August 19, 2010 – 5:39 am
by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING The new trend in banking has started with a yee-haw! Oklahoma-based Bank of the Wichitas has created Redneck Bank, an online/direct virtual bank designed to appeal to the Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke in everyone. With a talking horse as its moniker, the bank offers several checking and savings accounts [...]
August 13, 2010 – 7:55 am
by Stefania Revelli WHAT’S HAPPENING Nonprofit healthcare management company Healthfirst has partnered with Linkwell Health to offer “better for you” nutrition guidance coupons to its underserved, lower-income members (ProgressiveGrocer.com 7.12.10). Food and product coupons will be mailed directly to members’ homes in an effort to influence healthier purchases among those suffering chronic conditions, like diabetes [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING For what may be the first time, consumers will now have an advocate in the federal government who will ride shotgun on the financial services industry with an eye out for scams, abusive and deceptive practices, and other excesses. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be based in the Federal [...]
by Lindsay Paterson WHAT’S HAPPENING We’ve always been told that happiness doesn’t come from a wad in the bank, and now it’s official. Feeling in control and understanding their financial reality is what it’s all about for consumers: 68% of those with high self-esteem understand and feel in control of their finances, and they’re not [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING In autumn 2010, Target will reward customers who use their Target credit cards and debit cards in stores across the U.S. and at Target.com. Whipping out the RED will result in an instant 5% discount — a very generous rewards program compared to other credit and debit cards. Earlier this [...]
by Abelardo de la Peña Jr. WHAT’S HAPPENING Trying to stretch an allowance is challenging enough for high school students. At three New York City-area high schools’ student-run banks, money management is something to learn, teach others and put to use. Harlem’s Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, where the majority of students [...]
By Iconoculture
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Also posted in Latino
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Tagged Abelardo de la Peña Jr., Capital One, Consumer finance, Consumer trends, Iconoculture, Iconowatch, Latino youth, Student-Run Branch, Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, Unbanked, Underbanked
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by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING The toll of financial illiteracy — and even more fundamentally, math illiteracy — can be staggering. A June 2010 study by Columbia University researchers found a direct correlation between a lack of simple math skills and foreclosure rates (NYTimes.com 6.9.10). Economists found that about 16% of surveyed consumers could not [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING Blippy pioneered the idea of tweeting all of its members’ credit card transactions. Now Piggymojo turns that idea on its head by allowing members to broadcast their thriftiness. Using text messages and Twitter, Piggymojo members can tell the world that they brownbagged lunch or drank office coffee for a small [...]
By Iconoculture
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Also posted in Consumer Trend, Social Media
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Tagged Blippy, Consumer savings, Consumer trends, Great Recession, Hans Eisenbeis, Iconoculture, Iconowatch, New normal, Piggymojo, Social networking, Social saving
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by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING A new ATM machine may soon crop up in New York City with a unique transaction fee. The Choose Change ATM charges a relatively low $2 per withdrawal, but uses $1 of that to fund one of eight charities. ATM users can choose which charity they’d like half their transaction [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING In May 2009, Visa announced that debit transactions had surpassed credit billings for the first time in company history. One year later, Mastercard announced that their cardholders had also debited more than they’d charged for the first time (ABCNews.com 5.6.10). In the first quarter of 2010, MasterCard users spent $118 [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING Target is one of the nation’s first major retailers to bring back an old-fashioned form of credit: store-branded plastic that can only be used at Target stores and Target.com. The new credit card will not be branded nor processed by Visa (Bloomberg.com 4.20.10). The retailer has been the third largest [...]
By Iconoculture
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Also posted in Consumer Trend, Retail
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Tagged Consumer spending, Consumer trends, Hans Eisenbeis, Iconoculture, Iconowatch, Plastic without Visa, Store credit cards, Target, Target Credit Cards, Target Visa, Visa
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by Hans Eisenbeis Would you rather pay the bully to not beat you up, or the class genius to help you with your homework? In the world of banking, consumers may soon have that choice. And Bank of America — one of the biggest bullies in school — has suddenly reformed and is sounding more [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING While we’ve reported that many postcollegiate Millennials are in terrible financial shape, thanks to loads of debt and awful job prospects, a July 2009 study by Fiserve finds that Millennial spending behavior has changed dramatically. 20somethings use their debit cards more often than any other generation, and more of them [...]
by Hans Eisenbeis WHAT’S HAPPENING When U.S. consumers swipe their debit cards, they’re typically asked to choose “credit” or “debit” for the transaction. The first requires a signature, the second a PIN, but either way the money still comes out of a savings or checking account. But what if consumers really had the option on [...]
