Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Make Making Money





The banks of America recently pitched enough of a hissy fit to effectively neuter swipe fee reform — after they raised rates, instituted fees and canceled rewards programs — claiming they'd be swiped into the poor house by the reduced fees. But not to worry, bankers are a clever folk and they always have a way to profit off your transactions. Like, for example, colleting information about your shopping habits.



According to CNN, Wells Fargo, Citi, Discover and others have begun gathering the information about your shopping habits — where you shop, what you but, how much you spend. Retailers contact the banks about the types of customers they want to target and the banks craft custom coupons which, if used, the bank sees a nice chunk of change from.



From CNN:

Say you use your Citi-issued debit card to buy a pair of shoes at Nordstrom, and then Citi sells that information to a series of retailers. As a result, you receive a coupon from Macy's for a 20% discount on shoes at its store. The coupon is delivered by Citi, however, not from Macy's.



To redeem the coupon, you must respond by text, e-mail or by checking off a box next to the offer on your online bank statement. Once you go into Macy's to buy the shoes, Citi will retroactively credit your account for the 20% discount. Some banks, however, only let you cash in your discounts via their online portals.



Retailers pay the banks somewhere between 10-15% of the purchase price when a coupon is used. The bank keeps about 25% of that fee with the rest going to a third-party service. So if you pay $1000, the bank could end up making upward of $37.50 from the retailer, on top of what they were paid for your original information.



Some banks have already started programs like this and in many cases the customer is automatically enrolled, though they are legally obliged to let you opt out.



And while some say the targeted discounts will increase customer loyalty with retailers and provide consumers with coupons they will actually use, experts warn against potential pitfalls, like fine print that excludes certain brands or adds restrictive conditions on getting the discount. If your bank applies the discount retroactively, you might not notice you didn't save any money until after you've made your purchase.



"There's a risk that you might not get what you're hoping to get — you're leaving the store and you don't know how much you were actually charged for something," the CEO of CardHub.com tells CNN. "Then if you don't see it on your credit card statement, what do you do? Call your bank? Call the intermediary company? Or call the merchant? If they start using fine print, the whole thing's just going to be a big mess."



As for privacy concerns, the companies that provide this service claim that retailers never see any identifying info about the bank customer, just a numeric code. Only the bank has the ability to match up that code with the customer's account. While this should inspire confidence, it means that your data is only as secure as your bank's account system.



While the idea of targeted discounts — assuming they actually meet your shopping needs — programs like this should be opt-in only. Wouldn't that be in the best interest of everyone? The customer signs up for a program; the retailer knows that the customer has opted in and thus interested in receiving the coupons; happy customer receives coupon, uses it and bank gets money.



Banks' billion-dollar idea: Sell your shopping data [CNN]









Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images



WWE star CM Punk’s contract is up at the end of July, but the company is doing everything they can to retain him on a long-term contact.

The recent publicity that Punk’s shoot promo and the fact that he was caught using a gay slur has made Punk one of the biggest stories in all of sports this year.

Punk has made it clear that he was tired of the biased hierarchy in the WWE management, and he wants to be treated like one of the top talents in the business.

There have been concerns about WWE’s ability to give Punk what he wanted, and now it appears that Punk may actually be asking for too much.

Wrestle Newz is reporting:

A source close to the situation reports that CM Punk wanted a downside guarantee in his new WWE contract to where he would get what top stars like John Cena and Randy Orton are making. At last word, Punk had not re-signed and was still leaving WWE later this month.

John Cena is the premiere wrestler in the company, and it may be too expensive for the WWE to pay Punk the Cena-money he is demanding.

Both Orton and Cena draw in a ton of interest to the company, but Punk has been the biggest draw lately. Many fans are faulting Punk for trying to capitalize on his success, but if it was Vince McMahon in Punk’s shoes, he would squeeze every dime out of the opportunity he could.

For the WWE, this deal might turn out to be the worst move if they continue with it because Punk’s momentum won’t carry over for long-term success. If Punk wants crazy money, let him head to TNA Impact wrestling and get the money there.

Check back for more on the WWE as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s Wrestling Page to get your fill of the WWE.



Most recent updates:



  • WWE: Former WWE Superstar Goes on Offensive Twitter Rant

  • WWE: What Triple H is Now Ripe for a Heel Turn

  • WWE News: Sean Waltman Clarifies Vince McMahon Tweets from Monday Night


  • View all updates




web reputation management

Great <b>news</b>: Service industry now slowing down, too « Hot Air

Great news: Service industry now slowing down, too.

Great <b>news</b>: Service industry now slowing down, too « Hot Air

Language Log » <b>News</b> Flash: BBC Admits Error

Update #2 — Google News Archive has nothing for AptiQuant, and LexisNexis yields 26 hits, all from 7/29/2011 or later. This is additional evidence that AptiQuant is a hoax, though it doesn't tell us what kind of hoax it ...

Language Log » <b>News</b> Flash: BBC Admits Error

CBS <b>News</b> Executives Speak Out on License Fees, Dan Rather at TCA <b>...</b>

CBS News Executives Speak Out on License Fees, Dan Rather at TCA.

CBS <b>News</b> Executives Speak Out on License Fees, Dan Rather at TCA <b>...</b>

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