A growing number of consumers struggling to make ends meet are reluctantly turning to buy now, pay later (BNPL) services as a financing alternative, according to a recent report. Overall, 80% of consumers said they know about BNPL products and 34% have used a BNPL program in the past 90…

Tim Cook reportedly encountered temporary difficulty early on in obtaining one of Apple’s credit cards. When the Apple CEO tried to get an Apple Card prior to the payment option’s official debut in 2019, he received a rejection, according to The Information. Resolving it reportedly required an override from the…

A July gauge on Christmas shopping showed an increasing number of consumers plan to spend more during the holiday season, according to Optimove’s 2023 holiday survey. Despite inflation and rising costs, 35% of consumers planned to spend more on holiday gifts this year. That’s a 105% increase from the 17% that said…

Concerns about the economy have pushed parents to cut back on back-to-school spending for K-12 students this year, a recent survey said. Overall, parents said they would trim spending budgets on back-to-school items by 10%, spending an average of $597 per student, according to the Deloitte survey. Reining in budgets comes as…

American Express said Friday that it took in a record $15.1 billion in revenue over the second quarter as consumers spent more on its credit cards. The company reported earnings per share of $2.89 in the quarter, beating Wall Street expectations of $2.81 a share.”Card member spending hit another all-time…

Americans’ credit card debt is on the rise despite high borrowing costs that may tick up further later this year and squeeze household budgets even more if the Federal Reserve follows through with anticipated interest rate hikes.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer credit card loans dipped dramatically as the U.S.…

A recently released survey by Northwestern Mutual demonstrated that Americans who carry personal debt owe an average of $21,800, exclusive of mortgages. The data also reveals that more than a third (35%) of Americans who have personal debt say they’re carrying close to or at their highest level of debt…

Many Americans who saw their credit scores go up during the pandemic are delinquent on the loans and lines of credit they took out, spelling possible trouble for the economy. Current delinquency rates on loans opened in mid-2021 more closely resemble borrowers with credit scores 25 points lower on credit…

Tech giant Apple made history Friday by becoming the first publicly-traded U.S. company to end a trading day with a market cap of more than $3 trillion, but changes could be coming to its credit card offering. Apple launched the Apple Card through a partnership with Goldman Sachs in 2019.…

Credit Card Competition Act legislation, which could put consumer’s rewards at risk, is being reintroduced in Congress. Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Richard Durbin, D-Ill. and J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, reintroduced the legislation that aims to reduce swipe fees for credit cards by increasing competition within the industry, but it would also remove…