A private label card is a credit card offered by a retailer to be used exclusively at its stores. The cards are usually managed by a financial institution and not by the retailer. It’s like your favorite store stamped its logo on one of your credit cards – it’s still a credit card, it just has a different design (…and you can only use it in one place).
Archive for the ‘Credit Payments’ Category
A Private Label Card is…
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011Apparently Debt is the New Cigarettes
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
(photo credit: paalia)
Now, debt isn’t necessarily a bad thing, okay? But this is a little crazy. For the past 25 years, people in their early and mid-twenties have reported feeling a thrill of maturity and self-confidence when they first started to dig themselves into the debt hole.
Whether the money was going toward education or just going into the “I’ll pay for this pizza later” pile, young adults – especially those in the lowest 25% of income earners – said they experienced greater “self-esteem and perceived mastery” when they began to run up a tab.
Some kinds of debt are better than others. In general, debt that can be considered an investment in something – like a home, or an education that can get you a better job – is a good thing. But debt that gets you nothing but fees, interest rates, and a pizza that has long since been digested and forgotten – i.e., credit card debt – is not good.
The most important factor in determining whether your debt is good or bad is whether you’re able to make payments in full and on time. If you don’t, your credit score will suffer and you’ll find yourself on the road to Massive Debt.
Which, by the time you reach 28 (according to the study), will start to make you feel kind of bad about yourself.
Credit Scores Around the Country [Interactive Infographic]
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
(click on the map to go to the interactive graphic)
Do you know what your credit score is? Maybe you should try surviving the credit storm before you start buying houses…
(Via Column Five for Credit Sesame)
Accounts Receivable is…
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011Accounts receivable (A/R) is an accounting term that refers to money someone owes to a store or business. If you buy something from a store, but don’t pay them right away – the amount that you owe goes into the store’s accounts receivable record.
Most large companies have an entire accounts receivable department that is solely focused on keeping track of money owed to the company.
Online Shopping Gets Smarter [Than You]
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
(credit: Unhindered by Talent)
Guess what? Retailers are getting smarter and smarter when it comes to separating you and your cash (or credit card info, to be more precise).
First there was members-only designer discount site Gilt Groupe, with time limits for checking out with your items. Then we saw the daily deals companies like Groupon and LivingSocial. There’s Rent the Runway, where you can rent a hot little piece of couture for an event for under $200.
And now, for a mere $30 monthly subscription fee, online shops like JewelMint will get to know your tastes and offer up pieces it’s sure you’ll like. All based on an algorithm. This is in some ways even cooler than the computer from Star Trek: The Next Generation that made Captain Picard all those cups of tea with a simple voice command.
The online shopping world will surely continue to evolve, getting cooler, more convenient, and quite a bit more manipulative in the process. So don’t forget to bring your brain when you go on your next online shopping spree.
Think you’re a conscious consumer? Take our Where Does the Money Go? challenge!
Whoa – Credit Card Fees Higher Than Ever!
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011“NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Interest rates are now hovering near record highs, at an average rate of 14.72%. And if your credit is bad enough, you could even end up with a rate as high as 59.9% APR.
That’s because while the CARD Act helped crack down on certain fees and requires more disclosures, it didn’t cap every credit card holder’s worst enemy: interest rates.”
What do you think?
Do you know how much interest your card company will charge you for a late payment?
Sneaky Tricks Debit Card Companies Play – And How To Play Them Back
Friday, January 7th, 2011The man behind the Your Money column in the NYTimes gives a fast-moving and really useful explanation of debit and credit cards. Understanding the difference and some features of each can potentially save you a few hundred bucks a month – money you can surely put to much better use.
Feed your head, not your bank’s overdraft fee collectors.
What You Should Know Before You Budget
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
Credit: apium
Sticking to a budget is more or less like sticking to a diet: It sucks, and you’re almost guaranteed to fail.
BUT! There’s another way. With a few simple tricks, you can take control of your spending and avoid feeling guilty all the time. Here’s what Tara Siegel Bernard from the New York Times has to say:
- Let the robots take control. Set up automatic transfers to your savings and investment accounts. It only takes a few minutes. If your savings is being automatically transferred out of your spending account every month, you don’t have to worry about spending it!
- Start at the finish line. What are you saving for? Saving is easier when you have a goal in mind (a vacation, a new car, an obscenely expensive pair of shoes). Figure out how much money you need and you’ll know how much money to have automatically transferred each month.
- Separate the fun money from the serious money. If you have a phone bill or rent to pay, keep that money separate from the money you plan to squander irresponsibly at the mall. Obviously.
- Brace yourself for big surprises. One of the easiest ways to muck up your budget is to suddenly spend a lot of money you hadn’t planned for. This one’s easy, though. Put a little extra away somewhere each month. You can use that to cover your surprise expenses without feeling like a total budgeting loser.
Best Quote:
“Ultimately, what we want our money to be is an energy source. It should help us get somewhere or do something.” – Amanda Clayman, Financial Therapist (only in New York!)
Loan-Linked Debit Cards Sidestep College Credit Card Law
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010The CARD Act of 2009 has barely been in place for a month, but companies are already turning a profit with a variation on the theme…
- A company called Higher One has figured out how to make money on college students using plastic, despite recent regulations designed to keep credit card companies from preying on the under-21 population. And they’re not the only ones finding loopholes in the new regulations: PNC Bank has been encouraging schools to market PNC’s products to students on campus, since PNC is now barred from doing so itself.
- With the cooperation of school administrators, Higher One links student loan accounts to debit cards, allowing students to spend their financial aid funds anywhere with a single swipe. The cards are accepted anywhere MasterCard is, and they’re often branded with the school’s emblem.
- Though participating colleges say the card program makes accessing financial aid easier for students, many students are not convinced. The cards come with all sorts of fees, and the way the program is pushed by schools makes it look suspicious. Some schools use the cards as substitutes for student IDs, requiring everyone on campus to have one even if they don’t have a HigherOne account.
Facts & Figures
- The penalty for not using your Higher One debit card for 9 months is $19 per month.
- Other fees include $2.50 for ATM transactions with other banks and $0.50 per transaction made as “debit” (entering a PIN) rather than “credit” (signing a receipt).
- 675 colleges in the U.S. participate in Higher One’s debit card program.
- Higher One’s sales in the 3rd quarter of 2010 were $27 million.
“The [Higher One] Refund Card mailing may look like an unwanted credit card offer. PLEASE DO NOT DISCARD IT.” – From the website of the University of Maryland at Baltimore
Your Friend Can Now Lend You $20 Using A Credit Card
Friday, October 1st, 2010Is this the end of the entire credit card business model as we know it??
- A new company called Square is blowing the minds of credit card company executives everywhere. Square produces a little gadget that plugs into the headphone jacks of a variety of iThings and the Android phone. That’s where things get crazy.
- The free device allows anybody with a bank account to accept credit card payments in person or over the phone.
- Usually, only businesses accept credit cards. They have to purchase expensive equipment and then pay fee after fee just for the ability to process credit payments. Square Up changes that, eliminating equipment, setup, and maintenance fees.
Facts & Figures
- Square’s chief executive is the co-founder of Twitter.
- Each time you process a payment using Square Up, the company keeps 2.75% of the transaction amount, plus $0.15.
- At first, transactions are capped at $1,000, but that cap can be raised over time or for established businesses.