| Vouchers make it safer online
Online shopping holdouts can now buy virtual Visa vouchers to pay for internet purchases without the need for plastic cards or even a bank account. The move is expected to assuage fears of thousands of Australians who avoid shopping over the internet or telephone for fear of credit card fraud. Customers can buy "VCard" credit from retail stores in the same way they buy pre-paid mobile phone credit. The credit - up to $1000 per VCard - can then be used in place of a credit card anywhere in the world that accepts Visa. A once-off fee of $5.50 applies for each voucher and you can't spend more than the amount you put on. Market research firm Forrester, in a report released in April, found 7.2 million Australians were online shoppers. It forecast that figure would grow by an average of 22 per cent a year between now and 2010.
Wachovia is looking to add products as part of its overhaul of credit-card unit
Wachovia Corp. is looking for innovative thinkers and fresh ideas as it expands its card and payments business. And the bank also wants to introduce new products from that business soon. This week, the company began interviewing candidates to lead its emerging payment services group. It's one three segments of the new consumer and small-business payments unit headed by Steve Boehm, who previously ran Wachovia's relaunched credit-card business. The others are card services and payment services. In weighing new products, Boehm is particularly interested in areas such as mobile payments, in which consumers would use phones or handheld devices to process payments. Other possibilities include products in the health-care arena and online peer-to-peer payments such as PayPal.
Vouchers to beat fraud on internet
PEOPLE who are nervous about online shopping can now buy virtual vouchers to pay for internet purchases without the need for plastic cards or even a bank account. The move should assuage the fears of thousands of Australians who avoid shopping over the internet or telephone for fear of credit card fraud. Customers can buy VCard credit from retailers in the same way they buy prepaid mobile phones. The credit - up to $1000 per VCard - can then be used in place of a credit card anywhere that accepts Visa. A one-off fee of $5.50 applies for each voucher and the customer cannot spend more than the amount on it. The market research firm Forrester, in a report released in April, found that 7.2 million Australians were online shoppers. It forecast that that figure would grow by an average of 22 per cent a year until 2010.
Citigroup CEO Charles Prince Resigns
Citigroup Inc. says its chairman and chief executive, Charles Prince, beset by the company's billions of dollars in losses from investing in bad debt, has retired and is being replaced as chairman by former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. In an announcement following an emergency Sunday board meeting, Citigroup also said Sir Win Bischoff, chairman of Citi Europe and a Member of the Citi management and operating committees, would serve as interim CEO. Rubin, a former co-chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., has served as the chair of Citi's executive committee. CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reports the shakeup at Citigroup, the world's largest bank, follows the abrupt departure last Tuesday of former CEO Stan O'Neal from Merrill Lynch, the world's largest brokerage firm. While both firms lost billions, analysts insist the damage isn't fatal.
When helping others at the holidays, give generously but wisely
As we gather with friends and family to give thanks for our good fortune during the holidays, many of us will feel inspired to help others. Making a donation to charity can be an important part of the holidays and a great way to give back to our communities. But some of the people who claim to raise money for charities may try to take advantage of our generosity. Scammers will try to collect donations for fake charities or pretend to work for a real charity when they don�t. Some shameless scammers may try to use the real victims of recent disasters, like fires in California or floods in Mexico, to make their phony pleas sound plausible. .
Nigeria: I Value My Cellphone More Than My Credit Card -Mo Abudu
A dream is often unfamiliar territory for us - whether the ones we have while sleeping or the ones we nurse during our waking moments and hope to someday actualise. They are often made up of things we cannot quite understand and are not quite sure we can achieve and sometimes, fear prevails and people decide to stay within the safety of their comfort zone. But one lady would not be bound by this conventional, pedestrian limitation. She dared....and triumphed! Mo Abudu, entrepreneur and HR consultant, has decided to stretch beyond a terrain that she is familiar with or known for, moving into an area she has never worked in before - the area of television. As she commences this journey, we see passion, creativity and hope that it will be a success and she acts as a role model to those who have similar journeys to take or a conduit to those who have successfully taken their journeys, using the medium of a talk show to reach, encourage and highlight them.
Avril Lavigne Announces 'Best Damn Tour'
Following the enormous success of her third studio album and second consecutive #1 debut, Best Damn Thing, Avril Lavigne has announced plans for her 2008 "Best Damn Tour." Produced by Live Nation and featuring special guests Boys Like Girls, the tour will begin March 5th in Victoria, BC. Today from Hollywood's famed Whisky A-Go-Go, Lavigne announced 32 North American dates (see routing below); additional dates will be revealed shortly. Tickets go on sale beginning Saturday, November 17th and are available through Live Nation (http://www.LiveNation.com) or Ticketmaster (http://www.ticketmaster.com). Fans can also go to http://www.avrillavigne.com and click the "fan club" icon to register for special access to presale tickets. .
America's credit card debt climbs to new record
While the fallout of the subprime loan industry collapse continues to play out, momentum is gaining on another potential economic calamity: Americans now owe a record $915 billion in credit card debt, according to a new report by Moody's Investors Service. Credit card companies wrote off 4.58 percent in payments between January and May, almost a third more than in the same period in 2006, Moody's said. As a result, lenders such as Citigroup, Bank of America, and American Express, already reeling from the subprime mortgage collapse, are being further weakened, according to a new report at MoneyNews.com. The third quarter numbers for banks were the worst since 2001, MoneyNews.com reported. The stock market slid again today on news about record crude oil prices exceeding $98 per barrel and General Motors Corp.'s quarterly loss of $39 billion.
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