CITGO Visa Ending Long Run of 1% Cash Back Rebate Card

January 29th, 2012
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We were really surprised Citibank waited this long to end this dinosaur of a credit card. Several years ago it was my ultimate favorite credit card because of its pure one percent back and automatic no-hassle credit to the statement every month with no waiting period. The sad thing is Citibank really does not even have a card half this good right now but yet they are closing out this outdated card. The competing banks have better offers if you read further.

In a letter from Citibank:
As of February 29, 2012, Citibank, N.A. the issuer of the CITGO MasterCard and CITGO Visa, will discontinue these credit card programs. Your account will be closed on that date and you will no longer be able to use your account for purchases or other transactions. Please ensure that any companies you have authorized to bill to this account on a recurring basis are notified. You will continue to receive a monthly statement until any remaining balance is paid in full. Any rebates you have earned but have not redeemed as of February 29, 2012 will be applied as a credit on your statement in a future billing period.

The CITGO MasterCard and Citgo Visa credit card programs are being discontinued but the big bank is offering an alternative. Citibank is inviting you in the letter to apply for a CITGO Plus Card. The CITGO Plus Card is more of a gas card that is not used anywhere but CITGO stations. It does come with a 10% Rebate on CITGO purchases for 60 days after the opening of the account where you can earn up to $75. Although you would be better off applying for a Freedom Card and earning back 5% this quarter and be able to shop at any gas location.

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Who will benefit from the Facebook IPO?

January 27th, 2012
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The Facebook IPO could be a real thing as early as next month! Facebook now boasts more than 800 million users, but its investors make up a much more exclusive group. With the company expected to go public in mid-2012 at a valuation of $80 billion, these early investors stand to cash in on the social network’s success. In the slides that follow, meet the angels, venture capitalists, and global investors who have made big bets on Facebook.

Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, invested in Facebook in 2004 as an angel investor. Thiel also serves on Facebook’s board of directors. He’s a co-founder of PayPal, which he sold to eBay in 2002. Thiel also heads up the Founders Fund with PayPal partners Ken Howery and Luke Nosek.

Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman is an angel investor in Facebook and many other companies, including Flickr, Last.fm, Ning, and Zynga. Hoffman is a partner at Greylock and co-founder and executive chairman at LinkedIn.

Jim Breyer

Accel Partners’ Jim Breyer invested in Facebook in April 2005, and also serves on the company’s board. Breyer ranked No. 1 on this year’s Forbes Midas List of top 10 investors.

Mark Pincus

Mark Pincus is the founder and CEO of Zynga, the world’s leading social game developer. Pincus invested in Facebook in 2005.

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Perkstreet $25 Bonus Offer

December 16th, 2011
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An extra $25 bonus plus a debit card that earns you a full two percent back on purchases could never hurt you during Holiday Shopping Season.

Starting today, PerkStreet is offering a $25 bonus for all new customers when they sign up for a new PerkStreet account. All you have to do is sign up by December 25th and make 3 purchases with your new debit card within 30 days of opening your account.

On top of this bonus cash back, you’ll earn 2% cash back on ALL non-PIN purchases for your first 3 months. After 3 months, you’ll earn 1-2% cash back depending on your account balance. Either way, no other debit card offers more cash back than PerkStreet.  On top of the two percent they sometimes have offers such as their 5% Holiday Perk you had to sign up for.

Sign up TODAY using THIS LINK to earn your $25 bonus, plus start earning 2% cash back on your holiday shopping and save up your perks for a FREE holiday next year.
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Healthcare Expenses Leading to Increase in Medical Tourism

December 15th, 2011
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Medical tourism is a term that describes the practice of traveling across international borders to obtain health care. The term also loosely defines the practice of healthcare providers delivering healthcare across international boundaries. Dental surgery, cardiac surgery, joint replacement and cosmetic surgeries are common healthcare services performed internationally. Medical tourism may also encompass psychiatry, convalescent care and other alternative treatments.

What Countries Participate in Medical Tourism?
Over 50 countries recognize medical tourism and participate. Some countries or medical schools have different levels of accreditation. These countries may not have state of the art equipment and ideal medical standards that may be dangerous for some of these “tourists”. If student volunteers, health professional trainees or researchers from economically developed countries are working in the country where they surgery is performed, then the same level of service may be provided in a resource-poor country.

India, Mexico and Thailand are some of the most popular locations for medical tourism. For instance, in India, they entice medical tourists by offering a $6,700 heart surgery. In another example, patients saved 80 percent on their hip resurfacing surgeries. The surgery in America would cost $48,000. The same surgery in India will cost $7,000 for equally adequate care.

Many hospitals in other countries meet or exceed the criteria set forth by institutions such as the Joint Commissions on Accreditation’s of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the Joint Commission International (JCI) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Millions of Americans visit Asia, South America and Mexico for medical tourism. Exotic vacations also accompany these trips to calm the patient and make the experience more palatable.

Select a Network that Can Verify the Hospital’s Standards
Patients that intend to receive healthcare abroad should consider joining a healthcare network. These networks can verify the level of service that they will receive once they arrive at the hospital. The quality of the hospital is listed on the website for the patients to peruse. The proficiency of the physician will also be described so that patients can monitor and select their level of care.
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Winter Wonderland promotion can get you a $100 Zynga game card from Discover Card

December 7th, 2011
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For the first time a brand has helped bring an expansion to the Farmville players. Discover Card partnered with social game developer Zynga to promote it’s cash back credit cards. The sponsorship from Discover lasts two weeks and will allow existing cardmembers of Discover Card to turn $25 in Discover cashback bonus into a $50 Zynga Game Card. If you do not own a Discover card yet the non-cardmembers who apply and are approved for a Discover More card through a special link can receive a $100 Zynga game card after making their first purchase with their Discover card. December 5 Winter Wonderland became available to the public for Facebook users.

“Partnering with Zynga to develop a unique in-game experience helps us connect and engage with players and put more fun in time spent online,” said Mike Boush, vice president of e-business at Discover.

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Black Friday Scams to Beware of

November 22nd, 2011
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The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, is the official start of the holiday shopping season. It is also one of the most popular shopping days of the year. Hundreds of companies sell items at a loss in order to encourage shoppers to visit their stores, enabling shoppers to buy highly sought-after merchandise at a low price. Many websites have even leaked Black Friday advertisements long before they’re available through traditional means. Unfortunately, the hype surrounding Black Friday has made it a prime target for scam artists.

Some scams are made by retailers themselves. For example, some retailers will list Black Friday “sales” for models that are of a lower retail price than other, more expensive models with similar specs. This way they’ll claim an item is being sold at a 50 percent discount, when in reality that specific model has always cost the advertised price. Retailers also often will mark up their prices in the weeks leading up to Black Friday, just so they can offer them at a “discount” later. In order to avoid this type of price manipulation, you should always research an item online to figure out its actual value.

Sometimes retailers will advertise a sale for extremely low-priced items, but only stock a tiny handful of the merchandise in question. When a shopper arrives at the store, the advertised item is sold out and shoppers are guided toward much more expensive merchandise instead. For example, last year Wal-Mart advertised a $500 40-inch LCD TV, but only stocked four of the item on the shelves; hundreds of shoppers arrived expecting a chance at the item, but their time was wasted by the dishonest marketing strategy.

In other cases, the Black Friday ads leaked on the internet are actually falsified. Many people may see an ad and plan to purchase a product, only to arrive at the store and realize the item is not on sale for that price. Before planning to buy an item on Black Friday, be sure to double-check the sales ad against the retailer’s website, or call the store to make sure that the item will be sold for the price you’ve seen it advertised at.

Some false advertisements have also circulated on Facebook or other social networking sites. These sites claim to provide discounts on merchandise or offer coupons that can be used for Black Friday, but once you actually investigate the link they are actually nothing more than endless surveys that may be used to obtain your personal information.

Many people are choosing to avoid the crowds by doing their holiday shopping from home. Black Friday shopping online presents its own set of dangers, however, especially if you’re shopping from a site other than a major retailer’s home page. Many of these sites are loaded with viruses or malware, or are designed to steal your personal information. In some cases, the product never arrives at your home at all, or else the product that arrives is very different from what you’d expected. If you choose to buy Black Friday merchandise online, be sure that the site is properly secured and is a legitimate retailer.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday can both be an excellent way to save money and buy great products at low prices. They can also be a way for scam artists to steal your money or encourage you to buy products that you had no intention of buying. By doing your research in advance and sticking to your list, you can be sure to get the best possible value for your Black Friday shopping without falling victim to the cut-throat schemes of dubious advertisers or identity thieves.

Before you buy anything this Cyber Monday ask yourself “Do I really need this?” or “Can I afford this?”

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No Fee Secured Credit Cards: A Lifeline for a Drowning Society

November 18th, 2011
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Secured credit cards, also known as prepaid credit cards, can be used to rebuild poor credit histories because creditors report the consumers’ credit histories to the reporting agencies. The unique advantage of secured credit cards is that users do not create debt when they use these cards because they’re using the money that they’ve deposited on the card in advance of any purchases. Most of these cards can be used anywhere Visa and MasterCard are accepted and there are many secured cards that guarantee approval with no credit check.

Since debt is strangling the life out of most people these days, secured credit cards could prove to be the lifeline needed to help people rise above their financial troubles. There’s a double guarantee against incurring debt because not only are users spending money that they’ve already deposited on the card, but once that money is spent, the card will be useless to them until more money is deposited. This inspires users to exercise control over their spending habits forcing them to think before they act. The only requirements for obtaining a secured credit card is the applicant must be of legal age and they have to be able to load money onto the card. This means that practically every responsible consumer is eligible to receive a secured credit card regardless of their credit history or score.

However, many secured cards have a start-up fee and sometimes these fees can be substantial. While it’s possible to acquire cards with no annual or setup fees, there are still other fees involved like late payment, over the limit, and additional card fees. Some cards have no annual or interest fees but monthly fees are charged if the purchases made are under the required limits. In other words, there are variations on fees that are and are not charged so applicants will have to read the fine print to familiarize themselves with all the terms and conditions of each card.

The following are examples of secured credit cards that require no credit checks, along with a brief listing of their differing terms and conditions.

1) Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Credit Card: One of the favorite choices because there’s no annual fee, no setup fee, and the interest rate is a low fixed 9.99% APR which is considerably lower than most current card interest rates. Deposits made can be from $200 – $5,000. There are no interest penalties on late payments and this card is especially designed for people with low or poor credit histories.

2) Green Dot® Prepaid Master Card® and Green Dot® Gold Prepaid Visa® Card: No transaction fees on U.S. purchases, no overdraft or penalty fees, no interest fees, and no minimum balance required. However, there’s a monthly fee for any month when less than 30 purchases are made, and there are fees for replacing lost or stolen cards, and for additional cards.

3) Vision Premiere® Visa® Prepaid Card: No overdraft , annual or interest fees but there are activation, monthly, replacement card, and ATM balance and withdrawal fees.

4) Capital One® Reloadable Prepaid MasterCard®: No activation, interest or overdraft fees, and there are no monthly fees as long as $500 per transaction cycle is loaded.

5) Walmart Money Card? Visa® Prepaid Card and Walmart Money Card? MasterCard® Prepaid Card: No overdraft or interest fees, and fees for monthly maintenance, reload, additional card, and ATM cash transactions are minimal.

6) REACH Visa® Prepaid Card: There are activation, monthly and ATM fees but there are no overdraft, interest or any other hidden fees.

When considering today’s economy and the status of many people’s credit histories, it’s understandable why creditors are unable to issue cards that are completely free of charges and fees. However, creditors are attempting to extend their services to as many people as possible by being as lenient as they can be with their terms and conditions. It’s therefore up to consumers to review all relevant information carefully to make an informed decision when choosing the card that’s most suitable for their lifestyle.

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Amazon Doesn’t Pay you for Personal Clicks

October 20th, 2011
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This pertains only to those who have signed up for a reseller or affiliate program through Amazon.com. I ordered a few major items from a link on my Amazon Affiliate account and had no idea they would not count the link and credit my account. After waiting a few months I emailed them and they responded that they do not give discounts to personal accounts. Most affiliate programs do so that leaves Amazon one of the only that cheats us out of money we could have gotten by going to another site to buy the product.

The bottom line is if you order stuff online and expect to be paid for it then do not use your Amazon link. Go to the Amazon site look up the company selling it then use Ebates or one of your Airline miles malls online to find a link then order it to get your 3% or sometimes 6% commissions you should be getting with Amazon.

I am glad to have finally asked them to figure this out for once. I will never order though an Amazon link again and hope no one else does! They need to learn to pay their affiliates and treat them well. If we order something personal with our link then we should damn well get the discount. Shame on you Amazon.

The big online retailer could lose out big if all of us use other sites directly such as Sony Style to order a new Bravia Plasma TV or a new computer. They will also be losing out on sales such as iPhones and expensive vitamins. I will just buy my vitamins from Vitamin Shoppe’s ebate link or use Drugstore.com’s link.

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Chase’s $500 Winner Wonderland Contest

October 19th, 2011
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If you know someone who has actually won a bank contest they would probably tell you it is easy to get the money in your account without waiting as long as most contests. Then again what are the chances of winning? Chase reveiled a new contest for the Christmas shopping season or as they have their own version of Winter Wonderland to get you in the spending mood. A creative name indeed of Winner Wonderland where you need to enroll at a local branch then make a purchase using your enrolled credit card for one entry. You get five entries when you make a donation to a charitable or social service organization with your enrolled Chase-branded credit card.

Someone will win every hour a prize of $500! One winner will be randomly selected from every one-hour period. This will take place with Hourly Drawings that begin 12:00:01 AM ET on 10/3/11 and end 11:59:59 PM ET on 12/30/11. Note that No Hourly Drawings will be held on weekends or Holidays (Columbus Day, 10/10/11; Veterans Day, 11/11/11; and Thanksgiving Day, 11/24/11). This is most likely only in areas where there is a Chase bank branch but good luck!

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Discover Card Birthday 2% Cash Back

August 25th, 2011
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We all should expect one thing for our birthday this year and that is an endless supplies of “Happy Birthday!” posts on Facebook. Be ready for 100′s of posts of some people you do not even know posting away at your older age. You can also look forward to a fun 2% promotion from Discover Card this year and to get more than a fourth of a percentage point from them is a huge deal. They have become rather greedy with their Cash Back these last few years. It takes a lot of 2% to add up to that $50 redemption into your checking account or to put on your account statement but we can dream can’t we? Dream especially big on your birthday because you can spend up to $500 for this 2% Cash Back and that is a pretty good present to yourself. Maybe a few pairs of jeans or that lawn mower you have always wanted.

Earn 2% Cashback Bonus on up to $500 in purchases from the first day of the birthday promotion month for which you are enrolled (or the date on which you sign up, whichever is later) through the last day of that month. This will be in addition to any promotional Cashback Bonus you may earn. For Open Road cardmembers, you will earn this 2% Cashback Bonus in addition to the 2% Cashback Bonus you earn on the first $250 in gas and restaurant purchases for the month. These purchases will not count toward your total annual purchases to determine your tier level. Allow up to 5 weeks for this reward to be added to your Cashback Bonus account. See Cashback Bonus Program Terms and Conditions for further details about your reward program.

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