by Daniel | Last Updated Feb 11th, 2022
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links, at no cost to you.
In this article, I just wanted to talk about a bit of news.
First of all, I’ll talk about the new consumer checking account and debit card that American Express has just launched.
I will talk about the increasing Credit Card debt in the US.
And finally, I will talk about the massive seizure of Bitcoin by the Justice Department.
New Amex Digital Checking Account
On Tuesday, American Express launched Amex Rewards Checking for its US-based customers.
Apparently, the new account has no fees and no minimum balance requirements and is available to any non-business card members that are in good standing with Amex.
American Express has said that it is possible to earn 1 membership reward point per $2 spent on transactions via a new debit card, and there is a 0.50% annual yield on balances.
Speaking about the new Amex Rewards Checking account, Eva Reda who is the general manager for consumer banking at American Express said:
“The reason we are putting together this really nice [annual percentage yield] and the rewards is to absolutely maximize the loyalty we can get from those customers,” “The time just feels right based on where customers’ heads are, who’s using the product and how mass this sort of a solution is quickly becoming.”
She continued by saying: “There is no question in my mind that some portion of our customer base are going to decide this is their primary account, and others who are going to try it out and start out with this as their second or their third account,”
Apparently, Amex will be integrating the new accounts into the Amex app soon, and they will include 24/7 customer service via phone or chat and purchases protection on any debit card purchases which covers accidental damage or theft.
Amex also reports that there are no fees for ATM withdrawals when using the new debit card and that there are approximately 37,000 ATM locations nationwide.
Credit Card Debt Increasing In The US
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, In 2021, credit card balances increased each and every quarter and ended the year at $856 billion dollars.
And apparently, the 4th quarter gains of $52 billion dollars were the highest in the 22-year history of data.
With the US Federal Reserve expected to raise interest rates at least once this year, it could become quite costly for a lot of people.
According to Ted Rossman, who is an analyst at Bankrate.com, “Roughly half of credit cardholders carry debt from month to month.
And with the average credit card charging 16.28%, Rossman said – “That could easily be over 17% by the end of the year,” and that – This is really expensive debt.”
$3.6 Billion In Bitcoin Seized
On Tuesday the Justice Department reported that it has seized just over $3.6 billion dollars worth of stolen Bitcoin, which is the largest financial seizure that the Justice Department has ever made.
They also arrested a married couple that has been accused of laundering the Bitcoin that was originally stolen by hackers around 6 years ago.
The couple in their early 30’s are accused of trying to launder 119,754 Bitcoin that was originally stolen from a virtual currency exchange called Bitfinex.
Apparently, after the massive Crypto hack of the Bitfinex exchange in 2016, the value of Bitcoin dropped by almost 20%.
When the hack took place in 2016, the total value of the stolen Bitcoin was worth around $71 million, and now it is worth more than $4.5 billion.
Speaking about the arrests, the head of the Justice Department said that – “we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system,”
The Married couple is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which can carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years, They are also charged with conspiracy to defraud the US, which can carry a prison sentence of up to 5 years.