Credit Cards Online Information

You bring a touch of safety to your financial life when you shop with a credit card. If the goods are defective, and the merchant balks at taking them back, you can ask the credit-card issuer to rescind the charge.

But the issuers can't rescue you every time. Only certain types of transactions are covered.

Several readers recently complained to me that their banks had refused to reverse an unjust charge. As it turned out, the banks were following the rules. For your own protection, you need to know when you're covered and when you aren't.

The first thing you need to think about is the card you use. You're protected, by law, if your charge card was issued by the same store where you bought the disputed goods.

The rules change, however, if you shopped in person, using a bank card like Visa or MasterCard, or a travel-and-entertainment card like American Express.

With them, you're protected only if the item cost more than $50 and was bought in your home state or, if not, then within 100 miles of your mailing address. (Some card issuers stretch this role.)

You might also be protected if you used a credit card to buy by phone, mail or Internet, from a company that advertises in your state or sent material (such as a catalog) to you there. Whether these transactions occur in-state depend on state law, but they normally do.

You have to make a good-faith effort to resolve your problem with the merchant, unless the merchant is out of business. That means reporting the problem, immediately and in writing, and asking for a refund or other fix. Keep copies of your correspondence, as well as written notes of your telephone conversations.

The dispute must be over a consumer purchase. The law doesn't cover items used in business, including home businesses. If you're suckered into using your card to buy an overhyped "business opportunity," you'll be stuck with the bill unless a consumer-protection agency steps in.

You have to have paid with a credit card, not with a cash advance on your credit line. The "ready checks" or "cash checks," mailed to consumers by many banks, are treated as a cash advance. If you use them to buy goods that turn out to be less than advertised, the bank won't get you your money back.

The law also helps you only if you haven't paid for the item in full. The card issuer can erase an outstanding bill but won't recover money you've already paid.

In most cases, the merchant will settle the problem. If not, and if your transaction qualifies under all these rules, write to the card issuer.

Explain your case factually. Don't moan and groan all over the page. Attach evidence that you tried and failed to resolve the dispute. Ask the issuer to rescind - or "charge back" - the transaction under Regulation Z, as applied to the Truth in Lending Act.

The law requires the card issuer to investigate your complaint. During that time, the issuer cannot close your account or report you as delinquent - although it can note on your credit report that the payment is in dispute.

You're allowed to withhold payment only on that one transaction. Keep making payments on anything else charged to the card.

There's no time limit on asking for a charge back. But as a practical matter, you'll want to take care of it right - away before your nonpayment gets reported to a credit bureau.

If the card issuer believes you're right, it will charge the disputed payment back to the merchant's bank. The unpaid amount, plus any finance charges, will be taken off your bill.

On the other hand, the issuer may blame you for the problem - especially if the issuer is the very store you're arguing with. A bank might judge the dispute with a more disinterested eye.

If you're found to owe the money, and refuse to pay, the card issuer may report you as delinquent and blacken your credit standing. You can add your side of the story to your credit report, but that won't cut a lot of ice with other lenders you apply to.

You're generally not sued, unless the debt is large. More likely, your unpaid bill will be sold to a collection agency that will dun you for awhile.

Fortunately, few disputed cases ever get this far. Banks will usually rescind an unjust charge, as long as you're covered by the law.

New wrinkles in insurance

The next time you buy term insurance, you might not sit down with a life insurance agent. That's a costly way of selling, especially for term (term policies are cheap to buy, pay off when you die and have no internal investment values). The commissions are so puny they're rarely worth an agent's power of persuasion.

A new distribution system is developing, with different players and new ways of marketing. Banks and stock brokerage houses are selling by telephone, mail or Internet. Licensed agents still take your order, but they're voices at the end of a phone.

Term coverage, by contrast, will be mass-marketed to middle-income families. You'll have to take the initiative to buy coverage yourself. The new competition, however, should help you get a better deal. Price-quote services are proliferating. They search a term-policy database to find the best price for someone of your age and health.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:41 AM  0 Comments

An almighty alliance of government agencies, the regulator and consumer bodies is the only remedy to rid the credit card industry of the "smoke and mirrors" that lead consumers astray, according to MPs.

With Britons' credit card balances heading towards pounds 60bn, and eight million more cards in the UK than people, borrowers are still in danger of being duped by the illusion of a cheap plastic deal, according to a report released on Friday by the Treasury Select Committee.

After their exhaustive investigation into the UK's credit card industry last year, MPs on the committee are calling for changes that demand greater involvement from the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the City regulator, and from the Office of Fair Trading and consumer bodies such as Which?.

Jill Johnstone, director of policy at the National Consumer Council, says the committee's recommendations "home in on problem areas that new credit laws - on their way through Parliament - fail to address".

For starters, MPs want the FSA to investigate payment protection insurance (PPI), an added extra sold with cards or personal loans and supposed to protect consumers in the event of illness or job loss. Policies often carry crucial exclusions, making them of no value to the purchaser, the report says.

More data sharing between lenders carrying out customer credit checks is crucial too, MPs say, to prevent credit being offered to those unable to repay it. The current system, under which lenders may disclose different levels of information, was branded "inadequate".

In the past 12 months, a number of people have committed suicide after being allowed to run up debts far beyond their income. In the light of these cases, the committee's report recommends more co- operation between credit card companies, government departments and the independent Information Commissioner. At present, vital information is not being shared by card issuers as customer consent was not obtained when the account was opened.

Cardholders also need to have greater confidence that penalties imposed by lenders for late or missed payments and defaults are fair, the report says; an ongoing investigation by the Office of Fair Trading should help resolve that.

The obscure and myriad ways of calculating interest for the annual percentage rate (APR) have also led to demands for reform. A possible model developed by consumer groups and lenders might see companies adopting an APR standard - from which they could diverge only "so long as clear indications were given of the effect on consumers".

But the report isn't entirely critical of the credit card industry. It welcomes the progress made in the 14 months since December 2003, when the sector first came under MPs' scrutiny. Among the advances are the new summary boxes outlining charges on promotional credit card material, and warnings on card statements about the dangers of making only minimum repayments.

However, in both cases, more needs to be done, say MPs. The summary box should be standardised across the industry, and the minimum payment warnings more hard-hitting.

John McFall, Labour MP for Dumbarton and the committee chairman, pulls no punches. "Despite progress, consumers find it virtually impossible to work out which card would be the cheapest," he says. "The industry needs to tackle this problem as a matter of urgency."

In response, Sandra Quinn of the Association for Payment Clearing Services, the trade association of the credit card industry, says lenders will "continue to engage with the issues of transparency and competitiveness".

Meanwhile, the pressure on lenders will continue. The consumer groups are already lobbying for amendments to the Consumer Credit Bill and hope the report will trigger these.

But the FSA is lukewarm about the committee's recommendation that it look into PPI. A spokesman for the regulator says new rules on the sale of insurance are "adequate enough".

# posted by Medical Information : 3:41 AM  0 Comments

CREDIT CARD companies are increasingly withdrawing their free add- on extras such as travel and purchase-protection insurance, according to moneysupermarket.com, the financial-services comparison website, in a bid to claw back profits in an increasingly competitive market.

With many credit cards now offering extended interest-free periods of up to 12 months, and much lower standard rates than ever before, the last few months has seen many providers withdrawing some of the traditional free extras. Barclaycard, HSBC, Halifax and Lloyds TSB are among a string of providers who have scrapped free- insurance offers for their credit- card customers in recent months, to focus on competing on price.

Stuart Glendinning, the director of credit cards at moneysupermarket.com, blames the recent introduction of new regulations governing insurance sales for the withdrawal of free insurance products. "For the 77 per cent of consumers who pay off their balance in full each month, the free perks that credit cards offer can prove very attractive," he says. "The withdrawal of these fringe benefits by some leading card providers is a disappointment, and evidence of well-intentioned regulation having an adverse impact on consumer choice.

"I believe that the withdrawal of free insurance perks on credit cards, as well as other types of financial products, such as current accounts, is likely to be a growing trend hereon in, with many other providers following suit." Credit-card companies have also been cutting back on perks such as cashback. Most recently, Alliance & Leicester announced that it was axing its money-back deal, which gives customers 0.5 per cent cashback on their purchases.

Mr Glendinning continues: "As the cost of insurance regulation hits card- providers, and many choose to withdraw the perks, consumers should check that they are getting the best package from their provider. New customers may wish to consider other types of rewarding credit cards, such as those offering cashback or reward points, while existing customers should check their contract and be careful not to rely on any insurance cover that has previously been given."

He adds that the days of 0 per cent deals for balance transfers and purchases may also be numbered. An increasing number of providers have started introducing fees on balance transfers to recoup some of their losses.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:40 AM  0 Comments

ASHOCKING snapshot of bankruptcy in Scotland has revealed that most of those struggling with debt are aged under 30 and owe up to pounds-60,000 each.

The startling figures emerged from a study by one of Scotland's leading insolvency firms and also showed that credit card debt was the primary cause.

Bryan Jackson, insolvency practitioner and managing partner of PKF Accountants and Business Advisers, conducted an in-depth analysis of his recent cases and found that 60-per cent are aged under 30 and owed up to pounds-60,000 each.

Jackson has around 1000 open personal insolvency cases on his books currently, and receives 30 new ones each month, with PKF handling around 10-per cent more cases year on year. He has issued a stern warning about the soaring numbers of young people who are facing bankruptcy, and has called on the Scottish Executive to face up to the problem ahead of an expected further relaxation in bankruptcy laws.

He also warned that the credit-card crisis will intensify if the slowdown in the housing market materialises. He said: "It is absolutely horrendous, not for me, because it keeps me in business, but as a country we have to realise that credit card abuse is leading young people into debt.

"We need more education and something needs to be done to restrict lenders. You are offered credit everywhere you turn, and for some people, particularly the young, it is too tempting."

Jackson said that part of the problem is the stigma associated with chronic debts and bankruptcy has disappeared.

"Before 1913, if you owed anyone money you went to jail.

That was relaxed but you remained a bankrupt all your life. This changed in 1986, when it could be discharged after three years and was relaxed last year in England to one year to encourage entrepreneurs. But it isn't businesses going bankrupt, it's personal bankruptcies which have soared. " Jackson believes that similar bankruptcy rules will come into force in Scotland within the next two years, which will worsen the situation. He said: "In anticipation of this, I would encourage credit card companies and loan providers to adopt more responsible lending practices. I would also urge the Executive to take a pro-active approach to educating Scotland's young people about how better to manage their finances."

Today's debt crisis is not associated with traditional debt cycles which have historically been triggered by unemployment or a relationship break. All of the people aged between 20 and 30 involved in PKF's recent personal insolvencies were, without exception, in full-time employment.

Jackson blamed our materialistic and increasingly consumer- driven society. He said:

"Lifestyle expectations have soared. The 'buy now, pay later' ethos has been readily adopted by the younger generations, perhaps as a result of targeted advertising. Regardless of whether they can afford it, many people are enhancing their lifestyle and funding their purchases by means of credit."

PKF's cases in the 20 to 30 age range showed minimum debts of pounds-7000 with the worst spendthrifts clocking up loans of up to pounds-60,000. Many of his clients fell further into debt during the insolvency process by continuing to use credit cards.

According to Scotland's Insolvency Service, the number of insolvency cases in Scotland has risen from 5538 in 2000 to 8978 in 2004. Last year, Citizens' Advice, Scotland (CAS) dealt with a total consumer debt of pounds-130 million.

Ian Brown, spokesman for CAS said: "Consumer debt is the single biggest issue we dealt with last year and we are seeing more young people at our bureaus. One reason is because there is so much more pressure on young people to buy designer labels but, also, students are getting into debt from the age of 18 and are therefore getting used to debt from a very young age."

Alasdair Morgan, deputy convener of the Scottish parliament's finance committee and SNP shadow finance minister, said: "Financial affairs are more complicated than they have ever been and people are under increasing pressure to take out loans and credit cards, but there's not the training provided to make people ready to cope with that. This is a growing problem, and it's something the government should take a hand in solving."

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: "We are working on a number of fronts to increase financial awareness and education and do provide assistance to those in debt and facing bankruptcy. This help includes financial education in schools, money advice services and will include the Debt Arrangement Scheme [a new programme to help people in debt]."

MY CARD WASN'T FOR LUXURIES . . . JUST FOOD AND RENT

STEPHEN Russell, 26, is a journalist from Glasgow. At one point, he was juggling five different credit cards.

He said: "It started when I was in second year at Glasgow University. I went to the bank to see about my overdraft and they suggested I take out a credit card.

"They pitched it like it would give me that little bit extra that I could pay off at the end of the month. But, of course, as a student with a weekend job, I could only ever pay the minimum amount. I left university in 2001 and moved to London to do a masters in journalism. I had two credit cards maxed out at pounds- 1500, four student loans amounting to pounds-7000 and my overdraft at its limit. In London, things got really bad, but I wasn't using my cards for luxuries - just for food and paying rent.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:22 AM  0 Comments

Two people in possession of 30 drivers' licenses, 12 Social Security cards, 30 credit cards and counterfeit checks were arrested Thursday afternoon in a hotel parking lot.

Trinity Hansen had been featured on television as a fugitive and was wanted by police for running methamphetamine labs, said Jodi Monaco, spokeswoman for the Utah State Tax Commission.

The commission's Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division agents had been doing a routine patrol Thursday. While running the license plate on a red pickup, they found it didn't match the vehicle. When the man and a 17-year-old girl walked up, agents asked if the truck was theirs. They said no and that a nearby red sport-utility vehicle was theirs. Agents checked that vehicle's license plate and found it had been reported stolen, Monaco said.

Hansen was arrested, and the girl's parents were notified, as were the correct owners of the two vehicles.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:21 AM  0 Comments

The City of Los Angeles, which historically has demanded cash or checks only for payment for city fees and services, plans to begin accepting credit card and automatic teller machine card payments starting in early April.

"Credit cards have been around, I think, since about 1937. We're trying to get into the 20th Century before it ends," quipped Gerald Capodieci, chief deputy treasurer for the City of Los Angeles.

Actually, the City of L.A. will be among the first major metropolitan cities in the nation to accept credit cards or ATM cards as a vehicle of payment for fees and services, Capodieci said.

Credit cards will be initially be accepted for payment at non-essential city facilities, such as the L.A. Zoo and the Convention Center, Capodieci said. City officials are still trying to decide whether to allow credit cards - or just ATM cards - as a form of payment for essential city fees and services such as business licenses and building permits, he said.

The L.A. City Council voted unanimously last month to begin negotiating a contract with L.A.-based Imperial Bank to process the credit card charges for the city.

Imperial Bank Assistant Vice President Keith Boucher said he expects users of L.A. city services to charge $200 million to $300 million on credit cards annually.

Imperial Bank will get a percentage of all credit card sales, Boucher said. That figure is yet to be negotiated, but he said it should be a fraction of 1 percent.

Capodieci said the city is reviewing a contract with Imperial Bank and expects to begin accepting credit card payments at the L.A. Zoo and at the L.A. Convention Center in April.

Credit card services will be phased into other city departments over the next year or so, Capodieci said. He said the city wants to proceed slowly and cautiously and keep track of the costs of credit card payments.

The City of L.A. and other municipalities have historically avoided accepting credit cards because most credit card companies charge the vendor - in this case, it would be the city - a fee, typically about 1.5 percent, on each sale made to credit card customers, Capodieci said.

Second thoughts

"What has happened in other places is they have implemented them (credit cards) and said, 'Wait a minute, this is costing us a lot of money' and have backed out of it,'" he said.

A city committee, the banking and cash management committee, will decide whether to allow city customers to use credit cards to pay for non-discretionary city fees and services, such as building permits and business licenses, Capodieci said.

The city may accept ATM cards and the Discover credit card for those services, such as city permits and licenses, that city residents and business people can't buy anywhere else.

Discover credit cards have a feature in which the customer and not the vendor of services pays a fee for use of the card, Boucher explained. Visa and other major credit cards do not have this feature, he said.

The city will allow Visa and other major credit cards as a form of payment for city operations such as use of the Zoo, the Convention Center, city-owned parking lots and golf courses, and other non-essential services, Capodieci said.

Competition exists

The city has competition from the private sector for services such as the parking lots and golf courses and many of those competitors accept credit cards, he said.

Capodieci said that as part of its contract, Imperial Bank has agreed to install ATM machines in City Hall and other city buildings.

Imperial Bank plans to become the "premier" municipal credit cards and ATM service company, Boucher said.

Imperial Bank sales people have begun calling city officials in other cities in Los Angeles County, such as Long Beach, Glendale and Pasadena, trying to convince them to allow credit card payments for city fees and services.

"The cities aren't up to speed on what credit cards can do," said John Allen Tharpe, municipal credit card coordinator for Imperial Bank. He noted that by allowing credit cards as a form of payment, cities could cut down on the problem of receiving checks that later bounce.

Another L.A.-based bank company, First Interstate Bancorp, is also pursuing the municipal credit card service business, said Susan Cotton, manager of government services for the downtown L.A.-based company.

Currently, "a small portion" of government agencies offer credit cards as a payment option, but that is changing, Cotton said.

"We're seeing more and more cities, counties and water districts offer credit cards as an option to their residents to enhance timely payment and increase payment flexibility," she said.

Capodieci said L.A. City Council members are in favor of the credit card program because they want to make city services more accessible to residents and businesses.

"The cities are now in competition with each other to be the most efficient, most effective city to do business in," Capodieci noted.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:21 AM  0 Comments

Your last dollar won't mean your last call at Summerfest, as patrons will discover when the fest opens on Thursday.

For the first time, cash registers at the 43 beer stands at Maier Festival Park will have swipe-and-go credit card capability. The next round for you and your friends is only a simple electronic transaction away.

Summerfest managers say they made the change to make it more convenient for Big Gig patrons.

A comment in the festival budget for this year adds another possible motivation: "Beverage sales will be reorganized in 2005. The change will result in an increase in profits."

Along with installation of credit card systems at 350 cash registers, Summerfest has contracted out nearly all of its beer vending to one business: Major Goolsby's.

In previous years, beer stands have been staffed by Summerfest employees and workers hired by various vendors. Major Goolsby's workers worked the stands around the Briggs & Stratton and Harley-Davidson stages in recent years, and have been a part of the Summerfest operation for three decades.

Summerfest President Don Smiley, in charge of his first Big Gig, sought to consolidate beer sales to a single vendor after studying the operation last year. Goolsby's won the contract based, in part, on its past performance.

The venerable downtown sports bar has hired 750 bartenders and supervisors to manage the beer sales, tapping a list of those who worked at the festival in previous years.

There are two exceptions to Major Goolsby's Miller monopoly: Jo Jo's Martini Bar and the Water St. Brewery pavilion.

One thing remains the same: Milwaukee World Festivals Inc. will take a commission out of each cup sold, a flow of cash that represents its second-largest source of revenue. The 2005 Summerfest budget projects a take of $5.5 million on beer and beverage sales, plus another $1 million from food and soft drinks sold by restaurant vendors.

The other big revenue sources are $6.9 million from sponsors and $3.27 million from gate ticket sales.

Summerfest spokesman John Boler said the changes should make it easier for patrons to buy beer and for Summerfest officials to track sales information.

Beer lines actually should move faster with the credit card terminals, said Sue Landry, the festival's chief financial officer. Cash transactions average 12 seconds, while credit card transactions have tested out at 8 seconds, she said.

No signature will be required for sales under $25. With a four- beer maximum per sale, and 16-ounce cup prices at $4.00 or $4.50, pens and penmanship will not be an issue.

"This is trying to get us into the 20th century," said Howard Schnoll, chairman of the Summerfest Board of Directors.

"Most people are in a credit card economy, and they don't walk around with cash," he said. "Our mandate has always been we want this to be a very customer-friendly festival."

That may be too customer friendly in the eyes of Kari Kinnard, executive director of the Wisconsin chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Ease and accessibility are factors that contribute to irresponsible drinking and drunken driving, Kinnard said. Giving drinkers an extra option to buy more after they've already spent their beer money could increase the risk of drunken driving and other irresponsible behavior, she said.

"It could be the doorway to some dangerous territory."

Schnoll said the diligence of the bartenders, Summerfest security and the Milwaukee police should limit any negative impacts of the late-night credit card splurges. Underage drinkers will be stopped, and drunks will be cut off, Schnoll said.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:30 AM  0 Comments

Slightly over 35% of all U.S. adults report that they are close to the credit limits on their personal credit cards, according to a national survey by Decision Analyst, Inc., a national marketing research company based in Arlington, Tex. "It's somewhat surprising to see so many consumers overextended on their credit cards during the peak of a strong economy," says Jerry W. Thomas, president/CEO of the company. "It's disconcerting to contemplate how bad the credit card debt problem would become if the economy should enter a recession."

Women are a little more likely than men (37.3% vs. 33%) to say that they are close to the limits on their credit cards. The 25-to-34 age group reports the highest level (43.1%) of "credit limit" blues.

"This is the "start-up time of life, when incomes are lowest and wishes the strongest," notes Thomas. "The 18-to-24 age group would have high credit limit problems except that many in this age group are not yet able to get credit cards. The 55-plus age group is least likely to be close to their credit card limits."

# posted by Medical Information : 3:29 AM  0 Comments

Cashback on British credit cards is in danger of death by a thousand cuts.

This financial perk " money for nothing if you repay your card debt in full each month " is ailing by the month as more lenders join the list of providers reducing cashback.

Nationwide building society customers have been the latest to suffer. From 1 March, people already holding its Cash Reward card saw their rate on purchases halved to 0.25 per cent, while new customers now earn only 0.5 per cent during a six- month introductory offer; it used to be 1 per cent.

Nationwide is only following in the footsteps of Egg, the Halifax, Bank of Scotland, American Express, easyMoney and Accucard, all of which have pared back the perk in the past 12 months.

Egg set the ball rolling in April last year when it chopped its 0.5 per cent cashback on all purchases to a meagre 0.1 per cent.

In October, Accucard and easyMoney both lopped 0.3 per cent off MasterCard cashback purchases of up to pounds 20,000. The rate fell to just 0.5 per cent.

The cashback clampdown is all about card firms trying to save money, says Samantha Owens from financial analyst Moneyfacts. 'In recent months it has become more apparent that providers are feeling the pinch. We see that not just in [lower] cashback rates but also [fewer] interest-free deals.'

Despite the cuts, there is the odd reprieve. Morgan Stanley recently bucked the trend with a promotional offer of double cashback on new Platinum cards " paying 2 per cent on the first pounds 2,000 of purchases made and 1 per cent thereafter until 1 August (at which point it will pay 1 per cent and 0.5 per cent). Existing customers will continue to get just 1 per cent on the first pounds 2,000 and then 0.5 per cent.

'This is simply an introductory offer to attract customers at a time when so many rival providers are cutting their benefits,' says Ms Owens.

She recommends Amex's Blue credit card. This offers cashback of 2 per cent for the first three months, though there is a pounds 15 annual fee if you don't spend pounds 500 inside 12 months. The rate is then 0.5 per cent for balances up to pounds 2,000, and 1 per cent above this.

Since February, the Halifax has offered cashback on current accounts. It pays 1 per cent on debit card spending of up to pounds 10,000 a year, giving a maximum cashback of pounds 100.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:29 AM  0 Comments

Comparing the cost of credit would be much easier if lenders all quoted interest rates in the same way. So it is bizarre that the Government has this week decided to reject a recommendation from the Treasury Select Committee that lenders should have to adopt a standard formula for advertising interest rates.

The Department for Trade and Industry believes such rules might be counter- productive, reducing choice for consumers. Choice is a familiar mantra with this Government, which regularly uses the concept as a reason not to support campaigns by consumer bodies. It was the line trotted out, for example, when ministers refused to ban junk food in school dinners.

In this case, the Government has fallen for a spurious argument peddled by credit card lenders. These companies are engaged in a frantic price war " all too often, sneaky charges and complicated interest rates are their way of clawing a few pounds back from borrowers. As a result, it is difficult to make an informed choice about the cost of plastic. At a time when consumer credit is at epic proportions " borrowing topped pounds 1 trillion for the first time last year " that makes no sense at all.

Sometimes, governments have to take action to protect people from themselves. Expensive credit cards and loans are the Turkey Twizzlers of the financial services industry. But until the health warnings on pricey plastic are made more prominent " with clearer information on what borrowing actually costs " people will keep piling on the pounds.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:06 AM  0 Comments

Credit cards and thousands of dollars of property were stolen from a teacher's home in Clearfield.

Police aren't sure how many people burglarized the home, but they do know that on Friday two men were seen on surveillance tapes using the credit cards, according to a police news release.

At Wal-Mart stores in Harrisville and Riverdale, and at a Bed, Bath and Beyond store in Ogden, the two men bought various items, including two fire safes, police said.

Both men are described as white, 5 feet 9 inches and at least 35 years old. One man had a mustache, weighs about 180 pounds and had short, brown receding hair.

The other weighs about 210 pounds, had receding brown hair and had stubble, the release states.

They were seen leaving one of the Wal-Mart stores in a gray or silver minivan.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:06 AM  0 Comments

A What do you think about companies that refuse to accept check cards, cash, or personal checks as payment? I feel this is discriminatory. We all know that credit is not available to everyone, and not always for reasons in the user's control.

Cleveland

Although I understand your discontent, I wouldn't cry foul just yet. One reason some companies, such as rental car agencies, require a credit card is because it's a measure of the consumer's creditworthiness to the lender, in other words, these merchants can use your card for assurance in case anything happens to their merchandise (e.g., if you get into an auto accident and the damage is not fully covered by insurance).

Debit cards, on the other hand, are issued by banks and typically have the MasterCard or Visa logo on them. However, money is taken from the user's account immediately and there may or may not be additional funds available. "When a credit card is used, a merchant has the added security of a third-party payment system. This means that the merchant will receive payment from the bank that issued the credit card. The responsibility of actually collecting money from the customer will then fall to the bank," according to ConsumerAlert.org

See if the merchant allows other forms of payment besides credit cards. It may mean a prepayment or documentation such as employment verification, but it might be worth it.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:04 AM  0 Comments

A woman accused of both theft and possession of stolen credit cards was charged Wednesday with two third-degree felonies and two class B misdemeanors.

Court documents allege the woman attempted to buy $359 worth of goods at a Salt Lake County Smith's supermarket with a stolen credit card. When the card was rejected as stolen and the store alarm went off, the woman ran out of the store, dumping an additional $16 worth of merchandise out of her purse, documents state.

Then, when the woman was taken into custody and searched, police say a second credit card belonging to another person was found in the lining of her purse. The owner of the second credit card claims both his wallet and car were stolen in March.

The woman is being charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a credit card, one count of retail theft and one count of theft by receiving stolen property. She is not being charged in connection with vehicle theft.

If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

# posted by Medical Information : 6:14 AM  0 Comments

McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman said the number of U.S. restaurants and markets that would take charge cards was "yet to be determined." He explained: "Our franchisees need to be part of the decision-making process. This is an optional initiative."

McDonald's has said little about its single-unit test of Tiktok, although a spokeswoman has been quoted as calling it an "automated convenience store." It is believed to be North America's first fully automatic 24-hour mini-store.

Opened Aug. 14 at the corner of 18th Street and California Avenue NW in the trendy Adams-Morgan neighborhood near the White House, the Tiktok is about 15 feet by 12 feet wide and stocks some 200 items, from food, beverage and grocery products to household staples and personal items like tampons and condoms. It accepts cash and credit cards and functions much like similar refrigerated vending units in Europe that are said to be able to generate annual sales of nearly $200,000.

McDonald's acquired the former "Shop 2000" prototype from Automated Distribution Technologies of Exton, Pa., whose president, Hettie Herzog, got the idea from units in Europe.

Beside the Tiktok is one of about 12 DVD movie-rental vending machines McDonald's has opened in Washington. The others are on its restaurants' parking lots. They take only credit cards and charge $1.59 a day per movie.

# posted by Medical Information : 6:14 AM  0 Comments

Where is your credit card bill? Mine is living in the fridge. It is unopened, unread and almost certainly in the red; I'll wait for Barclaycard to give me the customary angry call (and fat fine) before I try to find the cash.

It is a strange comfort to know I am not alone: we are a nation in deep credit-card denial. This week, NatWest joined the roll-call of banks " Barclays, HSBC " warning that card arrears and bad debts are mushrooming in Britain. Repossessions have now hit their highest level since 1995, and all the debt helplines say they are maxed-out with calls from panicked consumers.

Across the West, attitudes towards debt have mutated at an extraordinary rate. My grandmother " a typical working-class woman of her generation " considers debt to be a shaming, sordid secret. She still shudders when she recalls the pounds 8 loan she took out in the early 1950s, and she finds my Rolodex of chaotic credit cards incomprehensibly dangerous. But among my age group, I don't know anyone at all who isn't marinated in debt. The average twentysomething owes pounds 16,000, according to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), and about a third of us live in a protracted state of credit-denial. In one recent poll, 70 per cent of young people said there was 'nothing wrong' with living in debt. The credit card revolution has suffocated the stigma surrounding debt in just two generations.

Is this an entirely bad thing? It's important to remember what a world without access to credit was like. A whole class of people was cut off from buying consumer goods because of a lack of initial capital. My grandparents had to spend years saving to buy their first television, because the idea of buy-now-pay-later did not exist; ditto, their first fridge. Is that a world to pine for?

For a lot of people today, credit works. But for two groups in particular, it doesn't. They are " and I know this sounds like the name of an American day-time soap - the young and the poor.

Today, a remarkable 60 per cent of personal bankrupts are under 30: buy now, pay never. Malcolm Hurlston, the former head of the CCCS, explains: 'We have clients in their twenties who are on debt management plans which will last until they are in their late thirties. This is not a good way to start off if you want to get married, buy a property, start a family " all the normal processes most of us expect to happen. We need to know what is driving young people to rack up debts of over pounds 20,000 and pounds 30,000 in their twenties.' Apart from a few spoiled Trustafarians, young people with large debts do not have any capital to fall back on. If the economy begins to droop, they will be disproportionately hurt.

For some professional Victor Meldrews, this is a sign of a uniquely feckless and hedonistic generation. No discipline! No restraint! I don't think it's so simple. No other generation has been bombarded with hard-sell loan offers. While my parents had to beg for loans, I have to virtually fight them off. Barely a week passes without us being offered swathes of easy, instant cash. It would take a great deal of moral restraint to resist every time, especially since we are actually required to get into debt for Good Reasons (like a University education) elsewhere. Nor has any other generation been subject to saturation-advertising, or to a society that values gluttonous consumption above all else.

But these explanations will be little comfort as the repossession notices are nailed up, and, for the other debtor class " the British poor " the dangers are greatest of all. One of my neighbours who lives on a grim estate is constantly having to turn away Dickensian door-to-door creditors (some legal, some not) asking 'Do you want to be able to buy your children some presents?', often in front of her little girl.

In his report for the New Economic Foundation, 'Profiting from Poverty', Henry Porter explains: 'Big business, including some of the world's leading financial service companies, is involved in a highly lucrative industry that feeds off poverty and financial exclusion. The result is that those least able to afford credit end up paying the most for it.'

In Britain, the poor are catered for by a dodgy market known as 'sub- prime lending'. If you are one of the 8 million people who don't have the income or financial stability to qualify for the nice air-conditioned banks, you fall into this category " and you can face stratospheric rates of APR. The report describes Mary, a single mother living on benefits in east London, who was offered a pounds 200 loan by a legal money-lending firm. Under the terms of the agreement, she was required to pay back pounds 300 over the course of 30 weeks (a level of 330 per cent APR). After just a month, she obviously found she couldn't afford it " so she was offered a second loan of pounds 500 to settle her debt and cover some essentials. Again she defaulted; this time, she was offered a pounds 1,000 loan to cover it. And on and on, so that in just six months her pounds 200 loan had swollen to pounds 2,227, and eventually exceeded pounds 7,000.

# posted by Medical Information : 6:13 AM  0 Comments