Archive for January, 2009
American Express and MBNA Team Up with Mileage Plus
American Express and MBNA have teamed up with Mileage Plus to offer a great deal on a new credit card. You can get 0% on your first three months of purchases and 0% p.a. on balance transfers for your first 12 months (3% handling fee does apply). After the initial freebies a 15.9% APR is [...]
More Complaints After HPS Security Breach
Gerald Little, President of the New Hampshire Bankers Association, is feeling frustrated by a system that holds banks responsible for fraudulent activity, even though another entity allowed the security breach to occur.
For example, recently Heartland Payments Systems, a New Jersey payment processing company experienced a breach in their systems and now banks whose customers [...]
Some Tips to Avoid Skimming
Credit card fraudsters are improving the technology they use to steal your credit card information. Already hundreds of millions of dollars have been lost to these scammers and they keep finding new methods for getting ahold of your confidential information. One of the newest tricks to target debit cards goes by the name of [...]
China UnionPay to Launch Credit Card Program for the Bank of East Asia
Bank of East Asia is set to launch a novel credit card program in China. They have the distinction of being the first foreign bank to do so. China UnionPay Data Services Company (CUP), which is run jointly by China UnionPay and Tsys, will be providing credit card processing services under a long term contract [...]
Summit Federal Credit Union Customers Impacted by HPS Data Breach
Customers of the Summit Federal Credit Union have been sent a letter this week letting them know that their personal information may have been exposed due to a security breach by VISA USA merchant, Heartland Payment Systems.
The letter indicates to the customers that a block will be placed on any affected account number, such block [...]
Ignite Mastercard Replaces Virgin Money Australia
In the wake of continued falling profits, having experienced their third successive loss last year, Virgin Money Australia is about to be replaced by Ignite Mastercard®. The Ignite Mastercard is offered by Westpac, who acquired the Virgin Money credit card portfolio last year as a result of the company’s financial struggles in the wake [...]
Be Persistant When Negotiating Credit Terms
One of the most regularly touted pieces of advice for consumers needing some leniency with the credit card debt is that you should try to negotiate with your lender for better terms, like reduced interest rates. Frequently though, frustrated consumers report that they have difficulty achieving success when they try to get their rates cut.
Jerry [...]
Heartland Payment Systems Suffers Data Security Breach
Heartland Payment provides card processing services at a volume of more than 100 million in credit card transactions on a monthly basis, and they provide these services to over a quarter of a million businesses including retailers, payroll systems and restaurants. And this past Tuesday, the day Barack Obama was sworn in to the office [...]
Credit Card Companies May Take Advantage of Loopholes
Be wary of your upcoming credit card statements. New rules may be coming into effect in 2010 that will stop credit card companies from arbitrarily upping your interest rates, but until then they can do more or less as they please. That introductory low rate is now close to 20% and it is hard to [...]
How to Reduce Your Debt
There are options available for individuals struggling to make credit card payments. Unfortunately, even if a bank decides to cancel some of your credit card debt, the “charge off” or “write off” as it is known, will remain on your credit report for seven years. This is somewhat better than in a bankruptcy situation where [...]