Happy #SmallBizSat Eve! Tomorrow, head over to your favorite local shops and celebrate small businesses!
Tag Archives: American Express
Prepaid Cards Start To Elbow Aside Bank Accounts
Chris Espinoza was having a hard time making purchases or paying bills online because he didn’t have a bank account.
“Nobody wanted to give me an account,” said Espinoza, 31. The La Habra, Calif., resident explained that being financially reckless during his youth “messed me up.”
“Doing everything with cash was hard,” he said.
During a visit to Wal-Mart about a year ago, Espinoza found his banking workaround in the Bluebird prepaid card. Offered by the mega-retailer and American Express, it provides services through its mobile app such as direct deposit, online bill pay and check deposits.
Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/5703725-74/cards-prepaid-card#ixzz2vaJTpdSa
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Retailers, Consumers Take Swipe At Credit Card Surcharge
English: Old Visa logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Charles Griesemer says there’s no way he would pay a fee to use his credit card at the gas pumps or in checkout lines, calling such a surcharge unfair.
“That would be ripping off the working man,” the Oley Township man said recently while gassing up his pickup truck. “I’d rather go to the bank and get cash.”
For those like Griesemer, who would balk at credit card fees, there is good and bad news.
The bad news is that credit card surcharges of up to 4 percent are now allowed on retail purchases in 40 states, thanks to a settlement retailers reached in July with MasterCard and Visa.
Reading/Berks Businesses Participate In Small Business Saturday
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Right on the tail of Black Friday, as consumers shake off their turkey slumber to start their Christmas shopping, is Small Business Saturday.
American Express began the effort in 2010 and its website boasts that more than 100 million people came out to support independently owned businesses last year.
Today’s event has several area retailers celebrating by bringing consumers extended hours, discounts, special events and the like, to encourage holiday shopping at small businesses.
Brad Eastman, owner of home specialty shop E.I. Home, 4453 Penn Ave., Sinking Spring, said he was overwhelmed by the amount of people who came out for the event last year.
Bethlehem’s Vegan Treats Named One Of World’s Best Bakeries
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Northampton County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Vegan Treats, the little Bethlehem bakery where stars shop, has just received sweet news from American Express. It has been named as one of 10 of the World’s Best Bakeries.
It’s featured in Departures, an American Express magazine available only to the company’s Platinum and Centurion charge card holders.
Read more: http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/dining/mc-vegan-treats-american-express-20120906,0,6639845.story
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