This is issue #3 of This Week's Receipts. Each week: the rules and numbers from the source pages we published, each one quoting its source word for word.
This week's receipts
1. Closing a Credit Card Can Raise Your Utilization — FICO's Own Words
FICO says "amounts owed" determines 30% of a FICO Score and that closing credit lines may hurt it. The quotes, and their limits.
Source: myFICO, "Amount of debt" · myFICO credit education, on closing credit lines · myFICO, "What's in my FICO® Scores?"
2. Experian: Affirm Plans to Report Loans Issued From April 2025, Pay-in-4 Included
Including Pay-in-4, for loans issued from April 1, 2025. What Experian's announcement says — and what it doesn't cover.
Source: Experian, "Affirm expands credit reporting with Experian" (March 2025)
3. ATM Fee Notice Rule: What 12 CFR § 1005.16 Requires
An ATM operator that does not hold the account involved and charges a fee for an electronic fund transfer or a balance inquiry must give notice that a fee will be imposed and its amount, either on the screen or on paper, before the consumer is committed to paying the fee.
Source: 12 CFR § 1005.16 (Regulation E, on eCFR) · 15 U.S.C. § 1693b (Office of the Law Revision Counsel)
4. Online Negative-Option Charges: What 15 U.S.C. § 8403 Requires
The statute sets three conditions for charging through a negative option feature on the Internet.
Source: 15 U.S.C. § 8403 · § 8404 · § 8405 (Office of the Law Revision Counsel) · 16 CFR § 310.2 (Telemarketing Sales Rule, on eCFR)
5. Unauthorized Credit Card Use: Regulation Z Sets a $50 Ceiling on Cardholder Liability
The ceiling is the lesser of $50 or what was obtained before notice to the card issuer, and the rule attaches conditions.
Source: 12 CFR § 1026.12 (Regulation Z), eCFR · CFPB, Regulation Z § 1026.12 · CFPB, Ask CFPB: Am I responsible for unauthorized charges if my credit cards are lost or stolen?
Word of the week: Credit Utilization
Credit utilization is the percentage of your available revolving credit that you're currently using. It sits inside the "amounts owed" category, which FICO says "determines 30% of a FICO® Score." FICO also says the importance of its score categories "may vary from one person to another."
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