Category: Fees and Policy Changes

U.S. merchants paid a record $160.70 billion in card processing fees in 2022, and the pressure on small businesses has only intensified since. As cash transactions decline and consumers increasingly reach for credit cards, shop owners face swipe fees that now rank among their largest monthly operating costs. Legislative efforts and court battles have so…

Bank of America has faced scrutiny over how it handles customer fees and rewards, and the bank’s approach to perks and service can differ sharply by customer tier. Some higher-balance customers may qualify for richer benefits such as travel-related perks and fee waivers, while others may see fewer advantages depending on the specific account or…

Tesla stripped the terms “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” from its California marketing materials after the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles found those labels violated state law. The compliance fix averted a potential 30-day sales suspension, but it also cleared the runway for Tesla to keep charging vehicle owners $99 a month for the same…

The Federal Communications Commission revised a long-standing rule that previously required Verizon Communications to unlock phones with relative ease, a change that directly raises the bar for customers trying to leave the carrier. The revision, which came after fraud schemes cost the wireless industry hundreds of millions of dollars, adds new verification steps that could…

Several U.S. states are now charging electric vehicle owners per-mile fees to offset the gas tax revenue that EVs do not generate, and the trend is accelerating. Hawaii launched its road usage charge on July 1, 2025, Utah has a rate increase scheduled for January 2026, and states from Oregon to Virginia already collect similar…

Banks with more than $1 billion in assets still collected $5.83 billion in overdraft and nonsufficient funds fees in 2023, even after a dramatic industry pullback that cut those charges by more than half compared to pre-pandemic levels. That decline has saved consumers an estimated $6 billion a year, yet three categories of “zombie” fees…

Companies across the consumer goods sector are raising prices after holding the line through the holiday shopping season, and the latest inflation data suggests the effects are already showing up in official measurements. The January 2026 Consumer Price Index report confirmed that price growth accelerated from where it stood at the close of 2024, adding…

X stunned subscribers in early 2025 by nearly doubling the monthly cost of its Premium+ plan from $22 to $40, a move that arrived with little warning and significant confusion over what users were actually being charged. The increase, which followed a separate price hike just weeks earlier, signals an aggressive monetization strategy tied to…

Costco is enforcing stricter entrance protocols that require members to scan a membership card before stepping onto the warehouse floor at warehouses rolling out the new system. The change signals a broader effort by the retailer to crack down on nonmembers who have long found ways to slip through the doors, and it carries real…

After months of relative calm on the inflation front, businesses across the United States are pushing prices higher again, driven by a convergence of rising tariffs, labor expenses, and health-insurance premiums. The January 2026 Consumer Price Index confirms the trend with a 0.2% monthly increase and a 2.4% annual rate, while upstream producer costs had…