Tag Archives: Asset Opportunity
Debit Interchange Fees Fall 45% for Big Banks
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which passed in June 2010, aimed to provide oversight and new regulations to protect consumers from predatory financial practices. Among its many provisions, the so-called Durbin Amen…
CFPB: Answering Consumer’s Questions and Reporting on Debt Collection
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is well on its way to exercising its full power under its newly confirmed director Richard Cordray. Although the CFPB has been active since July 2011, it was until it had a confirmed director that it coul…
Wal-Mart’s "Pay with Cash" Program for Online Shoppers Doesn’t Help the Unbanked
In 2004, Wal-Mart began installing “Money Centers” for shoppers to cash checks, pay bills and make wire transfers. None of these products, however, help unbanked customers gain access to bank accounts and avoid unnecessary fees. …
SaveUSA Helps Families Save $1 Million
Asset building is crucial to a family or individual’s financial success. The difference between getting by and getting ahead is the ability to save and build assets. According to the recently released CFED Poverty Scorecard, 27.1% of Americans ar…
Moving Forward on Children’s Savings Accounts
For 10 years, the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) has funded pilot programs across the country to provide Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs). It looks as though this investment is beginning to pay off, in that several states have re…
Automatic IRAs: Federal Budget, Congressional, and State Proposals
Social Security alone cannot remedy the growing inadequate rate of Americans’ retirement savings and current pessimism about the security of such savings. In fact, Social Security was never intended to be the sole source of retirement income, but…
Tax Refunds Issued on Prepaid Cards Take a Toll on Consumers
Tax refunds may look a little different this season in some states. Instead of issuing paper checks, a number of states will require that taxpayers receive their refunds either through direct deposit or, for those who are unbanked, prepaid debit cards….
CFED Asset and Opportunity Scorecard
The results are in: poverty is on the rise in America. Over 46 million Americans, 15% of the country’s population, are income poor. This number has grown from 1 in 5 in 2009 to 1 in 4 today. And this is actually an underestimate of the U.S. pover…
Don’t Go to Jackson Hewitt’s Tax Party
It’s that time of year again; W-2s are showing up in mailboxes across the country signaling people to start preparing to file their 2012 taxes. Like in years past, tax preparers are already bombarding the public with reminders about the impending…
Entrepreneurship: Girl Scouts Teach More Than How to Sell Cookies
The Girl Scouts of America turn 100 this year, and to celebrate they are rolling out not only a new lemon-flavored cookie, but new badges. Thirteen of these new badges reward learning about financial topics such as saving and investing, philanthropy, b…
