Consumers | featured news

So many consumers are opting to buy older iPhone models that some analysts wonder whether Apple has lost its ability to create new versions that dazzle. How strange to think that Vicki Macchiavello's decision to buy an iPhone after years of using a BlackBerry could be bad news for Apple.

Relief checks issued as part of a settlement over foreclosure abuses have bounced, an unfortunate twist for consumers who have already faced problems over reviews of troubled mortgage loans.

U.S. retailers are reporting modest sales gains for March as consumers held back due to cold weather during the month and continued worry about the economy. Overall, 14 retailers reported on Thursday that revenue at stores open at least a year — a key indicator of retail health — rose an average of 0.6 percent. That number comes from the research firm Retail Metrics.

Which country has the largest number of billionaires, China or America? China. According to the latest Hurun Global Rich List 2013, China had 212 billionaires in 2013, compared to 211 in America.

Charge a fee to use your credit card? It’s legal for merchants to do that, unless barred by state law. Charge a fee to use your credit card? It’s legal for merchants to do that, unless barred by state law. Ten states already ban such surcharges – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas – and more may join the list.

U.S. consumers increased their spending in December at a slower pace, while their income grew by the largest amount in eight years. Income surged because companies rushed to pay dividends before income taxes increased on high-earners.

Starting Sunday, paying by credit card could get more expensive. Under the terms of a $7.2 billion settlement reached last summer between credit card companies and merchants, merchants will be free to impose a surcharge on customers paying by credit card.

The volume of not-from-concentrate orange juice sold in the U.S. fell for the first time in six months, as high prices deterred some consumers.

Bank of America has shelved plans for new fees that could have hit at least 10 million customers by the end of this year, skirting a potential replay of a 2011 uproar over consumer-banking charges.

The two-year-old drive to give consumers a simple way to block companies from tracking their behavior as they move across the Internet has faltered, say participants in the process who are struggling to reconcile privacy concerns with an advertising model that pays for many free Internet services.