Credit Cards

It seems like U.S. consumers will have to wait even longer for a full transition to chip credit cards, according to a new report by Aite Group. The Boston-based consultancy firm recently released a report claiming that about 70% of credit cards and only 40% of debit cards will have transitioned to chip technology by October 2015.

After the massive data breaches at Target and other retailers across the U.S., credit card companies, retailers as well as consumers have been pushing for the transition from old swipe cards to new chip cards – also known as EMV or smart cards.

An apartment complex in southwest Roanoke County was found to be the site of two large credit card counterfeiting operations - sites that could potentially produce thousands of bogus credit cards.

The operations came to light when Honeywood Apartment Homes maintenance workers entered a rental unit on June 19th, in order to perform scheduled maintenance in the 3100 block of Honeywood Lane.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice have ordered GE Capital to pay a record $225 million in relief to customers discriminated against by the bank. GE Capital Retail Bank, now known as Synchrony Bank, used deceptive marketing practices and discriminated again Spanish-speaking customers throughout multiple credit card promotions in 2012.

A new report from a leading research and advisory firm indicates 70 percent of US credit cards will be secure chip cards by October 2015.  The same researchers believe that the bulk of the transition to chip cards will occur by the end of 2014, and into the beginning of next year before what is being coined the ‘liability shift’ deadline.

Chip and PIN credit cards are expected to be mandatory across the US by no later than October 2015.  But if credit card providers have any influence on the matter, that day will come sooner rather than later.

P.F. Chang's China Bistro confirmed yesterday that there has been a credit card data breach at its restaurants. This confirms a report released earlier this week.

This past Tuesday,  P.F. Chang's CEO Rick Federico replied with a statement, explaining that the company "initiated an investigation with the United States Secret Service and a team of third-party forensics experts to understand the nature and scope of the incident, and while the investigation is still ongoing, we have concluded that data has been compromised."

The old saying that crime doesn’t pay may be true, but one teen attempted to test the validity of that belief.  Mohanned Halaweh, a 19 year old from Sonoma County in Western California, used compromised credit cards to rent a luxury McLaren Coupe sports car along with a vacation home in the community of Glen Ellen – a onetime home of renowned novelist Hunter S. Thompson.

Consumer credit in the United States has risen dramatically, as Americans increased their credit card use to its highest numbers since November of 2007. The surge in consumer borrowing is even more than was projected in April – this comes as a potential positive sign in relation to consumer spending.

For many years, Sears’ customers were able to apply for store branded credit cards.  But what was once regarded as the most popular in store credit card in the US is quickly being replaced by a new credit card.

Many customers who held the Sears branded credit cards are receiving letters requesting they upgrade to a new Sears MasterCard.  The new credit card is co-branded with Citibank, which owns the assets of Sears National Bank.