American Express is kicking off its ‘Travel with Your Mind’ philanthropic program for the second year in a row in the Twin Cities. Designed to help support schools in your neighborhood through a series of travel-themed beautification projects and multi-cultural initiatives in cities across the country, this latest American Express initiative is in conjunction with HandsOn Twin Cities to improve the Capitol Hill Magnet School as the “Travel with Your Mind” beneficiary, underway October 16. In doing so, with the help of Delta Air Lines employees, local parents, students, teachers and community members, American Express will paint globally-themed murals, landscape school grounds, and install woodchip barriers, bike racks and benches.
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Consumers should avoid using their credit cards simply to build up reward points, an expert has warned.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Canstar Cannex financial analyst Peter Arnold noted that people who spend on their cards merely to gain points will often see such rewards eroded by credit card surcharges.
He was commenting after research by Citibank found that one in five people neglect to redeem their points.
Among the survey’s other findings it was revealed that many people are unaware of the offers and discounts that come as standard with credit cards without additional spending such as extended warranties or free travel insurance.
”I’m sure a lot of these things aren’t being accessed by the majority of people,” commented Mr Arnold. Read more…
Substantial evidence that the Anacott Financial credit card may be a scam exists. As I wrote yesterday, Tim Chen at NerdWallet and Felix Salmon at Reuters have put forth a compelling picture of a company that, at the very least, is lying about its operations. At worst it may be a total scam, collecting social security numbers and $99 application fees by luring in consumers with a too good to be true credit card for people with bad credit.
Unfortunately, if you are looking for information about Anacott Financial, chances are you have already applied for their credit card or used their phony free credit score service. If this is the case, here are steps you should take to protect yourself:
1.) Contact Anacott Financial at 215-268-7663 and request a refund. If
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Such charges are rarely advertised, making it difficult to compare the true cost of goods and services. Some are flat charges applied on each transaction, others are a percentage fee.
A report by the consumer organisation Which? found that not only were these charges becoming more common, but they have risen in the past two years. According to Which?, 80pc of its members disagreed with the practice of levying such surcharges, with only 1pc thinking they were a fair reflection of costs incurred by the retailer.
Even the banking industry agrees that the charges incurred often bear little resemblance to the cost of processing the payments. All banks charge retailers a “merchant fee” for processing payments by debit and credit cards. Most are reluctant to divulge the fee size. Large supermarkets, for example, will be able to negotiate smaller merchant fees due to the number of transactions processed. Plu
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iTuners beware-PandaLabs antimalware laboratory found Apple’s iTunes platform has become a major target for hackers looking to steal credit card data from the service’s millions of users. Victims receive a cleverly-crafted email informing them that they have made an expensive purchase on iTunes. The user, having never made the purchase to begin with, is concerned by the email and naturally tries to resolve the problem â?? in this case by clicking on the proffered (fake) link. An example of this fraudulent iTunes receipt can be seen here http//www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/5050360091/. Upon installation, the user is redirected to an infected Web page containing the Zeus Trojan, which is specifically designed to steal personal data.
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(Reuters) – The Nasdaq turned positive in late-morning trade on Tuesday, led by gains in Apple Inc (AAPL.O) after Barclays raised its price target on the stock.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 31.11 points, or 0.28 percent, at 10,979.23. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index .SPX was down 1.82 points, or 0.16 percent, at 1,163.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 2.62 points, or 0.11 percent, at 2,404.95.
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A consumer’s credit card activity can be a key indicator of whether or not they can afford their mortgage, it has been suggested.
Investopedia has set out a list of tell-tale signs that point to mounting financial trouble and the likelihood of mortgage default.
These include the practice of only making the minimum repayments on credit cards, with Investopedia noting that this can lead to expensive debts building up over time, thereby hindering a person’s chances of keeping up with home loan repayments and other obligations.
“In your mind, paying the minimum due on each bill may mean you are keeping up with your financial commitments, but financial experts know that minimum-only payments are a key indicator of financial distress,” it said.
“While this may mean that you carry too much debt, this also means that all your income is barely covering your spending.”
Consumers aiming to limit their debts could choose to compare credit cards in search of the best options. Read more…
Creating a Successful Workplace
One of the keys to being an effective manager is to have an approach and philosophy that is consistent and visible to your employees. In fact, every business should take the time to establish a management philosophy for all supervisors and managers to follow that will foster a productive and successful working environment.A successful workplace will incorporate the following:
- Have goals for management and employees to strive for: Define the desired outcomes for your business/department/workgroup. Ensure the outcomes are measurable and the justification is clear.
- Reward results: Try not to focus on the time spent on a project. Instead, reward an employee or team that produces excellent results in a normal workday.
- Encourage balance: Many businesses want to be the number one priority of their employees.
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I’ve never been to Germany, but living in Central Texas can make you feel culturally close to the beer and wurst of Deutschland. And now, one of my blog posts has made a carnival celebrating the country’s annual Oktoberfest event.
For the latest Carnival of Personal Finance, host Alpha Consumer has chosen an Oktoberfest theme for her collection of blog posts from “the best of the web’s money writers.” The carnival includes my recent blog post, “The South: We’re poor, overweight — and we’ve got low credit scores,” which discusses how those scores appear to sink once you head below the Mason-Dixon line.
As a resident of Texas — which is part of the South, the Southwest or its own country, depending on who you ask — you don’t have to look far to find culinary and cultural connections with Germany (including links of the sausage variety, barbecued brisket, bock beers and accordion music, for example). Read more…