The financial news that actually matters
Homeowners sitting on record levels of home equity now face a borrowing environment that has shifted sharply in their favor. Average HELOC rates fell to 7.19 percent in May, reaching their lowest point in three years and making home equity lines of credit the cheapest major consumer borrowing option available. That rate drop lands against…
Bank customers who have faced account closures tied to their political beliefs or religious affiliations are about to gain a new federal protection. The FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized a rule that, according to the FDIC’s Federal Register index, takes effect on June 9, 2026, under the designation RIN…
Millions of Americans who split online purchases into four interest-free payments now face a new reality: those small installment loans can raise or lower their credit scores. Affirm reports every Pay-in-4 loan to TransUnion and Experian, and FICO has built a scoring model that treats buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) payment history much like traditional credit. A single…
Travelers booking a hotel room in the United States now face a different checkout screen than they did a year ago. The Federal Trade Commission’s rule on unfair or deceptive fees, published in the Federal Register on January 10, 2025 and codified at 16 CFR Part 464, requires every hotel and short-term lodging provider to…
The clock is running out for parents with federal PLUS loans. Under a finalized Department of Education repayment rule, any Parent PLUS borrower who does not consolidate into a Direct Consolidation Loan before July 1, 2026, will permanently lose access to every income-driven repayment plan and to Public Service Loan Forgiveness. There is no grace…
Starting June 9, 2026, federal bank examiners will no longer be able to push banks into closing customer accounts based on political beliefs, religious affiliations, or social views. The new rule, finalized by the FDIC and fellow banking regulators, strips examiners of a tool that critics say was used to quietly cut off lawful businesses…
If you are one of the roughly 8 million federal student loan borrowers still enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan, the clock is ticking. The U.S. Department of Education announced that loan servicers will begin sending transition notices on July 1, 2026, giving each borrower 90 days from the date of their individual notice to…
A restaurant owner in Chicago who runs $50,000 a month in credit card sales might pay $400 or more in interchange fees just on tips and sales tax. Illinois passed a law to eliminate those charges. In 29 days, the federal government will undo that protection. On June 30, 2026, an interim final rule from…
A parent who borrowed $50,000 in federal PLUS loans to help a child pay for college could soon face monthly payments north of $700 with no way to lower that bill based on household income. Legislation advancing through Congress would permanently strip Parent PLUS borrowers of access to every income-driven repayment plan after June 30,…
A borrower carrying $35,000 in federal student loans at 5.5% interest could see their monthly payment jump from roughly $150 under an income-driven plan to about $380 under Standard Repayment. That swing, more than $2,700 a year, is what’s at stake for the millions of people still enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan as the…