Summary [Dave Birch] This week’s podcast features Susie Lonie of Vodafone Group Services who for the last couple of years has been working on the very successful M-PESA mobile payment scheme which she (without exaggeration, in my opinion) calls a “once in a lifetime project”. Here she talks about the scheme’s launch in Kenya. Susie’s background in m-payments with Vodafone means that her observations on the success factors are rooted in practical experience and important for anyone interested in m-payments in the developing world.

Technorati Tags: mobile, podcast

You can download this and other podcasts in both iPod (MP4) and MP3 format from the Consult Hyperion podcast page, where you can also subscribe to the podcast RSS feed. If you have iTunes, you can find the podcasts in the iTunes Store: just search for "Consult Hyperion" in the podcasts area and you can click and subscribe. Alternatively, you can click on this iTunes link.

In the great tradition of our blogs, I have an M-PESA t-shirt and hat to give away to the first person to reply to this post with the English translation of the Swahili word “pesa”. Excluding, as you would expect, employees of Consult Hyperion, blogmeister Jane and members of my immediate family.

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From Digital Money Blog - digitaldebateblogs.typepad.com

Credit Cards and Your Debt-To-Income Ratio

Everybody has something called a debt-to-income ratio. When you’re born, it’s 0. You have no debt and no income. When you’re a kid working a part-time job, it’s also zero (unless you owe money to mom or dad). How so? Read on…

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From Credit Card Tips, Etc.h - www.creditcardtipsetc.com

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From Business Credit Cards Blog - www.businesscreditcards.cc/creditcards/bcc-blog.htm

Ryan Kim writes for the San Francisco Chronicle’s business section about mobile banking - “Wells Fargo is the latest bank to add mobile service, following Citibank, Bank of America, Wachovia and SunTrust, all of which started similar services in the past few months. Most of the country’s top 20 banks are either offering the service or trying it out.”…

Ryan Kim writes for the San Francisco Chronicle’s business section about mobile banking - “Wells Fargo is the latest bank to add mobile service, following Citibank, Bank of America, Wachovia and SunTrust, all of which started similar services in the past few months. Most of the country’s top 20 banks are either offering the service or trying it out.”

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Payments News from Glenbrook Partners - www.paymentsnews.com

There are many credit card processing companies to choose from, how do you know which one you should go with? Will they benefit your company? Are they affordable? Are they reliable? The internet can be a great tool for finding the right credit card processing company. Do your homework, determine which one has the features you need and are looking for in a company. There are many credit card processing companies to choose from, how do you know which one you should go with? Will they benefit your company? Are they affordable? Are they reliable? The internet can be a great tool for finding the right credit card processing company. Do your homework, determine which one has the features you need and are looking for in a company.

First, though reliability and trust is most important, you may likely be concerned about the start up costs. Some companies do not charge anything for startup, while others can charge as much as $250 start up fees. You want to make sure you choose a company that is both affordable for you and worth the costs.

Then of course, in keeping with costs, you need to look at other fees that may be required. Most credit card processing services charge several types of monthly fees. For example, a gateway fee, this could cost you as little as $10.00 per month and all the way up to $50.00 or more per month, depending on which company you choose.

You might have a statement fee as well charged to you each month. For most companies, this will cost you between $9.00 and $10.00 each month. Then you have to consider the monthly minimums, this will vary from one company to the next, but for the most part, this minimum runs between $20 and $30 monthly.

The fees do not stop there either. You will also have to deal with transaction fees. Per transaction fees average between twenty-four cents to thirty-five cents per transaction. Then on top of that, the company will likely take a percentage of each transaction as well, which could be anywhere from 2.14% to 2.40% on average. Lastly, some credit card processing companies charge a fee for address verification. If they charge the price is typically five or ten cents per address.

In other words, you need to find a company that is both affordable, trustworthy, and honest, fitting your budget at all the same time.

Then you have the chore or finding a credit card processing company that provides you with all the features you need for your company. This is just as important as costs because you definitely do not want to pay a lot for credit card processing if the company cannot meet your needs.

Some features to look for, that you may or may not need, includes:

Payment Gateway

• Virtual Terminal
• Merchant Account
• How many days the payments clear
• e-Check services
• Point of Sale Swiper
• Recurring Billing
• Shopping Cart

You will then want to look at how the credit card processing company protects your business. Some features you will definitely want from any company includes:

• Fraud Protection
• CVV2 Acceptance
• Real Time Processing
• Address Verification
• SSL

Then you need to consider what credit cards you wish to accept and if the credit card processing company supports those credit cards. The most commonly accepted credit cards are:

• Discover
• Visa
• American Express
• MasterCard

Lastly, while features, fraud protection, and the credit cards that you can accept are extremely important, you want to make sure that you choose a credit card processing company that provides you with the help and support you need, when you need it. Here are some tips that will help you choose:

1. Make sure that you can easily find their fax number
2. Make sure that reaching them by E-Mail is possible and readily available.
3. Check out their support hours, the best companies offer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4. Does the company provide you with a toll-free telephone number? This is a positive for any company.
5. If Live Online Chat is important you, look for this feature as well.

Overall, you want to make sure the credit card processing company you choose not only fits your budget, but it fits your needs and requirements as well.

This article has been provided by Creditor Web. At CreditorWeb.com you can compare over 100 credit cards from multiple banks and apply for a credit card online. Read more…

Credit Card Articles from CreditorWeb.com - www.creditorweb.com

Visa has just added complimentary access to Zagat Survey restaurant ratings and reviews for its Visa Signature cardholders. This will go along with the other fine wine and food services that Visa Signature provides, including: A Visa Signature Concierge available 24/7 to handle restaurant reservation requests Discounts on Zagat Survey guides and maps, ZAGAT TO GO […]

Visa has just added complimentary access to Zagat Survey restaurant ratings and reviews for its Visa Signature cardholders. This will go along with the other fine wine and food services that Visa Signature provides, including:

• A Visa Signature Concierge available 24/7 to handle restaurant reservation requests
• Discounts on Zagat Survey guides and maps, ZAGAT TO GO software, packs and bundles, and ZAGAT.com membership
• Exclusive tastings, cooking classes and private gourmet events

For more information, see http://www.visa.com/signaturefood.

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From Credit Card Watcher - www.creditcardwatcher.com

American Express Platinum is fairly exclusive and requires an annual fee of $300, but includes an array of benefits:

• Comprehensive travel insurance for you and your children.

• The travel insurance is so comprehensive that it provides limited financial compensation should your departure be delayed by more than 4 hours, including missed connections, and also if your baggage is delayed by more than 4 hours.

• Accelerated status with hotel and car hire programs.

• Preferential rates on travel.

…

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From Credit Card Cool - www.creditcardcool.com

Summary [Dave Birch] The Quick Serve Retail (QSR) segment represents more than $160 billion in spending, with more than 80 percent of transactions conducted in cash. Increasingly, U.S. customers are cards instead of cash when making these purchases. In the twelve months ending March 31, 2007, the number of Visa card transactions at quick service restaurants increased 31 percent. Debit card usage at quick service restaurants during the same period grew 32 percent over the previous year. I find myself getting annoyed when fast food places don’t take cards, and I’m not a particularly frequent visitor (despite appearances), because I can’t be bothered to go and get cash. Now, obviously, one particular thing that interests me about QSR is its role in the contactless roll-out, both because contactless seems to be a way to encourage QSR outlets to start taking cards and because the fact that they will take cards will encourage people (I imagine) to apply for contactless cards. In London, QSR might well be in the vanguard of the contactless revolution!

Technorati Tags: payments

Now it’s certainly true that convenience is a real driver for increased payment card usage in all sorts of ways. The U.S. consumers surveyed on this topic (one in five of whom use cards to pay for more than half their QSR purchases) cited the obvious benefits:

• Payment cards allow them to track spending (84 percent).
• Funds are always accessible with cards, so it’s not necessary to plan ahead to get cash (82 percent).
• When using a payment card at a QSR, they can get exactly what they need because they’re not limited to the cash on hand (77 percent).

What was also interesting to me though was that they were also asked what the problems with cash were. Their answers:

• Being stuck in a long line (62 percent).
• Digging in their wallet or pocket for cash and coins (48 percent).
• Dropping money on the ground (28 percent).
• Having to scale back their order because they were short on cash (15 percent).

Moving on, they were asked what it would take to get them to use cards more, they said:

• They had the opportunity to earn rewards or free meals (28 percent).
• More locations accepted payment cards (27 percent).
• They could get through lines faster (30 percent).
• They could swipe their own card (27 percent).

The latter two points would seem to go to the heart of the contactless proposition and must be very encouraging to those in the field, but let’s not overlook (I’m sure Aneace wouldn’t let us anyway) the first point. A major pull for mobile phones in this space will be the fact that phones can manage rewards and loyalty programmes much more effectively than cards.

These opinions are my own (I think) and presented solely in my capacity as an interested member of the general public [posted with ecto]

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From Digital Money Blog - digitaldebateblogs.typepad.com

Look At Your Credit Cards Before Taking Out a Payday Loan

If you have a cash emergency in between paydays and your in a pinch, there are dozens of payday loan companies willing to lend you the money you need. Unfortunately, many consumers don’t realize that a cash advance from their credit cards is ten times better than any payday loan ever will be. If you’ve ever considered a payday loan, let me explain why your credit cards are a better choice.

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From Credit Card Tips, Etc.h - www.creditcardtipsetc.com

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From Business Credit Cards Blog - www.businesscreditcards.cc/creditcards/bcc-blog.htm