Credit Card Base

Have you heard of this? The Whitehouse, along with “key government agencies, business leaders and privacy advocates” have cooked up a blueprint for a voluntary, centralized identification system that will  somehow clamp down on identity fraud on the web via the “use of trusted digital identities.” It’s called The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC). Sounds nice, I guess, but what the heck does that mean?

The incredibly broad and vague plan is introduced in the not-very-explanatory blog post from cybersecurity coordinator Howard A. Schmidt and laid out in befuddling detail in the draft strategy. And while no one’s arguing that it’d be nice to have a system where “individuals and organizations can complete online transactions with confidence, trusting the identities of each other and the identities of the infrastructure that the transaction runs on,” exactly how The Man intends to achieve that remains a mystery. While they are at

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An offshore bank account used to be the sort of tax-enhanced money management solution utilised only by the rich, famous or rather dodgy individual – but nowadays with the likes of high street banking giants HSBC promoting the benefits of offshore bank accounts, it seems that everyone wants one.  But is an offshore bank account of use to everyone?

The answer is absolutely not – however, an offshore bank account is of use to the average expat – and in this report we’ll show you why.  So, if you’re living abroad, you have property overseas, you’re retired abroad or your work takes you around the world, an offshore bank account could be a highly useful tool in your money management arsenal.

Forget what you’ve heard or read about offshore banking being all about tax avoidance, today such an account is all about the international efficient management of money.  In this report we will detail why many expats should bank offshore and how you can get your hands on an offshore bank account to suit your needs.

Why Exp

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The Allpoint Network surcharge-free ATM network is taking on the Big Apple thanks to recently signed long term agreements with Actors Federal Credit Union. With the agreements, the Cardtronics affiliate will provide New Yorkers branded surcharge-free access to 215 New York ATM locations, including locations at 200 McDonalds stores throughout the metro area. With the addition of the Actors ATMs, Allpoint will have more than 2,500 surcharge-free locations in New York. Adding the surcharge-free ATMs at high profile retail locations drives value for network member institutions.

Credit card reward schemes can offer consumers something for nothing despite the tough financial climate, according to Confused.com.

The comparison website has found that by doing day to day shopping on a credit card, customers could earn some impressive rewards, including free flights and shopping vouchers.

Based on an average household spend of £386.30 per week on a reward credit card, and by paying off the balance in full each month, a canny credit card shopper could benefit from some of these rewards within a year.

Some cards offer air miles as a reward, while others allow you to claim shopping vouchers or cash back if you spend over a certain amount.

Joanna Garcia, head of credit cards at confused.com said: “Using a reward based credit card can be a great way to earn incentives like cash back, flights and shopping vouchers.  Our findings show that it is still possible to get something for nothing and that savvy shoppers really can be rewarded for using a credit card, with incentives that all the family can benefit from. <

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In a case which occured in Bangalore, a man stole cheques from the drop box of an ATM counter in Bangalore and managed to encash one of these cheques in the same bank.

The ATM is a busy one in Bangalore and although it has CCTV facility and also a security guard, bank authorities could not tap the footage during the theft.

Branch manager K S Anil Kumar of HDFC Infantry Road said that he was informed of the recording on June 16th.

The theft occured on June 13th. The man entered the ATM at around 12.25 pm and also checked his account balance.

“He came back an hour later, forced open the cheque drop box plank and stole the cheques. The security guard was nowhere in sight, and returned after the thief was gone,” Kumar said in his complaint that he filed with the Commercial Street police station.

Kumar said that cheques had numbers 050510 and 050455  and were issued by Altaf Ahmed Chachia to Supreme Enterprises.

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Parkview Edmonton Home for Sale

Only 1 home has ever sold on the MLS® in Edmonton for over $3 million (it sold for $4.6 million in 2008). Today there are 8 residential properties asking $3 million or more, with one asking $15 million. Does Edmonton have an appetite for this type of listing?

Taking it down a notch, there are currently 105 residential properties in Edmonton asking $1 million or more listed on the MLS®, while 45 have sold so far this year. There are 168 asking between $750k and $1 million, while 121 have sold so far this year. That means there is a 14 month supply of homes asking over $1 million and an 8 month supply between $750k-$1 million. When you consider there is a 5 month supply of homes and condos in Edmonton in all price ranges right now, the luxury market is doing comparatively well; homes in higher price ranges typically take longer to sell.

When you compare luxury sales in 2010 to previous years, the luxury market is actually doing better than the market overall has done. S

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The longstanding battle between merchants and the banking industry has netted at least one victory for merchants on Capitol Hill. This week, the House and Senate came to an agreement over the issue of debit card swipe fees and are brining them under the purview of the federal government. What does that mean? We thought you’d never ask.

Interchange Fees

Interchange fees, or swipe fees, are a cut of the transaction that credit card issuers automatically get every time you pay with plastic. This is usually a percentage—so, if you buy a $100 DVD player,  about $98 goes to Best Buy and the remaining $2 gets divvied up between Bank of America, Visa, etc. By law, merchant’s can’t simply tack that amount on as a surcharge, which means that, in essence, credit card users pay less for their goods than those who pay in cash. Furthermore, certain cards have higher swipe fees than others. All of t

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