Credit Card Blog

As the popular iPhone commercials say, “There’s an App for That.”

MasterCard offers a new application used on both iPhone and iPod, which helps cardholders find an ATM anywhere around the world.  The application is available at the Apple App Store, and is called The MasterCard ATM Hunter.

Not only does the technology allow cardholders to locate ATMs regardless of their physical location, but the application helps them with more advanced details, as well.  Due to the estimated 2 million people per year who contact MasterCard customer service by phone and email for information about ATM locations, the company felt creating the application would be beneficial.

Along with geographic location information, cardholders can now get information about where handicapped accessible ATMs are located, the bank charges at the ATMs nearby, where deposits can be made, which locations feature a drive thru ATM and the hours of operation for all locations on the list.  Having access to this information via their iPhone or iPod will reduce the number of customer service calls for the information.

The Bank Freedom Prepaid MasterCard was the subject of 33,000 television spots in September. That’s a lot of exposure for something that is, essentially, a reloadable shopping card stamped with a MasterCard logo. So why all the hype?

Bank Freedom’s CEO Bruce Berman pointed out that the television spots weren’t appearing on network TV, but on local cable channels. He maintains that September’s advertising blitz was a cost-effective way to get news of the card to the target demographic: underbanked Americans.

People with poor credit or no credit often have a tough time getting a credit card. Berman believes that the new prepaid Bank Freedom MasterCard will benefit high-risk card holders. Bank Freedom also offers free direct deposits to all its customers, many of whom might have been relying on expensive check cashing stores. Customers can also use their card anywhere MasterCard debit cards are accepted, and at more than a million ATMs all over the world.

Remember: prepaid credit cards are similar to debit cards, but can entail hefty account setup and annual membership fees. Always read your cardholder agreement carefully before you commit to a new credit card – prepaid or not.

Be sure to check out our list of popular secured and prepaid credit cards.

By now you’ve heard of the iPhone, and maybe you even got some money back for purchasing it on your credit card at the original $599 price only to see the price drop to $399 10 weeks later (see that blog post here: http://blog.creditorweb.com/index.php/2007/09/10/bought-a-600-iphone-on-your-credit-card-get-your-200-back/)  

Have you heard of the upcoming G-Phone? It’s kind of a nickname.  Google isn’t really calling it a G-Phone, because they’re not really creating a phone device.  Instead, they’re working on software that helps cell phone users access Google services easier- including searching, email and maps.You’re thinking we already can do all that, right?  Google’s plans are a bit different.  Apple maybe revolutionized cell phones and how they can be so much more than just a mobile telephone- but Google plans to revolutionize the industry of phones. 

Although things are still a little hush-hush, it’s looking like Google’s approached a few leading cell phone manufacturers about building cell phones that are tailored to Google software… and soon your phones might be displaying commercials.

Commercials on cell phones?

Eric Schmidt, the Chief executive of Google, has been quoted saying that mobile phones should be free for people who agree to watch ads on their cell phone screens (that are about the size of a credit card and let you use them like a touch screen, shrinking and zooming in web pages among the regular cell phone features). A specific announcement could come as early as this week from Google and potential plans to partner with Verizon’s network.  

According to Times Online, a European news web site, “Mobile advertising is a rapidly growing market. Analysts Frost & Sullivan predict the mobile-advertising market in America alone will generate $2.1 billion (£1 billion) in revenue by 2011 compared with $301m in 2006.”

Would you stop charging your cell phone bills to your credit cards each month in exchange for watching advertisements on your cell phone?

So you’ve probably seen the commercials by now of the people in line at a cafeteria, dancing and twirling around, paying for their food with credit cards and quickly moving on. That is until some one decides to pay with the dreaded CASH and the whole party comes screeching to a halt.

I don’t know about you, but for me paying with a credit card has never been faster than paying with cash. It’d be nice if you could just swipe and move on but it’s never that simple. You always have to wait for it to authorize and for a receipt to print first. Fortunately you don’t have to sign the receipt at most fast food joints any more, but it’s still not faster. I think it could be though.

The reason it takes so long is because the vast majority of the credit card terminals use a modem to connect to the processing gateway, and as I’m sure many of you remember it takes a while to make that connection and send the data. So why not get with the year 2000 and send the data over an always on high speed Internet connection? You’ll more than make up for the extra $20 a month it costs over a regular phone line in labor savings and happy customers.

Not secure you say? Not true. Credit card numbers are safely transmitted over the Internet all the time using SSL encryption. With these dedicated machines you can take it a step further and establish a VPN (virtual private network) making the transactions quite secure and instant!

Oh yeah, and quit giving me the second receipt for the credit card transaction, the first one for the actual food total is sufficient. Also do away with the separate machine for processing the transactions buy a register with it integrated. With these few changes maybe we could all just swipe and go like the commercials suggest.