STATS

STATS

87% of consumers monitor their credit reports only once a year or less.
Research and Markets, www.researchandmarkets.com, 11/04/05
New account fraud represents approximately 30% of the $52.6 billion in US annual identity fraud, and remains a primary concern since it is more difficult for consumers to detect and results in higher average per case losses.
Ibid.
England's bank credit cards are gradually shifting to the required use of chip and PIN at point-of-sale purchases to combat fraud. There was a 31% reduction of fraud in the first six months of 2005, the losses being £126.6m (about $222 million) in the first six months of 2004, and £89.9 m (about $158 million) in the same period in 2005. All their card use after Valentine's Day, 2006, must be by PIN, not signature.
Apacs Release, FinExtra.com, Oct 11, 2005
Of U.S. adults who purchased a home within the last three years for their primary residence, 19% say they spent above their price range; 67% stayed within their price range; 2% were below.
Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Personal Finance Poll, Reported on WSJ's Online's Personal Journal Edition, 9/25/05
Of the almost 34% of recent homebuyers who chose creative or option mortgages, 17% took an interest-only mortgage, where borrowers pay interest but no principal in the early years of the loan; 10% took a piggyback mortgage, where the loan combines a standard first mortgage with a home-equity loan or line of credit to avoid private mortgage insurance or the higher interest rates on jumbo loans; 4% opted for a payment option mortgage,- where borrowers have four payment options each month and those who elect to make the minimum payment could actually see their loan balance rise rather than fall; and 2% took the miss-a-payment mortgage,- where borrowers are allowed to skip up to two mortgage payments a year and up to 10 payments over the life of the loan without ruining their credit rating.
Ibid.
The American Red Cross says online donations for Hurricane Katrina accounts for about 45% of total donations. Online donations for the 2004 Florida hurricanes represented about 12% of total donations.