As a result of the class action settlement between numerous merchant groups and Visa and MasterCard, merchants of all sizes can now charge consumers an additional fee for paying with a credit card, but that newfound capability is vexing to small business owners, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Many parents are now more closely examining the various ways they can give their kids some financial flexibility when they go off to college, which may lead them to examine a number of credit and debit card options, according to a report from the Associated Press. However, many things have changed in the last few years that may affect the decisions they end up making when it comes to their kids' financial futures.

The credit reporting industry is one that has remained largely unregulated by the federal government, but that will soon change thanks to a new initiative from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency recently announced. In the past, only federal law enforcement agencies had oversight of credit reporting companies, which are privately owned, and there was no single entity in charge of writing rules for the industry.

It's believed that lenders across the country will continue to expand their credit qualification requirements for borrowers over the next six months to include more people whose scores are considered subprime, according to a new survey of industry experts conducted by the Professional Risk Managers' International Association on behalf of the Fair Isaac Corporation, better known as the credit scoring bureau FICO.

Americans' outstanding credit card balances increased significantly in May, as borrowing surged $8 billion - an 11.2 percent increase - to a total of $870.2 billion, according to the latest monthly statistics on consumer credit released by the Federal Reserve Board. This stark increase came after consumers cut balances by 4.9 percent in April, and was large even in comparison with the previous monthly increases observed throughout this year.