House byline
Credit Cards correspondent
Tyler Brooks is a house byline for InfoHandle’s Credit Cards desk.
Discover’s fourth-quarter bonus categories now cover restaurants, entertainment, and utilities through Dec. 31, but cardholders must activate online before those charges earn 5% back on the $1,500 combined cap.
Chase removed the Freedom Flex’s 3% foreign transaction fee on September 21, but the same refresh dropped cell phone protection—here is how to price the trade-off before your next trip.
Chase repriced variable purchase APRs on 13 cards in a single October 4 wave, 18 days after the Fed’s September hike, finally lifting Sapphire Preferred and Reserve floors while cardholders who carry balances face higher interest before holiday spending.
President Trump and Vice President JD Vance are backing the Credit Card Competition Act, which would let merchants route many Visa and Mastercard purchases over a second network — a shift banks say could fund fewer rewards.
Navy Federal Credit Union is doubling the annual fee on its legacy Flagship Rewards Visa Signature card to $95 on November 2, 2026, while steering members toward a new Flagship Premier product—here is what renewals will show and who can downgrade.
Merchants want Congress to force extra card networks on big banks while regulators say national banks can keep collecting interchange fees set with Visa and Mastercard.
Chase cardholders who split purchases into Pay Over Time plans pay a fixed monthly fee that can top 1.72 percent of the balance—often cheaper than revolving APRs near 20 percent, but only if you run the math before checkout.
LendingTree’s September card-offer scan puts the average new-account APR at 23.82%, with the top of the range above 27% for weaker scores—while 84% of cardholders who asked for a lower rate last year got one.
Amazon is sending automatic refunds to eligible Prime members under the FTC’s $2.5 billion settlement over enrollment and cancellation practices—no claim form, but phishing copies are already circulating.
Chase and IHG reset co-brand fees on October 1, lifting the Premier card to $150 and adding a $350 Premier Select tier while most existing holders keep old annual charges until 2027 renewals.
Capital One left the Venture X annual fee at $395 while Chase and American Express pushed flagship cards past $800, giving household budgeters a rare fixed point in a repricing wave.
Cardholders whose Sapphire Reserve anniversaries fall in October are seeing the $795 annual fee post for the first time under Chase’s 2025 refresh, with a short window to downgrade or burn credits before the charge sticks.
Nearly 1,000 merchants told a Brooklyn judge the $38 billion Visa-Mastercard swipe-fee settlement fixes almost nothing for checkout costs, as President Trump again promised card-fee relief on the campaign trail.
PenFed ended the Honors Advantage checking workaround on September 28, so every Pathfinder Rewards Visa Signature card now carries a $95 annual fee whether or not you keep a linked deposit account.
Chase removed the Freedom Flex’s 3 percent foreign surcharge on purchases abroad and from foreign merchants online, while the sibling Freedom Unlimited still charges the fee.
A federal court vacated the CFPB’s $8 late-fee cap in 2025, so large issuers may legally charge up to $41 on repeat missed payments even while many still bill $8 voluntarily—and a new agency data request could reopen the fight.
The Fed’s Sept. 16 quarter-point hike is hitting prime-linked card APRs on September billing cycles. If you carry a balance, the effective date depends on your statement—and paying before it closes can blunt the interest hit.
Congress capped debit swipe fees in 2011 to make checkout cheaper. Most of the savings never reached the shelf, and the fee gap between debit and credit is exactly what funds the cash-back offers that cash and debit shoppers never earn. Here is the mechanism, the evidence on pass-through, and why the same fight is back over credit routing.
Chase doubled the Aeroplan card's annual fee to $195 in its September refresh, raised the welcome offer to 115,000 points and added Air Canada perks for existing holders. Grocery and dining fell from 3x to 2x. Here is the math on who should keep paying.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. will raise the Sapphire Reserve annual fee to $795 for renewals billing on or after October 26, bundling a larger DoorDash credit and Priority Pass guest rules Tyler Brooks says cardholders must model against Amex Platinum and Capital One Venture X before autopay renews.
Discover Financial Services ended its Cashback Match bonus for applications completed after September 20, steering late-month applicants toward balance-transfer APR windows rivals Chase and Citi expanded while marketing pages still highlight first-year match language in footnotes Tyler Brooks says cardholders must read before clicking apply.
Citi began auditing September Custom Cash grocery bonus merchant category codes after cardholders reported mis-labeled superstores and delivery wrappers, clawing back five percent earn on transactions acquirers coded outside grocery MCC groups until accounts pass review.
JPMorgan Chase tightened Sapphire Reserve Priority Pass visit caps at crowded New York-area airports during UN General Assembly week, shortening how long cardholders and guests can stay per entry when terminal lounges hit contracted capacity limits.
E.Sun Bank reshuffled hotel statement credits on its luxury travel card as cardholders booked domestic stays during Trump–Xi week and hedged November U.S. tariff headlines.
CTBC Bank extended zero-fee installments on select travel cards after a weaker NT dollar raised the sticker price of Mid-Autumn trips booked in foreign currency.
MUFG Bank's card unit is pushing refreshed fee tables for overseas ATM withdrawals ahead of Silver Week forex volatility, warning weak-yen travellers that dynamic conversion and network charges can stack on holiday cash grabs.
Rakuten Card is extending documentation windows for storm-related travel chargebacks on Silver Week bookings, letting cardholders dispute non-refundable hotel and tour charges when Typhoon Dujuan cancellations left trips impossible.
American Express set the U.S. Platinum Card’s annual fee at $895 for applicants in its October product refresh, extending a 2025 repricing that hits renewals on membership anniversaries—not calendar year—for many holders.
Discover Financial Services lifted advertised minimum rates on variable home-equity lines after the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 16 hike brought the federal-funds target to 3.75%–4% and major banks posted 7% prime.