Visa: Debit use overtakes credit card use
For the fist time ever, more American consumers are using debit cards to purchase goods than credit cards as they seek ways to keep a closer eye on their spending, according to a survey by Visa U.S.A.
( Reuters, 09/16/2002 01:42 PM PDT)

Parents teach their children how to handle credit cards
Take it from Clif Forrester and Gayle Lease Riley: Kids and credit cards aren't automatically a risky combination. Despite the horror stories about teens and college students being unable to keep up with credit-card bills, Forrester and Riley think kids can avoid debt traps if they develop their financial savvy early.
( BY STEVE ROSEN, Knight Ridder Newspapers, 09/16/2002 12:14 PM PDT)

Bubble talk grows with debt
First, there was the tech stock bubble. Then came fears about a real estate bubble, although the jury is still out on that one. Now, economists and stock market experts are floating the idea of a debt bubble, in which swelled levels of household and corporate borrowing force an already squishy economy into a longer-lasting, and more punishing, downturn.
( BY ANDREW COUNTRYMAN, Chicago Tribune, 09/09/2002 05:38 PM PDT)

Promoting financial awareness among the college-bound
Lack of financial savvy isn't a new problem among college students. But today's harsher economic climate has increased the need for tight budgeting.
( By KAJA WHITEHOUSE, The Associated Press, 09/02/2002 09:55 PM PDT)

Promoting financial awareness among the college-bound
Lack of financial savvy isn't a new problem among college students. But today's harsher economic climate has increased the need for tight budgeting.
( By KAJA WHITEHOUSE, The Associated Press, 09/02/2002 09:55 PM PDT)

Help is available to manage your credit
There are times when consumers need to keep a particularly close watch over their credit ratings. Those applying for a mortgage or car loan, for example, face higher interest rates if their credit scores are low. Someone who has lost a charge card might worry that a thief could use it to run up bills. A person who has overdosed on credit card spending might be seeking a path to more-balanced finances.
( By Eileen Alt Powell, ASSOCIATED PRESS, 09/02/2002 07:17 PM PDT)

Credit-card hawkers nest on college campuses
A neighborhood friend just returned from taking his son to college freshman orientation weekend and gave me the rundown on the campus scene. He mentioned the dorm rooms and fraternity houses, the Web-wired library, the professors and, of course, the whopping costs for textbooks and tuition.
( BY STEVE ROSEN, Knight Ridder Newspapers, 08/26/2002 08:49 AM PDT)

New services to manage credit
There are times when consumers need to keep a particularly close watch over their credit ratings.
( EILEEN ALT POWELL, AP Business Writer, 08/22/2002 08:21 AM PDT)

Protect your checks
The Federal Reserve Bank estimates that check fraud and counterfeiting costs our nation between $10 billion and $14 billion a year. And that number is from the 1990s, the last time the Fed researched the issue.
( By Betty Lin-Fisher, , Beacon Journal business writer, 08/19/2002 08:16 AM PDT)