Author: Brian Lund
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Bilt repaid $264,792.71 in overdraft and late fees to more than 2,000 customers
Bilt has repaid $264,792.71 in overdraft, late and insufficient-funds fees to more than 2,000 customers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says that total stood at $264,792.71 as of September 10, 2026, and that it told Bilt on September 21 it considers the matter closed. The fees came from a bank-partner change at the company. When…
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Treasury still urges federal benefit recipients paid by check to switch to direct deposit
Paper checks are no longer the normal way the federal government pays people. Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service says the government stopped issuing paper checks for most federal payments starting September 30, 2025, and its public notice still tells anyone who gets a check to switch to electronic payment. The Fiscal Service runs the…
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Federal law enforcement officers would be the only civilian group with a January raise under the pay plan Trump sent Congress
Federal law enforcement personnel are the only civilian workers the White House wants to give a raise in January 2027. The pay plan President Trump sent Congress on August 26 freezes everyone else’s base and locality pay, then directs a 3.8 percent increase for law enforcement. The plan does not yet say which jobs fall…
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Most federal civilian employees would get no raise in January under the alternative pay plan Trump sent Congress, which exempts law enforcement
Most civilian federal employees would see no change in base pay or locality pay when January 2027 arrives. President Trump’s alternative pay plan, a letter to Congress dated August 26, sets the 2027 adjustment for those workers at zero. Federal law enforcement personnel are the one group the plan treats differently. For a federal worker,…
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Social Security asks SSI applicants for permission to pull their bank records electronically, and will not approve an application without it
Anyone who applies for Supplemental Security Income has to let Social Security look at their bank accounts, and the agency treats a refusal as a reason the applicant cannot be paid. The permission is a condition of the program, written into Social Security’s rules, and the agency checks balances through an automated process it calls…
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West Virginia counts about 33,000 Medicaid recipients who do not meet the 80-hour work or volunteer rule starting January 1, with 119,000 excluded
West Virginia’s Department of Human Services says about 33,000 Medicaid recipients do not currently meet the state’s new 80-hour work or volunteer rule, and about 119,000 more are automatically excluded from it. The rule starts January 1, 2027. The two counts describe different groups, and the line between them decides who has to start proving…
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About 700,000 Illinois adults on expansion Medicaid face an 80-hour monthly work rule, and current enrollees could start losing coverage in 2027
About 700,000 Illinois adults who joined Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act expansion will have to show 80 hours a month of work, volunteering or school to keep their coverage. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, known as HFS, began mailing notices to the group in early September. Current enrollees could start losing…
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Food stamp recipients aged 18 to 64 must log 80 hours a month or lose benefits after three months, and USDA’s page lists seven ways to be excused
A food stamp recipient who is able to work and has no dependents can collect benefits for only three months in any 36-month stretch unless the person logs 80 hours a month of work or work activity. Congress widened the rule in 2025, and it now reaches adults from 18 through 64. USDA’s work-requirements page…
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Synovus accounts and branches convert to Pinnacle in the first half of 2027
Synovus accounts and branches are due to convert to Pinnacle in the first half of 2027, according to the bank’s merger questions-and-answers page. Pinnacle says it expects system conversions in that window, “likely around the beginning of the second quarter,” and that Synovus offices will be rebranded as Pinnacle at the same time. No exact…
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American Express Business Platinum cardholders will earn double points on U.S. shipping only with UPS, FedEx, USPS and a few named carriers from February 17
Starting February 17, 2027, American Express Business Platinum cardholders will earn double points on U.S. shipping only when they buy directly from a short list of named providers. The list covers UPS, FedEx, the United States Postal Service and four others. Shipping bought from anyone else would fall outside the bonus. Doctor of Credit, which…