| BofA, Wachovia stand to reap windfall
Bank of America, the country's No. 1 credit-card issuer, is in line for big money from Visa's potentially historic stock listing. The Charlotte bank is Visa's second-biggest customer and the second-biggest holder of its Class B stock, behind JPMorgan Chase & Co. in both categories. Bank of America holds 46 million shares, or about 11 percent, of Visa's Class B stock. Class B stocks generally carry no voting rights. It's unclear how much Bank of America stands to make from Visa's initial public offering, which could raise $18.8 billion. In November, the bank's chief financial officer, Joe Price, said the bank would pay $230 million as a result of a Visa settlement with American Express, but that the bank's gain from Visa's IPO would be "substantially more than the settlement." In a filing in November, Charlotte-based Wachovia said its share of Visa's IPO would more than cover its share of the settlement; it took a $115 million expense for the settlement in the third quarter of last year.
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.
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.
Crime Stoppers: Break-Ins At Best Plumbing
This week Crime Stoppers is looking for help in identifying a man wanted in a business burglary at Best Plumbing at 4231 Bonny Oaks Dr.
On Nov. 28, 2007, sometime during the night the suspect entered the business by breaking out the front glass door. The suspect stole cash from a cash box and a desk drawer. He also stole the companys Visa card which carried the owners name and business name. The suspect then took the credit card and made purchases at Kangaroo Market on Amnicola Highway, Murphy Gas station at Wal-Mart in Hixson and ABC Grocery at 2600 Harrison Pike.
The Wal-Mart in Hixson has provided a surveillance video which shows the suspect and a female making a $626.46 purchase of food and miscellaneous items.
The suspect is a black male who looks to be in his 30s or 40s.
Credit card scam warning
This one is pretty slick since they provide Y O U with all the information, except the one piece they want. Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself. One of our employees was called on Wednesday from “VISA", and I was called on Thursday from “MasterCard". The scam works like this: Person calling says, “This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank) did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for £497.99 from a Marketing company based in London?" When you say “No", the caller continues with, “Then we will be issuing a credit to your account.
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.
Record $17bn in record IPO from Visa
Visa will put 406 million shares for public sale. Visa said it would sell up to 447.2m shares at between $37 and $42 each.M The company plans to raise raise as much as $17 billion in what would be the biggest U.S. initial public stock offering as the largest credit-card network in the world tries to replicate the success of smaller rival MasterCard Inc. Fifteen banks are arranging Visa's share sale, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. The stock will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker V. SMART LIVING & INVST. ARTICLES Record $17bn in record IPO from Visa
Rahul Zinta
The company plans to raise raise as much as $17 billion in what would be the biggest U.S. initial public stock offering as the largest credit-card network in the world tries to replicate the success of smaller rival MasterCard Inc.
Rhetoric will leave off where McCain begins
In one sentence on primary night in Wisconsin, U.S. Sen. John McCain nailed Barack Obama — and defined precisely the terms of the fall campaign. Be not intimidated by the growing certainty that the rhetorically gifted Obama, and not his fingernails-across-the-chalkboard opponent, will emerge as McCain's opponent in November. With Hillary came the high negatives that gave Republicans hope of a built-in general election advantage. With Obama comes an army of high-end liberals, affluent and well-educated, along with an energized swell of blacks and the young drawn specifically to him. The prospect of running against a "movement" has unnerved some Republicans, to say nothing of those — affiliated or not — who have listened to Democrats lay out their vision for America through a long series of debates.
Blood on the Courthouse Floor
But a day after a Guam grand jury issued a subpoena demanding records from the Guam Superior Court that documented payments to Republican lobbyist extraordinaire Jack Abramoff, Black was relieved of his position. In an article headlined, “Bush Removal Ended Guam Investigation," The Los Angeles times reported that “a U.S. grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor, and the probe ended soon after." With at least six prominent federal prosecutors recently removed from office, many of them managing large scale public corruption cases, many are wondering if history is not repeating itself. Among those fired were Carol Lam, the U.S. Attorney for San Diego, who last year won a conviction against Congressman Duke Cunningham (R-CA) in the biggest bribery conviction in history, and Paul Charlton of Arizona, whose office is investigating charges involving land deals and influence peddling against of Republican Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ).
Review: Sisters face off in 'Other Boleyn Girl'
The Other Boleyn Girl: Drama. Starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana. Directed by Justin Chadwick. (PG-13. 110 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.) It's probably a safe bet that "The Other Boleyn Girl" won't be getting too many raves, simply because it's so easy to mock. Even if you enjoy it, there's a tendency to look back on the experience with some sardonic distance and think of it as a modern soap opera with Elizabethan trappings. The movie has only a casual relationship with historical reality and gets lots of the details wrong, including the fact that Henry VIII looked a lot more like Charles Laughton than Eric Bana. Yet, however embarrassed you might feel in the morning, this in an enjoyable movie with an entertaining angle on a hard-to-resist period of history.
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