Consumer Finance

Much has been written about the inherent riskiness of cash. It is dangerous because it can be lost, stolen, eaten, destroyed, etc. It is dangerous because it is difficult to track, thereby helping to facilitate crime. Many a potboiler plot hinges on a cache of unmarked bills. Anyone remember Trixie Belden? “‘That governess of yours won’t argue when I tell her to leave a fat roll of unmarked bills under a stone at the Autoville entrance tonight.

Moral hazard, moral hazard, moral hazard....  How often have we heard that as a reason for why principal reductions can't be done.  As if it were the worst thing in the world.  

Citibank is running commercials featuring the ability to deposit checks remotely via mobile device, a process known as remote deposit capture. Citi isn't the first retail bank to roll out RDC--USAA, for example, has been doing it for a while, but USAA has almost no branches, so checks have to be deposited remotely by their farflung depositor base.

In the introductory chapter of the book, Broke: How Debt Bankrupts the Middle Class,  I present some data about consumer debt levels in the United States.