| Keeping track of online passwords is wise to do
Dear Abby: Allow me to draw your readers' attention to the importance of keeping track of their online log-in information. We all know it's smart to keep photocopies of our driver's license, credit cards, etc. With as much time as some of us spend online, in addition to the billions of dollars we spend there as a nation, it's wise to keep track of sundry log-in details as well. I keep track of the various Web sites from which I make purchases -- the Web site name, user name and my password -- because various Web sites require different information. Please suggest that your readers compile this information in a single document and print it out from time to time. Keep a hard copy in a safe place with other important papers. That way, if anything should happen to them, family members will be able to access these Web sites, delete saved credit card information and close the accounts.
Vesdia Launches Innovative Rewards Credit Cards
ATLANTA, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Vesdia Corporation, a leading provider of loyalty marketing services, announced today the launch of four new Visa(R) credit cards to support its leading reward programs BabyMint(TM), NestEggz(R), Stockback(R) and FundraiserRewards(R). The card launch in partnership with MXT Card Services provides consumers with additional earning opportunities in the rewards currencies that matter most to them. Consumers can apply for the Platinum Visa cards on the program websites through an easy to use web application, and earn rebates of 1% on any purchase made using the card. The new rewards credit cards offer competitive benefits and no annual fee. Cardholders can earn additional rebates of up to 26% of their purchases at hundreds of retailers in Vesdia's merchant network, including top brands like Eddie Bauer, Illuminations, Best Buy, Gap.com, Lands' End(R) and Banana Republic - representing over 100,000 store locations and service providers, hundreds of catalogs and gift cards, and more than 600 leading online retailers.
Frommer: Check bank charges before using credit card overseas
What credit cards should you use if you plan to travel abroad? The mathematics are fairly clear. You start with the fact that all the big banks issuing credit cards charge as much as 3 percent of the total when that card is used for a transaction in a foreign currency. And that expense is over and above the 1 percent charged by Visa and MasterCard for converting the foreign currency payment into U.S. dollars. Visa and MasterCard perform a service in return for their 1 percent charge. The largest credit-card issuers in America -- Bank of America, Citibank, Fifth Third Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Simmons First Bank and Wells Fargo -- all charge 3 percent for doing nothing. American Express charges 2 percent. Wachovia and Washington Mutual charge 1 percent.
Visa plans IPO aimed at raising over $18 bln
Visa Inc, the world's biggest electronic payment processing company, announced on Monday that it was planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States, saying it hoped to raise over 18 billion dollars. Visa, which processes payments for credit and debit cards, said it plans to offer just over 400,000 shares for public purchase. It expects its shares to be priced at between 37 and 42 dollars per share. The San Francisco-based company said in a statment that it plans to launch its IPO as soon as possible. Investors will be able to purchase shares in Visa from a pool of 447 million shares of Class A stock the company intends to sell. The company has hired a group of well-known investment banks to support its IPO, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.
BBL introduces contactless credit cards
The card can be used at Burger King, McDonald's, Sizzler, The Pizza Company, 94 Coffee, Au Bon Pain, Starbucks and Umm! ... Milk. Customers can also use the card at supermarkets, including Gourmet Market in both The Emporium and Siam Paragon and Home Fresh Mart. Shoke na Ranong, manager of BBL's Credit Card Division, said for entertainment, the card could be used at EGV Cinemas, The Esplanade Cineplex, Major Bowl Hit, Major Complex, Paragon Cineplex and Nai In Bookshops. BBL is the first bank in Thailand to launch the contactless Blue Wave credit card. To make a purchase, the cardholder just waves the card over a reader and waits for acceptance. The card is bundled with the same features as normal credit cards that require a cardholder's signature when paying for goods and services.
MasterCard spent $1.8M lobbying
MasterCard International Inc. spent $1.8 million in 2007 to lobby on Internet-related issues and on fees merchants pay when customers use credit cards. The Purchase, N.Y.-based company spent $880,000 in the second half of 2007 to lobby Congress, according to a disclosure form posted online Feb. 13 by the Senate's public records office. It lobbied on gambling regulations and the use of credit cards to purchase illegal material on the Internet. The company spent $880,000 lobbying in the first half of the year on financial literacy, data security, microchip technology and fees banks pay to credit card networks. Congress is weighing tighter regulations on the credit card industry. The industry came under fire in December, when a Senate subcommitee issued a report denouncing practices that include raising interest rates for customers whose credit ratings decline, even if they make their card payments on time.
Heavy ATM user found with more than 200 credit cards
TUCSON, Ariz. -- The arrest of a man using an automated-teller machine in downtown Tucson Saturday afternoon resulted in the recovery of more than 200 credit cards and $176,690 in cash, police said. Marc A. Burton, 20, was being held at the Pima County jail on charges of theft, fraudulent schemes and artifices, aggravated identity theft and theft of a credit card. Shortly after 1 p.m., someone called police to report that a man at the U.S. Bank ATM, was using several credit cards, Tucson police said. The caller said the man then went across the street to a Chase bank ATM and did the same thing. When officers arrived, the man had left the Chase site. However, officers said they found Burton nearby at a Wells Fargo ATM., said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
Higher Credit Card Rates May Be Lurking in Your Mailbox
You'd think that an economic environment chock-full of interest rate cuts from the Fed would lead credit card issuers to gradually decrease the rates they charge us on our plastic. But no -- many cards have actually been raising their rates recently. Bill Hardekopf of LowCards.com, for example, has noted rates moving in directions other than down at cards from American Express (NYSE: AXP), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). What's going on? Well, there's been a bit of a financial crisis at many banks (you may have heard about it). It's related to their having issued a few regrettable mortgages to risky borrowers. So, perhaps feeling pressured, they're seeking out additional income from the likes of you and me, via the debt that we carry. We don't have to be their suckers, though.
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