Consumerist
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above and beyond
Citibank Shocks Reader With Consumer-Friendly Policy
Anthony received a Newegg rebate in the form of a prepaid debit card. When he went to use the $15 card for a $15.93 purchase, he received an unexpected and wonderful surprise. More » -
fraud prevention
Kindle Fees Trigger Fraud Alert On Visa Card
Considering the growing amount of credit card fraud, it's not surprising that banks are becoming more and more vigilant about identifying suspicious transactions. It's too bad they haven't been as successful at filtering out false positives or promptly notifying customers, as James Fallows at The Atlantic recently discovered when he got his account frozen for sending files to his Kindle.
"Maybe Amazon and Visa should talk?" [The Atlantic]
(Photo: TheTruthAbout...) -
gift cards
No Visa Or MasterCard Gift Cards This Year, Please
If you want to spread some fiscally sound good cheer this year, consider asking your friends, relatives, and coworkers not to give gift cards backed by the major credit card companies. Why am I making such a sour suggestion? Because a new study from two consumer advocacy groups indicates that most of the population still doesn't recognize what a money trap those little plastic cards can be. More » -
banks
Credit Union Celebrates Labor Day By Limiting ATM Transactions To $40
How are you spending the long weekend? If you're one of 2,000 Arizona Federal Credit Union customers affected in a Visa security breach, we hope you weren't planning a trip out of state. More » -
explainers
The Real Reason Behind The $23 Quadrillion Errors
The secret of the $23 quadrillion VISA debit errors looks like a specific and not uncommon programming error. Take the insanely large number, if you convert 2314885530818450000 to hexadecimal, you end up with 20 20 20 20 20 20 12 50. In programming, hex20 is a space. Where a binary zero should have been, there were spaces instead. What made this instance special is that it wasn't caught in time. A Slashdot commenter identifying himself as working in the industry explains more about what very likely happened: More » -
rebates
Shortchanged By Verizon's Rebate Card
Late last year Verizon started replacing its rebate checks with Visa debit cards. You use them as you would debit cards, only without having to tap in a PIN. Long story short — after using one of these cards I'm convinced they're part of a scam meant to let Verizon and/or Visa skim pennies off the tops of rebates owed to customers because once there's only chump change left on your card, you can apparently no longer use it. More » -
visa
The $23 Quadrillion Meal
I hope he cleaned his plate. Jon Seale was another of several VISA customers who were charged $23 quadrillion for mundane purchases. This time it was his July 13th meal a Dallas restaurant, reports KXAS. VISA said a temporary programming error affecting prepaid accounts was responsible for the error . Jon spent the rest of the day calling between Wachovia and VISA to try to clear the $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge.
23 Quadrillion Dollar Bill [KXAS]
PREVIOUSLY: The $23 Quadrillion Pack Of Cigarettes
Unruly Teen Charges $23 Quadrillion At Drugstore -
ridiculous
The $23 Quadrillion Pack Of Cigarettes
UPDATE: The Real Reason Behind The $23 Quadrillion Errors
Josh Muszynski was one of the many people hit yesterday by a VISA system error that charged them exactly $23,148,855,308,184,500.00. In his case, it was a pack of cigarettes at a gas station. He later spent a couple of hours on the phone with Bank of America unravelling the charge and the $15 fee. I don't know what's more absurd, the fact that the transaction was approved or that it took two hours to get the $15 overdraft fee removed. Reports the AP, "Bank of America tells WMUR-TV only the card issuer, Visa, could answer questions. Visa, in turn, referred questions to the bank."
NH man charged 23 quadrillion dollars for smokes [AP] (Photo: TheGlassPeople)
PREVIOUSLY: Unruly Teen Charges $23 Quadrillion At Drugstore -
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spendy
Unruly Teen Charges $23 Quadrillion At Drugstore
Kids these days! Hawkins writes, "My lectures about financial responsibility appear to have failed: yesterday [my teenaged daughter] charged $23,148,855,308,184,500.00 at the drug store." You would think Visa would have caught the error and addressed it, if you were high. What Visa actually did was slap a $20 "negative balance" fee on it, of course. Update: Here's what happened!
More »
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the gift that never stops taking
Your Visa Gift Card Will Self-Destruct If Used Within 24 Hours
Stephanie bought a $100 Vanilla Visa gift card at her local CVS in Richmond, VA. She went right home and tried to use it to make some purchases online. When the card was declined, she studied the fine print that came with the card: "Funds may not be available for 24 hours after purchase." So she waited the 24 hours and tried it again the next day. Still no luck. When she called the customer service number she was told to go back to CVS. At CVS, a manager told Stephanie (and apparently many others before her) that by using the card within 24 hours she had rendered her card agreement invalid. Bang, there goes $100. More » -
street fighter
Blog Gets Some Stupid Capcom Credit Card Fees Removed
It turns out that Chun-Li, of Street Fighter fame, does not want to charge you so many onerous fees on your Capcom credit card that attack over and over on your neck like that stupid bitch, Blanka. Just some of them.
Capcom Unity Card - Part II: Things are Looking Up ^_^ [Cheap Ass Gamer] (Thanks to Josh!) (Photo: friskytuna)
PREVIOUSLY: Visa And Capcom Announce Street Fighter Hyper Fee Edition Card -
money
Get The Best Cash Back Credit Card
Tired of using a two credit card system to maximize his cash back returns, I did an analysis to determine the single best cash back credit card. Here's what I found: More » -
data breaches
Visa Covers Butt By 'Delisting' Breached Credit Card Payment Processors
Visa has removed Heartland Payment Systems and RBS WorldPay, the two huge payment processors that suffered recent data breaches, from its list of companies that are in compliance with Payment Card Industry (PCI) rules. It says they can get back on the list when they recertify that they have proper security in place. While this may sound like a significant change in the status of the companies, in reality it does little to change how the three companies do business with each other or with merchants. It's just a way for Visa to protect itself from any upcoming lawsuits by banks and credit unions against the payment processors. More » -
capcom
Visa And Capcom Announce Street Fighter Hyper Fee Edition Card
Video game maker Capcom has partnered with Visa to offer a pre-paid debit card with so many fees that it will shrink your wallet from an E. Honda to a Dhalsim. The hurricane kick of fees, inside. More » -
data theft
Another Month, Another Massive Credit Card Data Breach
Don't be too surprised if you get a letter from your bank or credit union in the next few weeks telling you it's replacing your credit card. If your data was among the latest set compromised, Visa and Mastercard are already alerting financial institutions so they can cancel the account number. More » -
visa
Breaking Out In Song Is Now An Acceptable Way To Authorize Visa Purchases
Visa has revealed a darling new feature that will let consumers authorize debit transactions via song. It's all part of Visa's revised but always-exciting operating regulation 6.2.A.7.b, which now lets you "choose to sing to authorize a debit transaction." Don't worry if the merchant gives you an awkward look, they're just sheepish about their cruddy singing skills. Sing louder to encourage them to join in the transaction-approving fun! (Thanks to Barbara!)
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sony
VISA Won't Replace Dusty PS3 After All
Remember that guy with the PS3 Sony said was too dusty to repair? The saga continues. More » -
money meltdown
Credit Card Squeeze Is Pushing Consumers Toward Foreclosure
USAToday says that panic by the credit card industry is squeezing customers who ordinarily would be able to pay their bills — pushing them toward financial ruin and foreclosure. More »
visa
New York, 9:19 AM
Sun Nov 8
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