Professor Cardworthy Money Explainer

Professor Cardworthy’s Corner®

Overdrawn Billionaire

An overdrawn billionaire is an oxymoron . . . or so you would think. Less than two years ago he opened his mailbox and found a notice of an “insufficient funds” (NSF) fee charge of $35. But lo and behold it also showed an available balance as $9.9 billion ($9,854,241,363.69) . . . . More

Budget Buster Late Fees

Budget buster late fees have been around for a very, very long time and will likely hang around forever. Amazingly most Americans are unaware late fees are a “golden goose” for the banking industry, unlike an other industry. One family figured out a simple, but wacko, option to avoid late fees and keep the lights on, water running, phone connected and the house warm . . . . More

Discover Visa Squashed

A Discover Visa card combination almost made its way into the U.S. market a little more than 25 years ago. Solicitations for the new card were printed and ready to hit mailboxes in a matter of days until an alert Visa staffer sniffed out the Discover scheme. The card was totally squashed in a $2 billion antitrust lawsuit wherein the key Visa witness was so compelling the presiding Federal judge considered overruling the jury . . . . More