Category Credit Cards

Tips and how to articles about credit cards and how to keep your credit secure.

Budget, Credit Cards

Beige Book Shows Robust Price Growth in 3 Fed Districts Before Oct 28 Vote

Rows of plain silver cylindrical fuel storage tanks and overhead pipework at an industrial distribution terminal in cool blue dawn light, with an unmarked white tanker truck parked on wet asphalt in the foreground

The Fed's October 14 Beige Book found price growth robust in three of twelve districts and picking up in four, with higher oil prices in every district report.

Shelly Warding
October 16, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Fed Discount Rate Minutes Show Hike Requests Grew From 2 Banks to 7 in September

A formal empty boardroom inside a neoclassical government building with a long polished dark walnut conference table surrounded by twelve vacant brown leather armchairs and tall arched windows casting soft morning light across the table surface

Federal Reserve Board minutes show Reserve Bank requests for a 4.00% discount rate grew from two banks in August to seven by the September 16 meeting.

Laura Adams
October 14, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Treasury Bills Reach 22.4% of Marketable Debt, Highest Share Since 2020

The south facade of the United States Treasury Building photographed at sunrise in autumn, tall neoclassical columns lit by warm low-angle light, wide empty granite steps in the foreground and bare maple branches at the edge of the frame in light morning haze.

Treasury bills ended fiscal 2026 at $7.118 trillion, or 22.36% of marketable federal debt, the largest fiscal year end share since 2020. Bills grew $721.1 billion over the year.

Mitch Strohm
October 12, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Waller Says 16 of 18 Fed Dots Point to Another 2026 Hike, Not Every Meeting

A formal international economic conference hall photographed wide, with a single speaker silhouetted from behind at a dark wood lectern on a spotlit stage and rows of empty deep blue tiered seating stretching back toward a tall arched window filled with pale morning light.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said 16 of 18 officials who filed September projections expect another 2026 rate increase, and that the hikes need not come at back to back meetings.

Laura Adams
October 11, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Fed Minutes Show Most Officials Back Another Hike With Prime at 7.00%

The neoclassical marble facade of the Federal Reserve Board headquarters in Washington DC photographed in late afternoon autumn light, with bare tree branches in the foreground and deep shadows falling between the building's tall columns.

Minutes of the September FOMC meeting show a unanimous 12 to 0 vote to raise rates and most officials expecting one more increase before the end of 2026.

Laura Adams
October 8, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Consumer Credit Grew 4.2% in July as Card Balances Hit Record $1.36 Trillion

A small fan of unbranded plastic payment cards rests on a dark walnut desk beside a folded paper statement, reading glasses and a ceramic coffee cup in soft morning window light.

The Federal Reserve's G.19 release shows consumer credit rose $18.1 billion in July 2026, pushing revolving card balances to a record $1.3572 trillion a week before the September 16 FOMC decision.

Mitch Strohm
September 9, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Prime Rate Hits 270 Days at 6.75% as Traders Price a September Fed Hike

The neoclassical limestone facade of the Federal Reserve Marriner S. Eccles Building in Washington photographed at early morning with tall fluted columns deep window recesses raking dawn light across the stone long cool shadows falling on the empty plaza a bare flagpole and low trimmed hedges in the foreground beneath a pale overcast sky

The U.S. prime rate has held at 6.75% for 270 days. After August payrolls rose 162,000, futures price roughly even odds of a hike on September 16.

Shelly Warding
September 7, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

July Retail Sales Fall 0.6 Percent, Denting the September Fed Hike Case

A single shopper carrying one small paper bag walks through a nearly empty shopping mall concourse, daylight from overhead skylights reflecting off the polished stone floor.

U.S. retail and food services sales fell 0.6 percent in July to $763.6 billion, the largest monthly decline since May 2025, weakening the case for a September Fed rate increase.

Laura Adams
August 15, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Consumers Expect 3.6% Inflation in New York Fed Survey as July CPI Nears

A shopper in a grey sweater reaches toward a shelf of packaged groceries in a brightly lit supermarket aisle, leaning in to read a small price label beneath the products.

Households expect 3.6% inflation over the next year, the New York Fed's July survey shows, with three-year and five-year readings flat ahead of Wednesday's CPI report.

Shelly Warding
August 11, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Fed Hike Odds Near 40% on Decision Eve as Citadel Breaks From the Consensus

The neoclassical stone facade of the United States Federal Reserve Marriner Eccles building in Washington photographed at golden hour with tall columns, a large American flag, and a dramatic sky overhead

Interest rate swaps now imply about a 40% chance the Fed hikes on July 29 after Citadel Securities forecast a surprise increase. Here is what a hike or hold means.

Laura Adams
July 28, 2026