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Before the Great Recession, many Americans piled up too much credit card debt. Now, they seem to be a little wiser about using plastic, says the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

MasterCard International reported Friday that 40 million credit card numbers may have been stolen. Merchants bear the brunt of fraudulent transactions. Credit card companies charge the merchants for the stolen services or merchandise and for additional fees.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Ted Rossman, industry analyst at CreditCards.com, about whether Apple's new credit card is disrupting the industry.

Credit cards have changed a lot — and so have the interest rates we pay. Here's how.

Banks are raising their minimum monthly payments in January, a change intended to protect consumers from piling up credit card debts that can last for decades. But the higher minimums, along with interest rates that can be raised for late payments, mean consumers could be facing bigger credit card bills next year.

NPR's Eric Deggans asks Natasha Sarin, former counselor to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, about plans to cap credit card interest rates.

Citi, which expects to issue its first card this year, will become the first U.S.-based bank to issue its own credit cards in the country.

Shoppers are heading into the heavy-spending season with no new credit safeguards in place. Experts say it'll be at least another year before the U.S. system moves beyond technology from the 1970s.

Lawyers for some of the nation's largest retailers say Visa and MasterCard illegally thwarted for years the growth of debit-card networks, The Wall Street Journal reports. The allegations stem from recently unsealed court documents from a class-action suit that includes Wal-Mart and Sears. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

Andee Tagle from NPR's Life Kit podcast reports on the best way to accumulate credit card points and put them to good use.