Many Americans saw their financial health decline in 2022, more than at any point in the last five years. That is a crucial finding of the Financial Health Network’s Financial Health Pulse: 2022 U.S. Trends Report. It is the fifth annual edition.

More and more consumers have been hit by deteriorating financial health, including people who had been somewhat insulated in the past. With a hawkish Federal Reserve going after inflation, pressure on consumer wallets is increasing. Here's a look at the landscape, with ideas on how to react.

“Buy now, pay later” companies say they’ve created “a fairer and more sustainable alternative” to credit cards. Some users say they also change spending habits for the worse.

President Biden said Wednesday he is taking action to cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for millions of Americans and an additional $10,000 for low-income borrowers while extending a pause on monthly payments, delivering long-awaited relief just weeks before the midterm elections.

Last year at this time, all but two of the 20 largest commercial banks in the nation charged fees to consumers whose accounts did not have enough money in them to pay for certain purchases.

A new report offers a first-ever glimpse into the financial health of workers in low-wage jobs revealing that many struggle with savings, insurance coverage, and paying for basic living expenses.

The amount of debt people are carrying on credit cards is growing fast. In the second quarter of this year, from April to June, balances were 13% higher than they were a year earlier, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Household debt continues to rise, proof that more families are struggling to make ends meet, fintech industry executives believe.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent Regulatory Agenda indicates that the bureau plans to commence a rulemaking in November to implement the data sharing provision in Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. For that rulemaking to enable consumers to enjoy the benefits of more open data, the CFPB should heed Director Rohit Chopra's recent call to eschew "highly complicated rules that have long been a staple of consumer financial regulation" and instead develop a principles-based approach that addresses the most significant pain points in the data ecosystem today and will allow the market to evolve over time.

Women are a critical customer segment for every bank or credit union, yet their specific needs are often overlooked by the banking industry. Two reports — from Bank of America and the Financial Health Network — illustrate what banks and credit unions can do better to meet women's financial needs.