawsuit filed against Chase and a number of other major credit card issuers which accused them of “secretly consulting each other numerous times with the aim of requiring cardholders to arbitrate all disputes.” In return, the plaintiffs have agreed to not hold Chase liable for this alleged practice.

This is great news for consumers and I hope this trend continues. No one should be forced to waive their rights to a court trial unless they choose to do so.

We all know Kohl’s offers some great bargains, but is the Kohls credit card actually a good deal or just a gimmick? This review has the answer.

Why Kohls?
Founded in ’62, this Wisconsin-based department store now has over a thousand locations, spread across the country in all but one state. They’re now one of the nation’s largest retailers, with an emphasis on discount clothing.

But even though they may be a great place to go to pick up a sweater or pair of shoes, you may want to think twice before you apply for their credit card. Here’s why…

Rewards
Of course this is probably what sparked your interest in the Kohls credit card in the first place. They offer an incentive to reel you in and get you to apply for the card; a 10% savings on your first purchase. This is a common “deal” a lot of store charge cards offer, hoping it will persuade you to signup. Savings are always great, but don’t fall for this bait and get hurt in the long run…

You see, the reason department stores have to offer gimmicks like this to get people to fill out the application is because their cards are crap, to put it frankly. Why you ask? Here are the reasons…

The Fine Print About Interest Rates
If you carry a balance – ever – this card is going to hurt, and it’s going to hurt bad! At the time of this review, the APR is an outrageous 21.9 percent!

To make matters worse, they may give you “penalty” APR which is even higher – 24.9 percent! According to the Kohls cardmember agreement, they may give you this higher rate if you (a) make a late payment, or (b) make a payment that is returned. So if you pay on time, your paying almost 22% and if you make a late payment, you might be paying almost 25% or possibly higher!

Credit Card Acceptance
Because it’s not a part of a major payment network (like MasterCard or Discover) it can only be used at the Kohl’s department store. So it serves no use anywhere else.

Credit Record
Elsewhere on the net, many experts warn that you should avoid store charge cards at all costs. Why? Because every time you apply for a store card, it results in what is known as a “hard pull” on your credit report. This inquiry is used to check your creditworthiness, but is also known to knock down FICO scores.

Also, some reportedly believe a department store charge card may not look too good on your report. Why? Because these cards are often associated with those that have sub-par credit (and the only reason they’re applying is because they can’t get a major credit card). Whether that’s true or not, the bottom line is that some people view them as a bottom rung credit cards.

A Better Option
You can do much better than the Kohls credit card. Instead, why not go with a major credit card that also saves money at department stores? One of this site’s advertiser’s, Discover, offers a card which has no annual fee and up to a full 5% cashback bonus at every department store, including Kohls! Get the full scoop and check out our Discover More review!

Overdraft fees a huge revenue stream for banks. In fact, US banks will pull in an estimated $38,500,000,000 from this year last year alone (source: Moebs Economic Research). While the banks love these fees, many consumers complain because they say they never opted into them in the first place.

The New Changes & When They Start
On Thursday, the U.S. Fed announced their own new overdraft fee reform, similar to how they did with credit cards. Customers will now have the ability to opt out of the ability to overdraw their account using their debit/ATM card. It won’t apply to overdraft fees resulting from auto-deductions you have set up on your account (i.e. auto-payments for power bills, car payment, etc) nor will it apply to checks. Banks will have until July 1st, 2010 to meet this reform.

My Take On It
As you guys can see from my previous blogposts, 95% of the time I side with consumers. However I’m not necessarily in agreement with how they structured the reform. Before you jump on me for saying this, let me explain why:

First of all, I do believe this fee should be waived entirely if it is a rare occurrence for your account. If you are a responsible person and this happens to you, say once per year or so, then you should not be charged a fee. Simple as that.

Rather, I have a problem with the “serial offenders” that are totally irresponsible and don’t pay attention to their balance. For example, I have a friend who I’ll call Chuck (not his real name) and I would estimate that on an annual basis, he overdraws his account at least a dozen times… and it’s not by accident. He will basically spend until transactions no longer go through. Chuck doesn’t bother to actually check his balance or simply (heavens forbid) actually not spend that extra $30 at the bar when he already know his balance his extremely low.

When it comes to people like this… I can’t say I feel bad for them. If anything, the fees are doing them a favor… hopefully they are ridiculous enough to give them a clue that they need to start spending responsibly.

What is Coast to Coast? It’s a late night AM radio show about various topics, but it’s most geared towards topics relating to paranormal, conspiracies, etc. Yes, the subject matter is sometimes a little bit “out there” but their shows are often entertaining even if I don’t agree or believe with what they’re saying. It’s actually the number one syndicated late-night radio show in the country, so check it out. Here in the LA/OC area, it’s on from 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM on KFI 640 AM.

Like I do most nights I’m working late on the computer, on Tuesday I tuned in to the show; it was all about the banking industry – mainly credit cards.  The host (Georgy Noory) interviewed/discussed the subject with a guest (whom I don’t recall his name) for the first 2 to 3 hours of the show. I would say about 85% of what the guest was saying was gibberish (conspiracies about the financial industry) but there was one piece of information he talked about which was very interesting; credit cards for China.

In a nutshell, he discussed how the American economy (and our credit markets) are already highly developed, and the real money to be made is lending to consumers in developing countries… people that are buying their first cars, remodeling their first homes, and getting their first taste of the material life.

His theory is that the over the next couple decades, that is where the credit markets will really flourish. Of course this is nothing new (it’s common sense and we discuss China on this blog frequently) but his prediction did include a new piece of information I never thought of.  Basically, it was that there is only so much money to go around (and lend) in the world. He believes banks will scale back their lending in America so they can lend it overseas at higher interest rates instead.

Furthermore (and here’s the conspiracy part) he says that’s the real reason we are getting our credit limits cut as of lately. Now this part, I don’t believe. Earlier this year, many banks were actually losing money on their credit card divisions due to all the defaults – that’s why I believe we are going through these brutal credit limit cuts lately (they’re trying to minimize their risk to prevent losses). But either way, it was an interesting theory I had not heard before.

Your thoughts?

Is the Shell credit card really the best way to combat high gas prices? Check out our review before you apply.

As fuel prices have climbed the last few years, we’ve been forced to come up with all sorts of creative ways to save on gas: switching to more fuel efficient cars… carpooling… public transit… and of course those gas credit cards.

Nowadays it seems as every gas station has their own branded card, including Shell. To get you to sign up, they all use the same pitch: “our card will save you money!” But the reality is that most of them hide behind promotional gimmicks and other confusing reward structures that won’t save you anything above average when all is said or done.

Let’s take a look at the Shell credit cards and compare them to what’s out there…

Shell Card
This is their basic card. Because it’s not affiliated with any universally accepted payment networks, it can only be used at Shell gas stations and some Jiffy Lube locations. There is no annual fee.

Interest Rate: At the time of this review, the card carries a variable APR of 21.00%. However depending on your credit and payment history, it could end up as high as 29.99%… ouch!

Rewards: The whole point of one of these is to get gas rewards, right? Well that’s what I thought, but ironically, this gives you no rewards on anything.

Other Benefits: I’ve read both their marketing material and the fine print and don’t see anything special whatsoever.

Verdict: This is completely worthless.

Shell Select Member Card
This is a step up from their basic card. It carries a $25.00 annual fee. Like the other, it can only be used at Shell.

Interest Rate: It’s the same as above: 21.00%, but it can go all the way up to 29.99%.

Rewards: Again, I am totally puzzled here. This card offers no rebates or discounts on gas. ‘

Other Benefits: It does offer a very small discount of 5 to 10% on some travel packages, hotels, etc. but only if you book them through their Shell reservation service (and pay their prices). This is totally useless because nowadays we can just hop on an online travel website, book it ourselves, and probably save a lot more money than their measly discount. Plus you can’t pay for these travel bookings with the Shell credit card. They require you to have a Visa/MC on file to charge them to.

Verdict: It offers no gas discount and the travel reservation hotline sounds like fluff to me. I would definitely pass on this, especially considering that it has a $25.00 annual fee.

Shell Platinum MasterCard
This is their only “normal” credit card; it can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted.

Interest Rate: At the time of this review it can be “as low as” 11.24% which isn’t bad, but after I read the fine print I found out that it can increase to 27.24% in certain situations. Also is important to note this is a variable rate card so it will go up as the prime rate goes back up.

Rewards: At first glance this appears to be a good deal but once you run the numbers it’s a different story. The card offers a 5% rebate on gas but only at Shell gas stations. It offers the standard 1% on other purchases.

Verdict: There’s two reasons I don’t like this. First of all the gas discount is only at Shell stations. They seem to cost at least 5% more than other places, so that in itself kind of cancels out the discount. They sell quality gas, but so does Exxon, Chevron, BP, etc. which are all cheaper than Shell in my area.

The second reason I don’t like the Shell credit card is because it only applies to purchases at their stations. Even if there is one around the corner from your house, how about when you drive outside the area? You may be surprised to find out how “patchy” their locations are – not only nationally, but even within a major county or state.

What’s the Best Rewards Credit Card? (sponsored)
Right now the best one out there is definitely the no annual fee Discover More card. It gives up to a full 5% cash back categories which rotate through the year, including gas stations. Here’s how the Discover More Card works