I don’t dispute that some card issuers engage in bad behavior and frankly there have been times when I’ve been furious. But there is a lot of market discipline for this; if you threaten to switch cards the issuers back off. Proponents of legislation point to anecdotes of bad behavior. There is, however, no […]

Credit card issuers can be pretty annoying. They stuff our mailboxes with credit card solicitations, make us endure endless commercials about taking their cards, and seem to nickel and dime us with fees at every turn. The media continually reminds us of poor slobs who are up to their eyeballs in debt because they’ve maxxed […]

60 minutes on Sunday presented a report on a worm virus lying dormant in millions of computers worldwide awaiting instructions from China or Russia or wherever it was hatched that could instantly bring down the web. This morning, CNN reported that this virus has a name: “Conficker.” CNN also reported that it may go “live” […]

My folks are visiting from Chicago. My Dad, Harry M. Peterson Jr., 86, is, among many identities, a war hero, entrepreneur, comedian, lover of the arts, author, husband, Rotarian, and all around great guy. Throughout his life, he also has been a tinkerer with new technology, being one of the early adopters of plastic bottling […]

As I was cleaning out files the other day, I got to wondering if folks around the country are cleaning out their files like I am right now. A long-time friend of mine in the consulting business is reducing her number of offices from 7 to 3 and was cleaning out files over the past […]

A WSJ op ed today predicts that there will be an almost 60 percent contraction in credit card lines. I don’t know whether that number is precisely right but it is clear that banks are sharply reducing the availability of credit card lines. They are doing so in part for very good reasons and they […]

Last week I had the pleasure and privilege of attending and addressing the annual Payments Automation conference of The Association for Work Process Improvement (TAWPI). Like most conferences this year, it was not as broadly attended as it had been in the past. But, in speaking with my friend Debbie Bianucci, President of the […]

Remember when Victor Kiam ran ads about his experience shaving with Remington Electric Razors saying “I liked it so much I bought the company?” Well, I’ve observed a recurring theme amongst blog posts, e-magazines, television interviews and industry conversations about the next generation of banks that brought Kiam’s ad to mind. Why? Bear with me. […]

I was in Washington on February 19 attending the inaugural meeting of a non-partisan, non-profit organization that could best be described as a “Project” or “Think Team.” Unlike “Think Tanks” with resident scholars who apply their thinking to pressing political and economic issues as they evolve, the “Financial Regulation Reform Collaborative” or simply, “The Collaborative” […]

Only a few months ago there was an outcry over the XM Sirius merger. It would lead to a dreaded “monopoly” in satellite radio and result in consumers paying higher prices. But the merger squeaked through the FCC having survived an onslaught on lobbying of the Justice Department trustbusters. The satellite behemoth is now on […]