For the millions of Americans who struggle with debt, paying back the money they owe can become a life-consuming ordeal. These overstretched individuals either take years to settle with creditors or end up defaulting entirely. Since most lenders want to avoid the latter option, they sometimes opt to sell off delinquent debt to a third party for pennies on the dollar. For instance, a bank might sell off $100,000 of debt to another institution for just $1,000. While the lender Continue reading
Last week’s revelations surrounding the Panama Papers scandal set off a firestorm of debate about offshore tax avoidance. Media outlets across the globe exposed the names of many high profile clients of the offending law firm Mossack Fonseca, including soccer superstar Lionel Messi and several heads of state. As many in the U.S. pointed out, however, the Panamanian firm’s roster of shell company-seeking clients had a noticeable lack of Americans. According to some experts, this is due to lenient incorporation Continue reading
Even though the effects of the recession have eased in the last few years, some small businesses still can’t find banks willing to lend them money. After all, many financial institutions are looking to invest in established companies with little to no risk involved, qualities that most small businesses simply do not have. That’s where OnDeck Capital comes in. This lending startup touts itself as a disruptive financial force that can make loan assessments and send cash to companies within Continue reading
Over the last few years, large retailers have become increasingly vulnerable to attacks by hackers looking to steal important company and customer data. In order to prevent these breaches, stores across the nation are upgrading to new credit card readers that scan an embedded chip rather than the card’s magnetic strip. Each transaction on a chip-card receives its own unique code, making shopping safer for consumers and companies alike. 575 million of these new cards are expected to land in Continue reading
On the surface, mobile check deposits are about as convenient as banking can get. After all, one only needs to endorse the check, snap a few smartphone photos of it, and send it off to the bank through an app. No interactions with tellers or pneumatic tube machines are required— simply forward the photos and wait for the check to clear.
In some cases, however, that last step isn’t so easy. Depending on the financial institution, mobile check deposits can Continue reading
When the stock market collapsed in 2008, the government deemed Wall Street’s ailing banks “too big to fail” and provided them with a multi-billion dollar bailout. The emergency loan ultimately saved the banks, but has provided no shortage of controversy ever since. To the financial sector’s critics, many of the problems caused by these banks stemmed from their enormous size. In fact, nothing much has changed since the financial collapse: the same five banks that dominated bond underwriting and Continue reading
At the beginning of 2015 a new California law went into effect requiring chicken farmers to provide more living space for their hens. As of January 1, every egg sold in the state must have been laid by a bird with at least 116 square inches of room in its coop, an increase of 73 percent from the industry standard. Although the legislation is mandatory only for egg producers in California, chicken farmers across the country are quickly adapting to Continue reading
The sheer size of today’s corporations virtually ensures that companies will have to wrangle with lots of legal red tape. Most top executives spend as little time as possible dealing with law, choosing either to avoid it or grudgingly comply with the restrictions they face. In the former case, a company may try to move some operations into another country to dodge certain taxes, while in the latter executives simply do the bare minimum necessary to make it through the Continue reading
The stock market crash of 2008 sent shockwaves across the world’s economies, leading many to speculate about the future of American financial policy on the global stage. In the eyes of many experts at the time, the U.S. dollar was especially at risk of losing its decades-long dominance. After all, the inferno of the financial crisis spread so fast because many nations measure their own currency against the dollar. When its value plummeted, so did countless other currencies.
The debacle Continue reading
Recent federal banking regulations have placed limits on the fees that financial institutions can charge for things like overdrafts and credit card transactions. Although this has been good news for consumers and merchants, the new rules have reduced revenue streams for banks across the country. As a result, many institutions are looking to make up the difference through additional sources of income, such as Western Union branches.
The more than 160-year-old money-wiring firm sells its services to 52,000 locations throughout Continue reading