Credit Card Now

There’s a battle raging in America, and it’s not one involving weapons or violence. Rather, the fray is seen in the corporate world, and it’s all about our money.

Now, we’re all used to marketing efforts that encourage us to buy from one company instead of another, but this is a different fight.

This isn’t about where we spend our money, it’s about how we spend it.

Attention around Near Field Communication is growing throughout mainstream media. Even so, many are unaware of its existence and future possibilities.

Simply put, Near Field Communication (NFC) is the ability for two wireless technologies to communicate with one another, typically requiring a proximity of four centimeters or less.

There are dozens of innovative, remarkable uses that could, and eventually will, come from NFC. However, th

Read more…

The first credit card to ever feature a 100,000 mile signup bonus has just brought it back. For a limited time, through May 6, 2011, the British Airways Visa Signature card is offering 100,000 bonus BA miles, enough for 2 transatlantic roundtrip reward flights. You’ll receive 50,000 bonus BA miles after your first purchase, plus an additional 50,000 bonus BA miles after you spend $2,500 within the first 3 months of opening your account.

BA miles can also be spent on partner airlines including AA, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL, LAN, Hungarian Airlines, Mexicana, Qantas, Royal Jordanian Airlines and S7. T

Read more…

Tags: Bonus, Signature Card, Visa Signature, Visa Signature Card

They said it couldn’t be done, but it has: Two blog posts in two blog carnivals — in one week.

This week, two of my recent blog posts made it into two separate carnivals, establishing what surely must be some sort of Internet record. Yeah, that’s right Rebecca Black: You’re not the only online phenomenon.

My blog post about the Epsilon data breach, “Consumers, bank customers on alert following major email theft,” made it into the Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted this week by Blogging For Change. Meanwhile, my blog post about an Experian credit reporting foul-up titled “April Fool’s Day blunder temporarily damages borrowers’ credit” was included in the Totally Money Blog Carnival, hosted by Thousandaire. Those carnivals collected lots of great personal finance posts from across the web, and like a recording artist winning their first Grammy, I’ll say that I’m humbled to be included alongside them.

Those blog carnival inclusions have already made for an exciting week, and it’s only Monday. Read more…

Tags: Week, Week Internet

The next email bearing my bank’s logo could very well be from a hacker.

Earlier today, Chase sent an email warning of a major theft that could affect me and other bank customers. “Chase is letting our customers know that we have been informed by Epsilon, a vendor we use to send emails, that an unauthorized person outside Epsilon accessed files that included email addresses of some Chase customers,” the email said.

Chase explained that although some customer email addresses were compromised in the breach, the stolen information “did not include any customer account or financial information. Based on everything we know, your accounts and confidential information remain secure.”

Based on news reports, Chase customers aren’t the only ones who have been victimized. Read more…

Tags: Bank Customers, Theft

The earthquake in Japan scared the crap out of me, and I was simply sitting in the comfort of my home nearly 5,000 miles away.

I would find myself up late at night watching video clips on CNN over and over again thinking, “Did this really just happen?” The footage looked like something straight out of an apocalyptic movie. Really scary stuff!

Of course, my thoughts would eventually turn to all the Japanese people whose lives were lost and how prepared I would be to take care of my own family and friends in the face of such devastation. I do live in Seattle, so earthquakes and even tsunamis are real dangers that shouldn’t be ignored. Sadly, I can’t say I’m prepared at all.

So I’m determined this month to buy 72-hour kits that will always be ready to go in the event of an unplanned evacuation from our home. I’d also li

Read more…