| Just Rewards?
Cash back, frequent-flier miles, gift certificates: more than 55% of all credit-card offers have some type of reward attached to them, according to the latest survey by Mintel's Comperemedia, a company that monitors direct-mail solicitations nationwide. Needless to say, the rewards can be great. Every time you use your Chase Disney card, for example, 1% of your purchases goes into an account you can use to pay for trips to Disneyland and Disney World. You get a check for $25 every time you spend $2,500 on your Chase Free Cash Rewards card. Signing up for a rewards program seems like a no-brainer. After all, it's a free perk, right? .
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.
Chase Paymentech Debuts Website for Small and Medium Businesses
DALLAS, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Chase Paymentech Solutions, LLC, has launched a new website designed to help small and medium sized businesses affordably accept credit card payments. The new site, http://merchantaccount.chasepaymentech.com, provides business owners with a simple, easy to use guide to access the latest Chase Paymentech payment processing tools. The site allows businesses to research payment products that fit their needs and offers quick access to experts who can customize a program to each business' requirements. These programs feature reliable terminals, low interchange rates to process credit card transactions and even custom gift card programs. Solutions can be designed for merchants who need secure payment solutions over the Internet, point-of- sale, telephone, or mail order.
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.
Fake News Scams Job Seekers
Courtni Klosloski thought she had found the perfect job.
After posting her resume to Monster.com she was directed to a website for WACT, Action 25 News, a cable news channel out of Macon, Georgia.
"I was thinking to myself, wow I'm going to be able to put a thousand dollars away for my daughters college, I'm going to be able to pay this, pay that, our lives are going to change," Klosloski recalled.
The website was complete with weather updates, an "award winning news team", and a consumer reporter claiming to know how you can make $84,000 a year by working at home.
Courtni used her credit card to purchase a set of job training DVDs for nearly $300.
After realizing she'd been scammed Courtni tried to reach WACT, but each try led to a dead end.
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.
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.
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