Across the nation, Citibank credit card holders are receiving what pretty much amounts to a ransom note: We're going to raise your rates, says the letter, in so many words, but if you spend more money, we won't.

In more specific terms, customers are being asked to spend a minimum of $750 on their cards, and if they do, they can get a rebate for 50% to 100% of their interest rate for that given month.

I can't blame anyone for wanting to implode on the spot. After all, credit cards as a group used to encourage everyone to spend, until the recession came around, when the message seemed to be -- please don't spend, and if you spend, don't spend much. But now the credit cards are encouraging spending.

And if you don't, they'll raise your rates.

Madness.

But there's a reason behind it. Ben Woolsey, director of consumer research for CreditCards.com, told the Huffington Post that Citigroup, which is Citibank's parent company, by convincing people to spend more, will cause there to be more interchange fees -- those are the fees merchants have to pay every time a customer uses a credit or debit card. And so Citigroup will make more money through interchange fees, or through the higher interest rates.

Going to a payday lender can be a good financial decision. That is, if your Attorney General threatens to sue your payday lender, and they settle up, and then you receive your money back.

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo has just announced a $5.2 million settlement with two companies running "payday loan" companies.

Cuomo's office will be sending money to more than 14,000 victims. You may be one of those victims if you live in New York and have ever taken out a small loan with the businesses, Telecash or Cashnet.

How evil is the credit card industry these days? Pretty evil, I'd say.

I thought I'd call attention to The Business Insider, which has an amusing -- and unfortunately true -- story on the 10 ways credit cards can still screw you. Well, it's amusing, in the way that being run over by a car is amusing. Perhaps the people making up the credit card rules used to work in the waterboarding department of the defense department. That's my working theory, anyway.

This isn't quite the falling of the Berlin Wall, but in the credit scoring world, it's close. Apparently, for the first time ever, FICO, the company that has its famed credit scoring model, has released details on how a financial goof-up actually affects your credit score.

First, before I go on, credit for making credit scores a little less mysterious goes to Liz Pulliam Weston, a prolific and well respected columnist with MSN Money. She asked FICO for details on how they determine how late fees, bankruptcies, foreclosures and so on affect one's credit score, and they decided to actually be upfront about it. Or at least more upfront than they used to be.

Every time you make a financial mistake, these are known as "damage points." And the higher credit score, the more points these mistakes will cost you, which is interesting. In other words, the slide descending into bad credit can be faster and more pronounced than someone already on their way down.

For years, I've wondered if anyone ever just sent the government money and said, "Here, apply it to the national debt." After all, our national debt's a big problem, and if you're the charity-giving sort, you might want to make the United States your charity.

And then Reuters goes along and does a story about people who do just that. As it turns out, there's a government office that will be more than happy to take your check, should you decide your pet cause this year is going to be the United States' debt.

The Federal Reserve announced on Thursday that starting July 1, 2010, financial institutions can no longer allow customers to overspend their account and then charge overdraft fees -- in most cases -- unless the customers have signed up for a bank's overdraft protection plan that includes such fees. My guess is, most won't.

As The Washington Post explains, the overdraft fee won't disappear entirely. Banks can still charge overdraft fees on checks or an automatic bill payment. But the days of buying a cup of coffee or stick of gum with your debit card without realizing you don't have the funds and then getting slammed with a $37.50 fee--that will end on July 1, 2010. Instead, you'll simply have your debit card declined. And if that thought truly embarrasses you, then tell your bank you want that overdraft protection.

You can opt out of that insane credit card interest rate -- but be careful out there.

That's the premise of a clever article at CreditCards.com, which takes a unique look at opting out of your credit card. As Tamara E. Holmes points out, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 allows people to avoid higher payments by refusing to accept the new interest rate. But by opting out, you still have to pay the remaining balance, and your credit card is still active. And because of that, if you aren't careful and wind up making a purchase, your carefully protected interest rate could wind up shooting up to the one you opted out of.

It's a little like having a time bomb in your wallet.

Something to jot down the next time you're in the mood for a drink and don't have a lot of cash: 7-Eleven now has its own brand of wine.

The name of the label is Yosemite Road. They're selling a chardonnay and a cabernet sauvignon, and both will retail for about $3.99. It'll be $4.99 in Florida, due to state taxes.

There's a lot of public anger at banks these days. Pick a bank topic, any topic -- bailouts, executive pay, interest rates, ATM, NSF, overdraft fees -- and it's hard to imagine anyone nodding happily. But all this anger begs the question: When we're frustrated and being thwarted by our bank, what can we do to make ourselves... well, happy?

If you've heard any of the following from your bank lately, here's what you ought to say in return.

"You have six overdraft charges." One or two overdraft charges certainly aren't fun, but five or more, and you can suddenly feel your monthly budget going to ruin. If your bank isn't one of those that's curtailing its overdraft fees (Bank of America), or it is but hasn't stopped yet (yeah, you heard us, U.S. Bank), you may, unfortunately, know that feeling.

It's been an interesting year for GMAC, if interesting means humbling.

Back in May, the government conducted a series of stress tests and determined that 10 of the largest 19 banks needed to have more capital, if they were going to survive any more economic troubles that might come our way. Then, the 10 were given six months to raise a grand total of $74.6 billion in capital.

Well, here's the good news. Monday, the Federal Reserve announced $77 billion was raised.

But the bad news involves the bank hold company, GMAC Financial Services, the 14th largest bank and the lending device used by many Americans to pay for their cars -- those cars that are built by General Motors and Chrysler. GMAC, which is now 35% owned by the American government, has fallen short of raising its required $11.5 billion and will need what will be its third loan from the U.S. Treasury, which it will likely get through the TARP Automotive Industry Financial Program. That will mean American taxpayers will own even more of GMAC Financial Services.

GMAC is believed to need $5.6 billion in capital.