Luke “Flexo” Landes of Consumerism Commentary has a guest post over at Wealth Pilgrim on whether the government should have a ban on reward credit cards. The post had the flavor of a thought experiment, and I’m not aware of any talk to implement this. Nonetheless, the thought of that idea sends a cold chill … Read more
The son of one of my high school classmates lost a tooth. He’s similar in age to my daughter. Here’s the brief exchange from my classmate and her son: My classmate: “[Son], what do you think the tooth fairy will bring?” Her son: “Maybe she can bring me a credit card!” Out of the mouths … Read more
I received a whole bunch of books, compliments of Jim Randel and friends, from The Skinny On series. I’ve read a few of them, not because I’m a particularly fast reader but because they’re super-quick reads. Truth in advertising: it even says so on the spines. The ones I’ve read so far are The Skinny … Read more
In the wake of the CARD Act comes some belt-tightening by credit card issuers because they now have to treat their most profitable customers as children, rather than letting them suffer the consequences of their financial actions. As these customers are no longer as profitable, issuers need to find money elsewhere. Enter The Case of … Read more
(This is a guest post from ThinkingMoney.org. If you like what you’ve read, consider subscribing to their feed.) When going on holiday one of the biggest worries is money. Having a budget and overspending is done far too often as we get carried away. Traveling abroad has special challenges. It doesn’t help that for some … Read more
Fresh after posting on whether small credit card charges are shameful or otherwise to be avoided, I got a comment on that post. “Paul” asks: “Wasn’t a provision of the financial reform bill that passed this July that store owners are now legally allowed to not accept a credit card charge for less than $10? … Read more
Visa and MasterCard have very clear rules with regard to requiring a certain minimum amount before accepting credit card as payment. They can’t. MasterCard will fine the merchant up to $20,000 for the first offense of this type. They take it seriously. (Side tip: If a merchant is obstinate about enforcing a minimum charge, the … Read more
Banking of late hasn’t been much to laugh about, but a couple of days ago I heard a term that gave me a pretty big laugh: frequent flier (n.): a credit union member who makes regular use of overdraft privilege on their checking account. Our credit union currently offers a couple of similar services: overdraft … Read more