Wallet Watch

Hi, I have opinions about the banking services we use every day — checking accounts and credit cards — because I think they need to be safer and more understandable products, so that Americans can make better decisions about where they access credit and can reduce their overall indebtedness.

Everyday bank products, like credit cards, ought to allow Americans to borrow responsibly during “income emergencies” — sudden medical expenses, critical car repairs, etc. — so they can smooth their income over time. Regrettably, though, credit cards — even those offered by our nation’s largest financial institutions — are riddled with fees and pitfalls, so that one misstep could lead to a slippery slope of debt.

I moved to Washington three years ago to work on these and other issues. The ideas in this blog are my own. As a member of “Generation Y” myself, I am particularly interested in the economic stake of my generation, which has gone deeper and deeper into debt as it is forced to shoulder a larger burden of education, health care, and retirement savings costs than any generation. And with prices for gasoline, housing, health care, and seemingly everything else on the rise, the future is not looking great for my generation.