Help Fight Breast Cancer with The New Pink ACE Elite Visa Prepaid Debit Card

All scams are ugly. All scammers are despicable.



Some scams and scammers, in my opinion, are are worse than others.



Take the recent news I found in the WSJ today. A couple in Great Neck, New York setup a breast cancer charity and used it to scam donors. These scammer lived very high on the ill-gotten cash they pocketed from decent folks looking to support a very worthy cause. Yuck!



Thankfully, these two miscreants are going to get what they deserve (although I think the wife should have been sentenced to at least some time behind bars.)



The Pink ACE Elite Visa® Prepaid Card



If you're thinking of getting a prepaid debit card for yourself or someone else, you may want to consider the new Pink ACE Elite card. With Pink ACE, every time you use the card, a small cut of the transaction goes to the reputable National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).



From the ACE website:

"...In 2010, ACE and NetSpend donated more than $400,000 through our partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation..."

I was worried that the above claim made by ACE might not be accurate. Why? The company, besides offering prepaid debit cards, is also a large player in the often predatory payday-loan industry.



I'm glad to report that ACE and Pink check out. You can see on the National Breast Cancer Foundation Partners Page that ACE is listed as a partner, with a direct link to the Pink Elite Prepaid Debit Card website. Yay!



Proof that the NBCF organization and the NBCF website are legit can be found here.



You can apply for the Pink Elite Prepaid Card by visiting the US Prime Rate website here.





With the unemployment rate still high, and with slim odds that the US economy will improve this year or next, I think we'll see a lot more deplorable scams and scammers, at least until the housing market stabilizes and America returns to real prosperity.



If you're feeling generous, be sure to do your homework before giving money to any charitable organization. After all, for most of us, the Internet always available for fast and easy research.



The New York State Attorney General website has a great "Tips on Charitable Giving" article here (PDF file.) You can also search for the charity you're interested in here, to make sure it's properly registered (search covers all 50 states!) Important to note:

"...Some organizations, like religious organizations, are exempt from registering with the Charities Bureau and may not appear in the Registry..."

Comments are always welcome.

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News from Discover Bodes Well for the Future of 0% Credit Cards

The stock market performed well today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 1.37% to close @ 10,753.62, while the broader S&P 500 added 1.52% to close @ 1,142.71. Financial stocks contributed to the day's advances, with companies like American Express (+3.6%) and JP Morgan Chase (+2.1%) looking good to investors.

Another shining star in the financial sector was Discover Financial Services, which gained 2.4%. Earlier in the day, the company reported third-quarter net income of $261,000,000, and added:

"...Credit performance continued to improve, with net charge-offs down $102 million from the prior quarter and a net chargeoff rate for the third quarter of 7.18%...'

"...The very positive credit trends that began to manifest themselves earlier this year continued to benefit our results this quarter,'...'The ongoing improvement in the outlook for credit performance of our cardmembers has enabled us to accelerate investments for long-term profitable growth. In addition, Discover card spending continued to grow nicely this quarter and our third-party credit and debit network businesses achieved record transaction volumes..."

This news is significant because it means that the approval rate for the most popular 0% credit card we recommend here at www.BalanceTransfer.cc, i.e. the Discover More Black Card -- is very likely to increase. Great news for anyone shopping for a consumer-friendly 0% Intro APR credit card.

Another reason stocks did well today: According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Great Recession ended in June of last year, which means talk of a double-dip recession for the United States should abate:

"...The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met yesterday by conference call. At its meeting, the committee determined that a trough in business activity occurred in the U.S. economy in June 2009. The trough marks the end of the recession that began in December 2007 and the beginning of an expansion. The recession lasted 18 months, which makes it the longest of any recession since World War II. Previously the longest postwar recessions were those of 1973-75 and 1981-82, both of which lasted 16 months.

In determining that a trough occurred in June 2009, the committee did not conclude that economic conditions since that month have been favorable or that the economy has returned to operating at normal capacity. Rather, the committee determined only that the recession ended and a recovery began in that month..."

Of course, we could get another economic downturn in the near term, but if we do, it would be considered a new recession, and not a double-dip for the recent Great Recession.

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Credit Card Offers Continue to Improve Despite Weak Economy

To be perfectly honest, I don't see how the American economy can continue to expand while there are still some major economic hurdles to overcome:

• Unemployment is still high, and will probably eventually settle at a rate much higher than Americans are used to. It's a whole new economy, no doubt. Anyone waiting for the jobless rate to drop below 6% is an anachronism. Tomorrow's July employment report from the Labor Department: expect ugliness.
  
  
• Banks and corporations are hoarding billions in cash. Result: banks aren't lending the way they're supposed to, and companies aren't hiring like they used to. Banks are still collapsing at an alarming rate, while businesses of all sizes have been enjoying significant productivity gains since cutting back on labor during the Great Recession; they don't want to give those gains up.
  
  
• Home prices aren't improving in any meaningful way. Moreover, the residential foreclosure crisis is still going strong.
  
  
• The national debt is unimaginably high, and there is no political will to bring it down while the jobless rate is painfully elevated.
  
  
• The very real threat of deflation likely means that a return to sustainable growth and prosperity are years away.
  
  
• Distressed commercial real estate (commercial properties that are delinquent, in default, in bankruptcy, in foreclosure or are bank-owned) are rising fast.
  

Double-dip recession? I certainly don't want to see it happen, but I know it could easily become a reality. Here's what former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao had to say about it in a recent TV interview:





Yet, despite the dismal economic climate, credit card offers continue to improve.

Discover recently came out with the Black card, which has the best 0% Intro APR on both transferred balances and new purchases of all Discover cards, and also has the best cashback rewards program. We've always liked Discover's cashback program because it's easy to use and it's one of the most generous cashback programs in the American consumer credit card market.

Just as appealing as the Black Card, Discover has another new card: the Discover More Card with a $75 cashback bonus. This card is great because it offers the same 12 month interest-free period on transferred balances as the Black Card, but also adds a bonus $75 on top of it's already generous rewards program. In order to qualify for the $75 bonus, cardholders have to make $500-worth of new purchases within 3 months. Not hard, really.

Chase is also coming out with new, attractive offers. Chase has the standard Freedom Card, which is a great rewards credit card, but it also has 2 special variants of Freedom: Freedom with a $100 cashback bonus and Freedom with a $50 cashback bonus:

• With the Freedom $100 cashback bonus card, the cardholder must spend $799 on new purcahses with the card in order to qualify for the bonus. Not as easy as the Discover cashback bonus card, but, then again, the bonus is $25 higher with this Chase card.
  
  
• With the Freedom $50 cashback bonus card, the bonus is easy to earn. You get $50 after making one purchase with the card. Sweet.
  

There's also the new Chase Slate credit card, which offers 0% intro APR on new purchases and transferred balance for 12 months (Elite pricing, i.e. reserved for those with excellent credit.)

0% intro APR, no fee balance transfer credit cards are alive and well in the UK. When they'll return to the American market is anybody's guess. Hopefully soon. Thanks for reading.

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Slate: A New 0% Credit Card from Chase

Slate from Chase

The government continues to report positive macroeconomic news. Yesterday, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released its Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) for October 2009. The PMI came in at 55.7%, better than what Wall Street economists were expecting, and better than the September figure. For the PMI, any figure above 50% is a strong indication that the American manufacturing sector is expanding.

Though an economic recovery appears to be taking hold, too many Americans are still dealing with various forms of oppressive debt, a home mortgage balance that's higher than their home's value, and job insecurity. In fact, earlier today Johnson & Johnson, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and number 29 on the Fortune 500, announced that the company will be cutting 7,000 jobs (that's between 6% - 7% of its workforce.) National unemployment, already at 9.8%, will almost certainly rise during the fourth quarter and into Q1 2010. A jobless economic recovery? Yes: we're in it right now.

The whole world is relieved that the subprime debt-inspired credit crisis, which precipitated the worst recession since the early 1980's, and which brought the American financial system to its knees, has almost run its course. The liquidity maelstrom of 2008 and 2009 prompted the banks which survived the subprime debacle to cutback on all kinds of loans, including credit cards.

But financial markets are on the mend, as evidenced by low LIBOR rates, a healthy TED spread and the return of generous 0% intro APR credit cards.

Credit cards that offer a 0% intro APR period of at least 12 months all but disappeared from the market last year. But they're back. JPMorgan Chase Bank, commonly known simply as Chase, recently revealed a new credit card called Slate. Here are the vitals on Slate:

• 0% introductory APR on purchases for 12 billing cycles
• 0% introductory APR on transferred balances for 12 billing cycles
• Balance transfer fee of 3% of each transaction, with a minimum of $5
• NB: The 0% intro APR is reserved for those who qualify for "Elite" or "Premium" pricing. Those who can only qualify for "Standard" pricing cannot take advantage of any interest-free introductory period with this particular card.
• For those who qualify for Elite pricing, the "goto" rate (also known as the ongoing rate) is 13.24% (the U.S. Prime Rate plus 9.99%); for Premium pricing it's 17.24% (Prime plus 13.99%.) For Standard pricing, the introductory and goto rate is 22.24% (Prime plus 18.99%.)

If you have a good FICO® credit score (above 700), you will probably qualify for either Elite or Premium pricing.

Slate is a very timely credit card: it has arrived in time for the fast approaching Christmas shopping season. With Slate, cardholders can do their holiday shopping and have plenty of time (12 billing cycles) to pay their credit card balance down to zero without having to worry about interest charges.

The goto rate with the Slate card, however, is relatively high when compared to consumer-friendly credit card offers that were available before the global credit crisis (likely a direct result of new rules included in the Credit Card Act of 2009.) For the consummate borrower who qualifies for Elite pricing, the rate charged on any balance remaining after the interest-free, introductory period ends is Prime (currently 3.25%) plus 9.99%, which translates to 13.24%.

But the U.S. Prime Rate is as low as it can possibly go. As the economy heats up, it will certainly rises, and it will likely do so at a relatively fast clip as the Fed works to contain future inflation. There is no way of knowing exactly how high the Prime Rate will be a year from now, but if we plug in the median U.S. Prime Rate -- 8.75% -- then we get a rate of 18.74%, which anyone would agree is not consumer-friendly. In fact, any rate above 15% would be too much of a financial burden for the typical credit card consumer.

That's why we recommend Slate for anyone who can pay their balance down to zero over 12 months or so, which shouldn't be that hard to do (no need to go crazy with the Christmas shopping!)

As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated.

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The Current by Discover Card: A New Prepaid Debit Card from Discover Financial Services

Current by Discover

We've added the new Current by Discover prepaid debit card to our prepaid lineup.

An Excellent Card for Teens

Prepaid credit or debit cards are very useful as teaching tools for introducing teens to the world of money and helping young adults learn about managing their money wisely.

With this new prepaid card from Discover, the fees are reasonable, but we were really impressed with the parental controls that are included with the card. Parents can:

• set monthly, weekly or daily spending limits. Lots of parents will appreciate this feature, especially if they have kids who need time to learn about budgeting and the pitfalls associated with overspending.
• get activity alerts via email or text message. Great for monitoring how a Current card is being used -- and there's no extra charge to use this feature.
• restrict a card so that it can't be used at certain locations, like tobacconists, motels or beer distributors.

Other features we like:

• There's no charge for funding the card
• No minimum balance requirement
• Free Direct Deposit, and there's no charge for depositing funds via a credit card or a bank account.

Users of the Current by Discover card can withdraw cash for free four times per month. Additional ATM transactions will incur a $0.50 charge per transaction.

A $3 fee is assessed for replacing a lost or stolen card, or for changing to a new card design.

Though the Current card has no minimum balance requirement, each card needs to be funded with at least $20 when a new account is opened.

The membership fee is $5 per month, but if you pay for a year's membership, the fee is $50 (a $10 discount.)

A parent can have up to 3 Current by Discover prepaid cards in their account, and each card has a funding limit of $2,500.00.

COUPON: When you sign up, use coupon code BT709 to get your first month of membership free. This coupon expires on May 30, 2010.

In this deep recession we're in, it's more important than ever to teach young adult about spending money wisely. Discover's new prepaid card is a timely payment solution that parents from all walks will appreciate, and I'm willing to bet that it's on its way to becoming the most popular prepaid debit card in the American market.

Oh, and the Current card has some very cool designs to choose from. Enjoy!

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