| Programs tempt users to pay and play
WASHINGTON -- Michael Cheng and his wife, Nicole, each have four credit cards in their wallets. A Post-it note on the top left corner of each card lets them know which one to use for what. The Chase rewards card is for groceries, gasoline and drugstore purchases. The Chase business card is for gas stations, home improvement and office-supply stores and restaurants. The Discover card is for restaurants and movies. The Farm Bureau Bank card is for everything else. In return for their purchases, they get checks or gift cards: 5 percent cash back from the Chase rewards card, 3 percent from Chase business, 5 percent from Discover and an amount equal to 1 percent from the Farm Bureau. The Chengs, who have a stack of other cards, keep track of the cash rewards on a spreadsheet: They made $1,121 in 2006 and $1,093 so far this year.
Credit card spree sees bank rethink issue policy
The perils of posting out unsolicited and pre-activated platinum credit cards were brought home to the ANZ Bank when it launched a new card in July. The policy was dropped after negative customer feedback and after at least one person got hold of one of the Qantas ANZ Visa cards and racked up more than $8000 before the cardholder, a Hastings woman, knew it had been issued. The first she knew about the card was when ANZ called her about some suspect purchases. "They rang me and asked if I still had my credit card. I looked in my wallet and said `yes'," the woman said. "He asked if I'd spent money in certain shops. I said `hell no', and that's when they must have realised what had happened. "I had my card so had no idea about it being stolen. Apparently the bank had sent out a replacement card I didn't need.
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.
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