Jason Kessler @CNNMoney October 28, 2011: 7:29 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Many big banks are lining up to assure customers they won’t impose the debit card fees that have sparked a backlash against Bank of America.

According to a person familiar with the company’s plans, JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), the country’s biggest bank, has decided not to charge customers for debit card purchases. The decision follows a test of the fee the bank began in two states in February. That test will be dropped in November.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Chase’s decision on Friday.

Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) also announced late Friday that it is canceling the debit card fee tests it was planning to introduce in five states. Customers in Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington and Oregon will no longer see a $3 debit card fee that was scheduled for statements beginning on Nov. 15.

“Our customers told us it would be a huge source of irritation for them,” Citi spokeswoman Catherine Pulley said.  To continue click here

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by Michael Klozotsky – insideARM.com – October 26, 2011

Federal student loan borrowers will soon have a little extra money in their wallets at the end of the month according to a report in today’s Washington Post. Later today in Denver President Obama is scheduled to announce that he will sign an executive order that will limit repayment of Department of Education loan to 10 percent of discretionary income beginning in January 2012. The executive order would accelerate timeline for the implementation of the new cap by two years. Currently, federal borrowers are only required to pay 15 percent of discretionary income toward government student loans. In 2010, Congress enacted a law that would have reduced the cap to 10 percent starting in 2014.  Continue Article Here

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By Catherine New Posted 4:40PM 10/25/11 Family Money, Personal Finance

We’re familiar with the idea of work-life balance — that miraculous sweet spot where one’s out-of-office world is rich and full, and doesn’t collide with one’s career.

But how about money-life balance? According to J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. (JPM) and the nonprofit advocacy group Consumer Action, a reasonable money-life balance considers the positive emotional benefits that go along with behaving responsibly with money. In other words, you achieve money-life balance if you’re not racking up massive credit card bills during late-night online shopping binges on Zappos.com (ahem).

In a newly released survey conducted by Chase and Consumer Action, only one-third of 1,016 adults said they had money-life balance.

The Key to Good Balance

Financial planners point to budgeting as the starting point for achieving money-life balance. Besides the obvious tracking of income and expenses, having a budget means you don’t have to spend precious mental energy thinking about whether a purchase is affordable or not.

“Willpower is a strenuous way of controlling your actions …. routines can conserve energy,” psychologist and Willpower author Roy Baumeister told DailyFinance in a video interview earlier this fall. “Set your life up so you don’t have problems in advance.”

Finding the right financial planning method for you is like buying shoes: You have to try on a lot of pairs before you find the right fit. It can be as simple as keeping a spreadsheet on your home computer or using a spreadsheet template from the Google personal finance library.

Another popular way to put the brakes on overspending and excessive borrowing is by using a prepaid debit card. Loading a card with a fixed amount — like $1,000 for the month — is an easy way to manage costs and keeping funds you intend to spend separate from the money you have earmarked for saving.

There are also a number of online budgeting apps, such as Mint.com and SmartyPig.com, that can create neat visual graphics of how much you are spending on extras such as restaurants, versus necessities like student loans, as well as helping you set savings goals.

Do you have balance in your financial life? Please share your tips for how you achieved your own money-life serenity below.  Read more how to get out of debt here.

Home prices rose in August in half of the large cities measured by a private survey, a sign that prices are stabilizing in some hard-hit parts of the country. Separately, consumer confidence fell in October to the lowest level since March 2009.

The New York Times

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index showed Tuesday that home prices increased in August from July in 10 of the 20 cities tracked. That was the fifth consecutive month that at least half of the cities in the survey showed monthly gains.

The biggest price increases were in Washington, Chicago and Detroit. The greatest declines were in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

The August figures provide a “modest glimmer of hope” that some areas may have bottomed out and could be turning around, said David M. Blitzer, chairman of S.& P.’s index committee.

He noted that cities in the Midwest — Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis — had shown some strength since May.

In Detroit, the recovering auto industry has helped lead a small rebound in the housing market. Home prices have risen 2.7 percent since August 2010, making it and Washington the only two cities to post a year-over-year gain in that time.

Detroit was one of the cities hit hardest after the housing bubble burst more than four years ago. Home prices there are coming off 1995 levels. So the gains are relatively small compared with how far prices had fallen.

To continue click below

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/business/economy/consumer-confidence-falls-as-some-home-prices-rise.html

Those occupying Wall Street and other cities — and those standing in solidarity with them elsewhere — are disgusted with the status quo. One tactic they’re using to get their point across to big business: closing out their accounts at major banks and moving their money to smaller institutions, including credit unions.

Big banks clearly aren’t thrilled with customers’ money walking out the front door. When a bunch of people tried to close out their accounts at a Manhattan branch of Citigroup’s (C) Citibank, many were apparently arrested.

Fear not, though — that reaction is an aberration. It’s still a free country, and you can move your money if you want to. And credit unions are waiting with open arms — and incentives.

Wooing Customers From Big Banks

With big banks adding new fees or increasing existing fees, credit unions have been able to capitalize on the growing discontent with the financial services behemoths. Bank of America’s (BAC) $5 debit-card-fee fiasco alone is responsible for 20% to 50% of the new accounts at some credit unions — and new accounts have been growing steadily in recent months.

That’s because many credit unions are offering cash back or reward points for debit card usage, not fees. There are other perks, too, to get you to move your business. For example, the Co-op Services Credit Union of Michigan has been successfully offering $105 to those who switch to them from a regular bank. And credit unions are reaching out to business customers, too. FDIC data has shown bank business lending shrinking over the past year or so, while credit union commercial lending is growing.

Other Union Benefits

Dollars and cents aren’t the only reason people are moving their money to credit unions. The fundamental setup of the system is vastly different from that at big banks.

While a bank is a for-profit business, aiming to maximize earnings for its shareholders, credit unions are nonprofits. While you’re simply a customer of a bank, you’ll be a member of a credit union, owning the whole thing along with your fellow members.

Many credit unions are on the small side, especially compared to entities such as Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America, with roughly $1.3 trillion and $2.2 trillion in assets, respectively. Credit unions can be large, though, with the biggest one, which serves the U.S. military and Defense Department, sporting close to $40 billion in assets, more than 180 locations, and more than 3 million members. Other credit unions in the top 10 include ones serving State Department employees and Boeing (BA) employees. A credit union doesn’t have to be huge to serve you well, though, of course.

Credit unions offer most or all of the services you need from your bank, and they generally charge lower fees, offer higher interest rates for your savings, and lower interest rates for loans. Compare these rates for June, 2011, the most recent data available from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA):

Traditionally, a credit union exists to serve only a specific population of people, such as those who live in a particular defined region, those who work or study at a particular school or company, those who work for the government, etc. But these days, many credit unions serve broader customer bases. Don’t assume that the ones near you won’t accept you — ask them. Sometimes you might just need to join an inexpensive nonprofit organization in order to qualify.

When it comes to the downsides of credit unions, there aren’t many:

• They don’t typically have a lot of ATMs of their own, but many credit unions are joined into a big network of machines, offering surcharge-free usage.
• If you’re afraid of giving up the FDIC coverage protecting your bank account, know that federal credit unions have their own protection against institutional failure, with the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) insuring accounts up to at least $250,000. (Just be sure that any credit union you consider is among the vast majority covered by the NCUA.)

It’s hard to beat the benefits of using a credit union. Consider doing so, whether you want to make a statement and support the Occupy Wall Street movement or you simply want lower fees and better rates. Shop around first, of course, to make sure that switching is a smart move for you.

Learn more:

• National Credit Union Administration
• Bankrate.com on Credit Unions
• Find a Better Bank

Longtime Motley Fool contributor Selena Maranjian owns shares of JPMorgan Chase, but she holds no other position in any company mentioned. Click here to see her holdings and a short bio. The Motley Fool owns shares of Citigroup, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America.

Data through September 2011, released today by S&P Indices and Experian for the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults, showed the only decrease in credit line default rates in September was for auto loans, which fell to 1.29% from August’s 1.31%. First and second mortgage default rates increased slightly; first mortgages went from 1.92% in August to 1.99% in September, and second mortgages from 1.27% to 1.32%, respectively. Bank card default rate showed the largest basis point increase, from 5.26% in August to 5.36% in September.

“While this is only one month of data, we have not seen so many increases in default rates in about a year or more,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee for S&P Indices. “For most of the past three years, consumer credit default rates have been declining across both loan types and regions. September’s report was the first time we saw increases in four of five regions, three of four loan types and the composite, which rose from 2.04% to 2.10%. Bank cards rose to 5.36% in September from 5.26% in August, which is a bit of a concern. First and second mortgage default rates also rose during the month. This is the first time we have seen the rates go up for first mortgages since November 2010. Looking at the regions, New York saw the largest increase, moving from 1.80% to 2.01%. Given the fragile state of both the economy and consumer confidence can, we will have to closely monitor these data over the next few months to determine if September was just a temporary blip or the reversal of the recent trend.”

Among the five major Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) reported in this release, New York showed its highest default rates since April 2011, increasing from 1.80% in August to 2.01% in September. Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami increased moderately to 2.47%, 2.12% and 4.59% in September, from 2.43%, 2.07% and 4.52% in August, respectively. Dallas was the only MSA where default rates fell, from 1.51% in August to 1.33% in September.

Jointly developed by S&P Indices and Experian, the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices are published on the third Tuesday of each month at 9:00 am ET. They are constructed to accurately track the default experience of consumer balances in four key loan categories: auto, bankcard, first mortgage lien and second mortgage lien. The Indices are calculated based on data extracted from Experian’s consumer credit database. This database is populated with individual consumer loan and payment data submitted by lenders to Experian every month. Experian’s base of data contributors includes leading banks and mortgage companies, and covers approximately $11 trillion in outstanding loans sourced from 11,500 lenders.

For more information, please visit: www.consumercreditindices.standardandpoors.com.

S&P Indices, a leading brand of the McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Over $1.25 trillion is directly indexed to Standard & Poor’s family of indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world’s most followed stock market index, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, the S&P GSCI, the industry’s most closely watched commodities index, and the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, the premier investable index for U.S. municipal bonds. For more information, please visit: www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

Standard & Poor’s does not sponsor, endorse, sell or promote any S&P index-based investment product. The S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices are products of S&P Indices, which operates independently of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group plays no role in the compilation, distribution or licensing of the Indices.

Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 90 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2010, was $3.9 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; Costa Mesa, California; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Baltimore, MD (October 21, 2011) – ClearOne Advantage (COA) is a leading provider of debt settlement services to individuals nationwide who are unable to service their outstanding unsecured consumer debt, including credit card debt, medical bills and unsecured personal loans.  Founded in 2007, Baltimore based COA works on behalf of the individual client to negotiate a settlement with each of the client’s creditors, and set up a periodic payment plan to allow the client to pay the settlement amounts in a timely fashion.  ClearOne Advantage employs a Success Fee Model, whereby clients are not charged fees until a debt has been settled or negotiated with the corresponding creditor. 

Under an initiative to increase its client base, ClearOne Advantage is now offering an Affiliate Marketing Program.  Due to the success of the FTC compliant, debt settlement program, COA has expanded the program to reach a broader market.  Tomas Gordon CEO of ClearOne Advantage “Many Debt Settlement Company’s are reducing or completely eliminating their marketing programs.  Due to the success of our program we want to offer it to more people.  Our Affiliate program is a great way to broaden the net of potential ClearOne clients.”

ClearOne Advantage welcomes affiliate marketing programs that may not be happy in their current relationships or simply want to expand their market share.  Affiliates are encouraged to contact COA, to find out more details about COA’s Affiliate Marketing Program.  COA is committed to cultivating an innovative environment that inspires its affiliate to exceed their financial expectations and grow their businesses.  ClearOne provides its affiliates with generous up front compensation, which enables plan and manage your affiliate programs. 

For more information about ClearOne Advantage and its offerings, or for a free debt consultation, please visit: www.ClearOneAdvantage.com.

About ClearOne Advantage

ClearOne Advantage is a full-service debt settlement company providing settlements of credit cards and unsecured debts. Through superior debt negotiation services and attentive customer service, ClearOne Advantage offers the leading options in debt settlement. We recognize each client has individual financial needs and we work with each person to specifically tailor a program to meet those needs. ClearOne is an accredited member of the AFCC (American Fair Credit Council) as well as a member of USOBA (United States Organization of Bankruptcy Alternatives).  ClearOne was incorporated as a privately held company in 2007; all of its shares are currently held by officers and employees. ClearOne Advantage is headquartered in Baltimore, MD.

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By Laura Rowley Posted 6:00AM 10/19/11 Video, Personal Finance, Debt

Stacy is on a fixed income. She could free up more cash if she paid off her credit cards and mortgage. Should she cash in an annuity to make that happen? DailyFinance’s Laura Rowley explains the key factor Stacy should consider in making the decision.

http://www.5min.com/Video/Money-and-Happiness-Youve-Got-Mail-517182815

Interesting index that takes into account the unemployment rate and inflation. Are things getting better, not according to the trend both monthly and yearly.

By Month

By Year

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