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Published: Aug 21, 2014 6:26 p.m. ET



Consumer fraud reporter

Hello, MarketWatchers.

Credit unions starting to look more like big banks

Overdraft fees at credit unions, once considered the consumer-friendly alternatives to big banks, have jumped 14% since 2009 to a median fee of $28.50, though that’s still lower than the median bank fee ($30), according to one research firm. Debit card users feel more pain: Behold, the 17,000% overdraft charge.

Where the Big 12 beats the Ivy League

The much-anticipated AP preseason college football rankings came out this week. But how do the major athletic conferences rank against hackers?

Time to take the diapers off — stop paying your kid’s student loans

More than half of parents say they’re very likely or somewhat likely to help their kids with student loan payments. If your kid has student loans, he or she is officially an adult, and you’re risking your own financial future by footing their bills.

Your Social Security number may have been stolen in a data breach. What to do:

Four steps can help you thwart fraud. For one, ask the credit bureaus for a security freeze.

Powerful people can still do stupid things

Now we have research to prove it. A study of executive pay at corporations between 1992 and 2010 found that CEOs and boards basically didn’t know how much they were actually compensating people, so they paid a lot more than they probably intended. Oops?


Here is a map of the locations where hackers may have siphoned your credit card data.

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Data Provided By
Today's Interest Rates

Credit Cards
  1. 4.23%
  2. 3.95%
  3. 3.1%
  4. 3%
  5. 3.97%
  6. 3.14%
  7. 3.09%
  8. 3.15%
National averages from
  1. 1.51%
  2. 0.86%
  3. 0.7%
  4. 0.36%
  5. 0.64%
  6. 0.43%
  7. 0.5%
National averages from
Avg. APR Last Week 6 Months
Low Interest 10.37% 10.37% 10.37%
Balance Transfer 12.73% 12.73% 12.64%
Business 12.85% 12.85% 12.80%
Student 13.14% 13.14% 13.27%
Reward 14.90% 14.90% 14.97%
Cash Back 14.94% 14.94% 14.91%
Airline 15.52% 15.52% 15.30%
Bad Credit 22.73% 22.73% 22.73%
Instant Approval 23.33% 23.33% 28.00%

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