Related Consumer Finance Programs - The following lists of companies and financial service providers offer services to assist you with handling your debts. Combine debt with a consolidation loan or use a credit counseling or debt relief program for help with lowering your payments and getting your credit card bills and other obligations under control.

• Personal Loan Companies - Looking for a small loan? Start at the personal loans directory, where you can shop and apply with different lenders and related services online.
• Debt Settlement Help - Simply too much debt to get a grip on? Review a list of companies and learn more about this service that uses debt negotiation and arbitration to help people that need assistance with eliminating their debts.
• Credit Card Debt Consolidation - Are your bills piling up? Lower your monthly payments and consolidate them with a debt consolidation loan or a related service.

A Shopper's Guide to Bank Products and Services

How the FDIC Can Help You Shop

The FDIC offers a variety of assistance to help consumers understand how to handle their money, shop for financial goods and services, and resolve complaints. These include:

• Consumer information on the FDIC Web site at www.fdic.gov/quicklinks/consumers.html. You'll find consumer brochures, alerts, and an interactive financial education program called Money Smart that provides a basic introduction to bank services.
• Our quarterly newsletter FDIC Consumer News, which delivers timely, reliable and innovative tips and information—on everything from deposit insurance to debit cards and auto loans to automated teller machines. Read back issues online at www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news. You can also sign up for a free subscription service that provides an e-mail notice about each new issue posted to the Web site and provides a link to stories of interest. Just follow the instructions at www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.
• Answers to questions by phone or e-mail. Contact the toll-free consumer assistance line at (877) ASK-FDIC—that's (877) 275-3342. It is staffed Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Recorded information is available 24 hours a day. You can also e-mail the FDIC using the Customer Assistance Form on the Internet at www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.html.

FDIC Consumer News is published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FDIC Consumer News is produced quarterly by the FDIC Office of Public Affairs in cooperation with other Divisions and Offices. It is intended to present information in a nontechnical way and is not intended to be a legal interpretation of FDIC or other government regulations and policies. Mention of a product, service or company does not constitute an endorsement.

Find current and past issues of FDIC Consumer News at http://www.fdic.gov/consumernews. Refer to this same index to locate the issues that are specially formatted for being reprinted in any quantity.

To receive an e-mail notice about each new issue of FDIC Consumer News posted on the FDIC Web site, with links to stories, follow instructions posted at www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Last updated on 8/15/2005

Make the correct decisions when shopping for banking, debt consolidation and related financial services. Educate yourself!

The Debt Consolidation Loan Directory has a growing library of free informative / educational financial resources for consumers shopping for many types of services related to the management of your money, such as consolidating credit card debts, fraud alerts and car insurance. There is no better way to make decisions regarding the management of your personal finances than to read and understand how they work. Please feel free to visit our consumer resource library for more information.

• Cell Phone Banking - New cell phones are constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated. This includes adding the capability of handling online banking through your phone. This FDIC article discusses some of the possibilities and precautions you should take when using your phone for banking purposes.
• How to Protect Yourself with FDIC Insurance - Read up on what qualifications are necessary and how to determine if your deposits are covered by FDIC insurance.
• Direct Deposit Safer than Checks? - The US Treasury Department reports that a majority of surveyed consumers mistakenly believe that paper checks are safer than direct deposit.
• Consider the Fees! - Learn what to look for and examine the details of each banking account offer for possible fees, such as: inactivity, minimum balance and ATM withdrawal fees.

DebtConsolidationLoan.com is a service of Infinamic, Inc. All information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. Infinamic, Inc. is not responsible for the content and services, that may be provided to you, by following the links from this web site. Use this service at your own discretion.