About six months ago, we wrote a piece entitled, “Protecting Your Bank Account, ” which warned of the threat of a major data breach impacting online banking. This past weekend the threat became reality. Email marketing company, Epsilon, reported its computers, which hosts email addresses and customer names from many major banks (Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One) and other fortune 500 companies, had been attacked by hackers. They stole an unknown number of email addresses and customer names which could potentially lead to a significant number of phishing attacks. This occurs when a sender fictitiously poses as a known sender such as Chase Bank and requests that the recipient (you) provide personal information such as your bank account number. While phishing attacks are the most likely result of this data breach, there could be more damaging results if necessary precautions aren’t taken. Read More.

Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for someone to be the victim of identity theft. Last year, 8 million Americans were the ID theft victims, according to Javelin Strategy & Research. The positive is that the number of victims fell from 11 million in 2009, but the out-of-pocket cost per victim jumped from $387 in 2009 to $631 last year. Read More.

Remember the credit card legislation that was passed in February which effectively erased billions of dollars of fees issuers charged customers? Another law is also set to impact banks. Starting in July, banks must significantly decrease the transaction fees they charge merchants when customers pay with a debit card. In response to this new law, banks are planning to issue new changes to your debit card account to make up for this massive loss. As JPMorgan CEO Jaime Dimon put it, “If you’re a restaurant and you can’t charge for the soda, you’re going to charge more for the burgers.” Read More.

With tight credit and a still unsettled housing market, home equity loans can be impossible to obtain, while credit card limits have been slashed or the cards canceled completely. But there are certain times when people need to get their hands on extra cash. It could be for an emergency home or car repair, or simply to have enough money to make it through the holiday shopping season. Personal loans just might be a welcome alternative. .

Hey New Yorkers! There might be some unclaimed funds out there that are rightfully yours and you don’t even realize it. If this is the case, the State is holding the monies right now so you better claim it quick. Also, this isn’t just for individuals, this is for companies too! Read More.

Does this sound familiar? You go home after a long day of work only to be bombarded by overdraft protection notices in the mail indicating that you need to “opt-in” or out of the program by August 15th. That’s convenient. The last thing you want to do is read some financial agreement in fine print with confusing terms. Depending on your state of mind at the time, you may even accept the banks offer since the marketing language in the agreement may make it seem as though it is the right thing to do. With that said, let’s put the overdraft protection program in more digestive terms so we can all understand exactly what opting-in means. Read More.

Nowadays when we go to purchase anything from groceries to consumer electronics, we are given many options for payment. We've all heard a cashier say, "credit or debit." We usually make our decision based on what is most convenient for us - adding to our existing credit card balance or paying with our bank balance. Security on the other hand is usually not something that crosses our mind when we make this decision. But, as we analyze below, it really should. .

We understand that getting married is overwhelming enough and the last thing you want to think about is how you should setup your checking accounts. But it is a very important decision that must be discussed thoroughly with your spouse. Read More.