3.6-lakh cards hacked in May cyber attack: Citigroup

NEW YORK, JUNE 16: 

Citigroup Inc said a credit card data breach that took place in May affected over 360,000 accounts, around 80 per cent more than the initial figure revealed by the bank last week.

In a statement issued late last night, Citigroup said “a total of 360,083 North America Citi-branded credit cards were affected. Only accounts issued in the US were impacted.”

Citigroup reiterated its earlier statement that 1 per cent of its credit card customers were affected. But as per the bank’s annual report, Citi Cards has about 21 million customers in North America, 1 per cent of which would amount to just around 200,000 cards.

While Citi Cards’ Account Online system was compromised, the main cards processing system was not. Other Citi consumer banking online systems were not accessed or compromised, Citigroup said.

Customers’ account information such as names, account numbers and contact information, including email addresses, was viewed. However, data that is critical to commit fraud was not compromised, like the customers’ social security number, date of birth, card expiration date and card security code (CVV), the statement said.

The bank has reissued credit cards along with a notification letter to 217,657 accounts. Notification letters started being sent from June 3.

The statement further added that Citigroup has taken immediate action to rectify the situation and protect any customer potentially at risk. “Customers are not liable for any fraud on the account and are 100 per cent protected,” it said.

“Citi has implemented enhanced procedures to prevent a recurrence of this type of event. We have also notified law enforcement and government officials,” it added....

Credit cards: How many are too many?

BankBazaar.com 

Credit card companies come up with tempting card offers for investors albeit now more cautiously after the financial markets turmoil, by offering freebies such as life time free credit among other things.

Customers already possessing credit cards often find themselves taking up such offers and ending up with multiple credit cards.

The moot question here is, should you be content with having one credit card or does it make sense to have multiple credit cards and if so, then how many are enough?

Let's understand what the benefits and pitfalls of having multiple credit cards could be.....

JPMorgan Pays $27 Million to OCC, Clients Over Car-Loan Tactics

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) will pay a $2 million fine to the Comptroller of the Currency and $25 million to reimburse customers after using “high pressure” tactics to sell credit insurance on car loans.

The bank’s customer-service representatives deceived borrowers about costs and terms of credit protection offered to cover missed payments in 2008 and 2009, the OCC said in a settlement document released today.

“Chase Auto used written scripts together with oral high- pressure sales tactics that included statements which were materially false, deceptive or otherwise misleading in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act,” the regulator said in a statement.

JPMorgan didn’t admit or deny wrongdoing. In consultation with the OCC, the firm developed a plan to reimburse customers and fix deficiencies in credit protection linked to Chase auto, home and credit-card loans, the OCC said. Chase advertised the car-loan product, known as the Chase Payment Assurance plan, as a way to cancel some or all monthly payments in case of accidental death, disability, involuntary unemployment or a leave of absence.

“We have reimbursed affected customers and have revised our sales scripts and marketing materials for our payment protection products,” Patrick Linehan, a JPMorgan spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. “We’ve implemented enhanced and more extensive controls to ensure that we are treating our customers fairly.”

Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon reassigned retail bank CEO Charles Scharf’s duties and removed Scharf from the firm’s 15-person operating committee in a shakeup of top management yesterday. Scharf’s responsibilities for overseeing auto and student lending were given to card services CEO Gordon Smith.

The bank will take “appropriate remedial actions to fully address and correct the violations of the law,” according to the OCC....

Home Loan Payment Assistance And Reductions–Options That May Help Homeowners Avoid Missing Mortgage Payments In June

As foreclosures still remain a problem for many homeowners here in June, there are programs and changes to the practices that some banks may have in place currently that may not be helpful to all homeowners who are attempting to avoid the loss of their home. Homeowners who are seeking home loan payment assistance or reductions in their overall home loan costs are in a position where these changes may soon bring about more options when it comes to helping men and women explore the opportunities available to help with their goal of avoiding missed payments or finding alternative routes that will help them keep their home.
Rates on home loans are still quite low at the present time and this has led to the opportunity for some homeowners to refinance their mortgage to either a lower rate or a shorter mortgage term and rate, which can save them in the long run or on minimum payments. Last year when mortgage rates were at record lows, many homeowners were able to either refinance and find lower monthly payments or get out of debt faster and at lower overall costs by refinancing to a shorter mortgage term. Yet, homeowners are still in a position where this is not an option thanks to either negative equity or other financial problems that may prevent them from affording the costs that come with refinancing.
Typically, home loan modifications have been the route that homeowners choose when home loan refinancing for more affordability is not available for their particular financial situation, and thanks to changes that are hoped to begin here in the middle of June and continue into the summer, homeowners may find more streamlined practices in this particular area of foreclosure prevention.
As an example, for mortgage servicers who have not already implemented a single point of contact rule will be required to do so in the coming weeks, in the hopes of cutting down on any problems of communication that homeowners have with their servicer during the home loan modification process. Also, there are new rating systems that have recently been released in the most current Making Home Affordable servicer reports, and it’s hoped that homeowners who are with servicers that may have received a low rating will see changes that come from these calls for improvement by the Treasury Department and, in the future, more modifications and foreclosure prevention efforts may be made available.
While refinancing and modifying a home loan are two of the more common ways that homeowners have gained more affordability on their home loan payment and avoided missing mortgage payment obligations or defaulting, they are not always an option for every homeowner, so homeowners who are in a position where financial problems may be present must explore not only these options early but give themselves time to look at other foreclosure prevention routes that may be available directly from their bank or from sources like their state housing agency...