March 2011 Archives

The closing credits are rolling for Blockbuster gift cards.

As part of its slow-motion bankruptcy, the once-ubiquitous renter of videos (how quaint!) has announced it will no longer honor gift certificates or gift cards after April 6, 2011.

Millions of people have made purchases at Starbucks using just their smartphones, the coffee mega-retailer said.

That announcement on March 23 -- perhaps our strong indication yet of people's appetites for using mobile payments to buy everyday items -- made headlines, but it's just the latest example of the continued mainstreaming of mobile payments.

Many credit card terminals in Europe still have functionality to accept payment from American magnetic stripe cards, but the cashier usually has to do it manually. Most automated payment systems, such as unstaffed train stations or petrol pumps, only accept chip-and-PIN cards. European credit cards still have magnetic strips so that they can be used when these folks travel to the U.S., but the bankers aren't wild about it since it exposes them to the type of fraud that they try to prevent.

America received its first chip-and-PIN card in May, but it was only for the United Nations Federal Credit Union. The most development on this topic is that the European Payments Council, which sets standards for payment-related issues, On January 31, the European Payments Council, which sets standards for payments, said that they are ready for magnetic strip cards to go just like they did in Europe in 2005. According to MSNBC, they passed a resolution saying the "use of magnetic stripe be restricted to exceptional cases" and allows banks to "refuse magnetic stripe transactions if they so wish."

Chip-and-PIN technology just doesn't seem to be on the priority list for American credit card issuers, though an expert in the MSNBC article says that we'll more likely skip over the chip-and-PIN technology and adopt something even smarter and safer. I look forward to seeing what the future brings!

Please read on for my roundup of my top 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week!

James O'Keefe - the man behind the recent video that caused NPR executives to lose their jobs - sent an email to supporters asking for help to pay off $50,000 in credit card debt.

This year, 600,000 Americans will have the option to receive their tax refund via a prepaid MyAccountCard Visa debit card from Green Dot, a leading issuer of prepaid cards.

It's currently a pilot program for low- to moderate-income earners, and you have to be invited to participate. These new cards are issued by Bonneville Bank, which is the Treasury's financial agent. The government is trying to figure out whether American consumers will embrace this type of payment, and they are also testing to see how much, if anything, people will pay for this option. Whether it is free depends on which pilot test group you were in.

The goal of GreenDot is actually to save government money; this keeps them from issuing millions of checks. It has benefits for consumers, too, especially the unbanked. For the population without bank accounts, this prevents them from having to use a check-cashing business to get their refund check money. Cardholders can use it at no charge for transactions, online bill pay and ATM withdrawals. It's not ideal for those who prefer to dump their refunds into savings or use it to pay off credit card debt, but for people who will spend it for day-to-day purposes or don't have a bank account, it may be a great option. Congress is currently investigating it to see if it is effective and consumer friendly. I'm interested to see what the results are!

For more information about taxes and other interesting personal finance tidbits, please read on for my roundup of my favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week.

When your boss asks whether you'd like to attend South by Southwest Interactive (or SXSWi) -- a five-day smorgasbord of emerging technology talk, networking and fun -- for the first time, the answer is pretty easy: "YES!" While many SXSWi attendees and presenters travel from across the globe to the annual conference in Austin, Texas, I was lucky to only have to head just minutes away to downtown Austin for the event.

A badge and short drive made me doubly fortunate. So how did I make my SXSWi experience worthwhile? By attending all sorts of talks, enjoying several parties and scoring free food and drinks.

International Women's Day was actually on Tuesday, but I think this day that recognizes women should be celebrated all week. What started in 1900s in the United States now celebrates ladies worldwide and aims to build a world more bright and equal for women.

I definitely think that the world needs more strong female leaders who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. In 2009, a Harvard study found that only 1.5 percent of CEOs at leading companies are women. There has never been a female president or vice president in the United States, and we only recently had our first female Speaker of the House.

Many women seem to similarly shy away from leadership roles. Some of us don't feel confident enough to stand up to powerful men, or we worry that it means sacrificing having a family. I'm very self-conscious about my math skills (or the lack thereof), which definitely has the potential to hold me back if I just let metrics-savvy men deal with the numbers. My goal? Brush up on my math skills and become more confident with numbers so that I may be a leader someday. And my personal finances will be much better for it!

If you're looking to improve your finances, read on for my roundup of my 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week!

Thanks to rising bank fees, students and young adults with simple finances may begin turning to prepaid debit cards rather than having a checking account, according to Reuters. For those with simple finances, there isn't much of a difference between these and traditional debit cards linked to bank accounts. These cards are reloadable, and some employers can now pay employees via a direct transfer to a prepaid card.

While prepaid cards can rescue you from bank fees, they can come with a whole slew of other fees, so the Consumers Union advises readers to read the fine print closely. They recommend avoiding cards with inactivity or cancellation fees. Additionally, some prepaid debit cards come from FDIC-insured banks, while others are from private companies, so be sure to do your research.

The article features an expert who advises that people get a prepaid card that has online bill pay. This allows you to pay important bills, such as rent, as though you are sending a check. Just remember that you won't have any physical checks. Those who normally have to pay exorbitant fees for check-cashing services or money orders can greatly benefit from prepaid debit cards, Reuters says.

Please read on for my weekly roundup of my favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week!

Kenneth I. Starr, accountant to the stars, has bilked celebrity investor clients out of millions of dollars and is now facing jail and bankruptcy. And dermatologist to the stars, Arnie Klein, who treated the likes of Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor, has also filed for bankruptcy protection.