Defend Your Dollars

Payments

There are many different ways to pay, including gift cards, prepaid cards, or even with your mobile phone. But you don’t get the same consumer protections with each payment choice. We’re working to expose bad practices and to enact strong protections no matter how you pay.

Publications

• House bill takes on abusive credit card practices
  Posted 02/07/08 at 2:13 pm

  Consumer groups support Representative Maloney’s bill to rein in credit card lending tricks and traps

• California considers foreclosure protection
  Posted 01/29/08 at 2:41 pm

  Consumers Union supports bill to give homeowners early and repeated notice of loan rate increases

• Consumer Reports highlights gift card pitfalls
  Posted 11/13/07 at 2:45 pm

  Consumers warned about $8 billion in gift cards that went unredeemed last year

• Credit card tips for college students
  Posted 09/18/07 at 10:07 pm

  Making credit cards work for you

• CU urges Fed to improve credit card disclosures
  Posted 08/27/07 at 1:03 pm

  But more needs to be done to protect consumers from excessive credit card interest rates and fees

• Consumer groups call on Federal Reserve to protect consumers in electronic payments
  Posted 05/25/07 at 6:08 pm

  Letter addresses the erosion of consumer protections under the “Electronic Funds Transfer Act” (EFTA).

• Consumer groups call on Federal Reserve to protect consumers in electronic payments
  Posted at 3:13 pm
• U.S. Senate hearing exposes credit card abuses
  Posted 03/06/07 at 7:03 pm

  Consumer groups call for action on unjustifiable fees, outrageous rates and questionable lending practices

• Read our buying tips before you shop for the holidays
  Posted 12/19/05 at 1:09 pm

  Sales galore, shopping bots, stricter return policies highlight 2005 season

• Consumer groups call for more time for consumers affected by disaster to make payments on home mortgages
  Posted 12/06/05 at 7:46 pm

  Consumer, community and labor groups call for more time for consumers affected by disaster to make payments on home mortgages and other debts.

Blog Posts

• Teens, Watch Out for Prepaid Cards!
  Posted 05/07/10 at 3:32 pm

  By Simone Backer

  Prepaid card companies advertise that their products are simple to use and perfect for young adults who don’t need the hassle of a debit or credit card. But be careful – most are riddled with hidden fees and exaggerated perks!

• Senate debate on financial reform heats up
  Posted 05/05/10 at 11:50 am

  Now that the Senate floor debate on financial reform has started in earnest, supporters are ofering a number of amendments to strengthen the bill so that it better protects consumers from unsafe financial products and creates new rules to stop banks from getting so big that they could threaten the financial system.

• What do the new gift card rules mean for you?
  Posted 03/24/10 at 2:28 pm

  Starting August 22, 2010, consumers will have additional protections on bank-issued gift cards which are gift cards branded with Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, Discover, and retailer issued which are store gift cards (if your state doesn’t already provide strong retailer issued gift card protections):

• Winner of the Danger of Debt Contest!!
  Posted 03/02/10 at 10:14 am

  Sean Kleefeld is the Grand Prize Winner of the Dangers of Debt Image Contest!!

• The Latest Development for Gift Cards
  Posted 02/19/10 at 1:55 pm

  but will it help you spend down to the last penny?
  Target recently introduced its Mobile Gift Card which allow customers with web-enabled cell phones to use their gift cards at this big retailer. Starbucks also has a similar mobile gift card iPhone application on a trial basis in the Seattle and Silicon Valley areas.

• New Gift Card Protections May Be Coming Your Way
  Posted 12/18/09 at 12:48 pm

  Today, we told the Fed what we want for the holidays, and for every other time we give and receive a gift card:

• Protect Your Holiday Spending
  Posted 11/11/09 at 3:43 pm

  The way you pay for your best friend’s gift this holiday season can make a big difference, especially if something goes wrong.

• Calling all creative shutter bugs!
  Posted 09/15/09 at 2:27 pm

  Consumers Union needs some fantastic photos for our Defend Your Dollars blog posts that represent the variety of financial consumer issues that affect your life.

• Relief for Unemployment Debit Card Users Coming Soon?
  Posted 08/25/09 at 4:08 pm

  We hope more relief will come to people who are relying on unemployment benefits, especially those using unemployment debit cards. The U.S. Department of Labor has spoken…at least on unemployment insurance debit cards. The DOL guidelines lay out the following recommendations to states:

• Prepaid Card Tips for Consumers
  Posted 08/13/09 at 4:09 pm

  We just released a report, Prepaid Cards: Second-Tier Bank Account Substitutes that details prepaid card “gotchas,” such as the mountain of fees consumers would be hit with along with lack of guaranteed consumer protections.