Turner Network Television (TNT) and MasterCard Worldwide have announced they will be showing television viewers this August "Late: A MasterCard Mini-Drama", a "TNT original production that promises to take viewers on a 2- minute high speed adventure."   » Continue Reading

Dave Taylor blogs about the differences between the merchant receipts provided for purchases using PayPal vs. Google Checkout - and strongly favors PayPal's approach. According to Dave, "the key difference between the two is that the Google Checkout receipt is a geeky "transaction log" sort of style, while Paypal offers up a much more understandable information block about the buyer including the all-important "note" section that lets them communicate directly with me as if it were an attached comment." Over on his "Ask Dave Taylor" blog, he's got a great writeup about how to add Google Checkout "Buy Now" buttons to your website.

BAI's Banking Strategies notes the results of a recent consumer survey that ranked bankers - as a profession - 17th out of the 23 occupations listed in the survey. "Journalists, union leaders, actors, business executives and stockbrokers all ranked lower than bankers, with real estate agents bringing up the rear (6%)."

Sola Fanawopo reports for Nigeria's Daily Sun on the growth in mobile banking services in Nigeria. "Some of the transactions that can be conducted with Glo m-banking include, check balance, viewing of the amount of money in account at any time, account statement, viewing of the last five transactions on account, recharge and buying of airtime for any glo prepaid line using money in bank account. Also, Glo mobile subscribers can transfer money from one account to another within the same bank. According to the official of the mobile company, very soon Glo m-banking subscribers will be able to pay bills and other utility bills using Glo m-banking service."

Barnes & Noble has announced that Barnes & Noble.com now accepts PayPal.   » Continue Reading

Jessica Bennett writes for Newsweek about the "plastic predicament" - the level of US consumer credit card debt.

Stored Value Systems has announced the results of a recent survey of 603 college-bound teens concluding that "shopping differences between males and females begin as early as the teen years, when males are more likely than females to purchase gift cards vs. an actual item." Specifically, the survey said that 48% of males purchase gift cards rather than purchase gift items for their families and friends throughout the year, while females purchased about 33% gift cards rather than gift items.   » Continue Reading

Caroline Mayer reports for the Washington Post on the OCC's recent guidance directing banks to be more forthcoming about the gift cards they issue. Mayer writes that "two federal agencies are cracking down to make sure the terms and conditions of the cards are clearly disclosed to both card buyers AND recipients. Consumer advocates applaud the efforts but say they may not go far enough as they support a complete ban on expiration dates and inactivity fees."

Tresa Baidas reports for The National Law Journal on a growing number of lawsuits being filed by consumers against the nation's three major credit bureaus.   » Continue Reading

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