Archive for 2008

Chuck Bartowski, the reluctant hero of NBC’s comic adventure show “Chuck,” may not always get the proper credit for saving the world each week, but his wallet does contain at least two or three credit cards.

Fighting Crime for $11 an Hour

For most of the week, Bartowski works at Buy More, a retail electronics store in Burbank where he earns approximately $11 per hour. As part of the store’s “Nerd Herd,” Chuck answers technical questions about new gadgets and helps frustrated computer users keep their laptops and cell phones in good working order.

Speaking of computers, Bartowski also has one in his head. After opening an e-mail from a college friend, Chuck reluctantly received a download of “The Intersect,” a computer network filled with classified government information. The data is packed into his subconscious mind and can be accessed with the right visual triggers.

If, for instance, Chuck sees a known terrorist on the street, his brain will “flash” and reveal all the details about this villain, including his last-known whereabouts. Bartowski even has schematics for weapons locked in his skull.

Naturally, Chuck is one of the government’s greatest assets and spends much of his free time helping the NSA and FBI keep the world safe from harm. Unfortunately, he doesn’t receive any additional compensation for his dangerous, after-hours job.

What’s in Chuck’s Wallet?

Based on his hourly wage, Chuck has an estimated gross income of $22,880 per year, which is not a lot considering his value to the government. Fortunately, Chuck lives with his sister and her fiancée, which dramatically reduces his living expenses and allows him to put some of his take-home pay into a savings plan. With a low debt-to-earnings ratio, Chuck would benefit from a credit card for those rare occasions when he can take Sarah Walker, the secret agent of his dreams, out to dinner.

Since he works at Buy More, Bartowski gets an employee discount, which means that he has a store credit card for in-store purchases. Chuck owns a pretty decent desktop computer and has a first-generation iPhone, both of which were charged on his Buy More card.

Chuck’s Debits and Credits

Thanks to Chuck’s savings habits, he carries around a debit card tied to his bank accounts, preferably one that offers incentives for making purchases. As a good customer, his bank should offer the hardworking Buy More employee a credit card with a low interest rate.

Besides electronic toys and dinners with lovely ladies, Chuck shops for food, paying for his purchases with the bank debit card. Nerd Herd members sometimes have to drive to a customer’s home or business, so Bartowski does spend money on gasoline. To keep track of his business expenses, Chuck carries a credit card that pays a bonus for purchases at filling stations.

Being a Spy Isn’t Cheap

With The Intersect in his brain, Chuck typically finds himself in dangerous situations where he must stay one step ahead of people who want him dead. Bullets and bombs mean that his clothing takes a beating, so Chuck probably spends some of his free moments shopping for new duds. He even has some pretty stylish outfits, which he probably bought to impress the well-traveled Sarah.

Though his credit lines aren’t as impressive as those of Iron Man’s wealthy alter ego, Tony Stark, Chuck Bartowski does OK for a member of the Nerd Herd.

Steven Bryan

If you are interested in carrying the best looking credit cards in your wallet, here’s your chance to see five of the most innovative credit card designs on the market today.

Fashion statements used to be made strictly by what clothes you wore or what purse or wallet you carried. Today, fashion statements also can be made by what you carry inside your wallet. Credit card designs range from basic single color options to elaborate works of art. Some cards even give you the option to create your own credit card design. If you are interested in carrying the best looking credit card in your wallet, then take a look at the top five credit card designs on the market today.

No. 5: PetRewards Platinum Plus Visa

If you love animals, then the PetRewards Platinum Plus Visa credit card has a design you will flip over. First, you can select from three very cute animal designs including “contented cat,” “loving pair” and “devoted dog.” Your second option is to upload an image of your pet to use as your credit card’s background design. This credit card offers you rewards that relate to animals such as vet services, pet food and even donations to your local animal shelter.

No. 4: Capital One Standard Platinum for Students

The Capital One Standard Platinum Credit Card for Students is a fashionably versatile credit card. First, you can select one of the great looking credit card designs offered by Capital One such as a bald eagle, a lightning strike, a mountain and water scene, a palm tree at sunset or a tropical island scene. If you want to personalize your credit card’s design, then you also have that option. After you get your card, you are given the opportunity to upload a photograph to your account and order a new card. This card has no annual fee, free fraud liability insurance and online access to your account.

No. 3: Discover Monogram

With the Discover Monogram credit card, you can choose between three brilliant fashion colors including Caribbean blue, flamingo pink and key lime green. This card not only looks great, but also it has a pretty great lineup of benefits and features such as no annual fee, super low regular APR and a fabulous cash back rewards program.

No. 2: Starwood from American Express

The Starwood from American Express credit card is simple and sleek. It features a very flattering red-and-silver design. It also offers you travel rewards, purchase protection, car insurance quotes and global hotline assistance. American Express also offers a Starwood business credit card version which boasts the same benefits and design.

No. 1: Personalized Maximum Rewards from First National Bank of Omaha

The number one credit card design is actually created by you. The Personalized Maximum Rewards credit card is one of many personalized credit cards from First National Bank that allow you to upload any graphic that you want to appear on your credit card. This is a Visa credit card that offers you a 6 month introductory 0 percent APR, a 1-point-per-$1 reward program, online access to your account and a complimentary zero liability protection policy.

Eisla Sebastian

According to ABC News (http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8732039&ch=4226713&src=news), some gas stations are automatically changing the prices on the pump for credit card users. In the story, as soon as the reporter swipes her card, the price on the digital readout increases .08 more than the posted amount: From the posted amount of 4.27 to 4.35.

Station owners don’t profit from gas, but from in-store items. Some gas stations offer discounts for using cash, hoping while inside the buyer will pick up a soda or candy bar.

The price of gas has risen so high that the scope of what one spends has been lost. It’s easy to bait-and-switch someone who has become numb to the cost. Most consumers won’t notice the additional 8 cents per gallon.

Deceptive, yes. Illegal…can’t tell. I’m not sure if this qualifies as price gouging. However keep an eye on the rate at the pump and your receipts.

This story highlights gas stations in New York state, and there is no mention of how widespread this practice is.

At the more remote brothels in Nevada, truckers used to be big business. But with diesel prices rising, the cost of gas is cutting into their bottom line. Brothels are seeing business decline as much as 25% from last year, according to industry officials.

In order to combat the business downturn, the Shady Lady Ranch, a brothel that depends on long-haul truckers, is offering gas cards valued at $50 and $100. The card value is determined by how much the client spends.

With the right credit card, an enterprising trucker could get a gas card and get points/cash back up to 5-6% of their spend. Most of these cards offer additional points/cash back for vehicle maintenance, convenient stores, groceries—the BP Visa Rewards Card offers “2% rebates on all eligible travel and dining purchases”. I’m sure the brothel could code for that. Some brothels may even be considered a hotel/motel, in which case a Hotel credit card may work.

Of course this is speculation. I’m no industry official. I wasn’t even sure they take credit cards, but a quick phone call to the Shady Lady Ranch verifies they take all four: Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. According to the Moonlit Bunny Ranch only take Visa and MasterCard.

The original story on the AP: High fuel prices put pinch on Nevada brothels

I have an American Express One card that I used to love. The two main reasons are:

• 1% of what I spend goes into a high-yield savings account
• No credit limit

It’s widely known that we’re in a credit crunch, and my old friend is not spared from the crunching.

• The high-yield savings account, which at its peak was 5.25%, is now only 2.75%.
• My credit limit has gone from none to…some.

My once stellar (to me, anyway) savings account is now terrestrial. My once unlimited resource (Vegas, anyone?) is now tethered.

An article in the Washington Post mentions how a sudden credit limit drop can affect your credit score. Using their example: If you start with a limit of $10,000 and revolve $4000, you’re utilizing 40% of credit available. However if the issuer lowers your credit to $5000, your suddenly utilizing 80%. So when your credit score is calculated, you look as if you’re nearing your maximum. And that counts against you.

The Good

I was told (by American Express themselves) that having a card with no limit can damage my credit report. It seems that when calculating the score, if the scorer encounters a card with no limit, it considers the balance as the maximum available. Say I have a $3000 balance on a no-limit card. The credit-scorer wants to figure out my debt-to-available-credit ratio, but it can’t—there is no pre-determined limit. So it uses my balance, $3000, as the credit limit. This makes it looks like I’m maxed out on that card, but in reality I can’t max out.

So, with my newly established credit limit, I no longer look maxed out.

The Bad

By establishing a credit limit, Amex has formed an opinion about me: This guy can go off the handle at any moment. It’s an exaggeration, but it still hurts. I thought Amex and I had something.

The Ugly

But others with the One card have had it worse. One One card holder had his balance reduced to $5000, but he was revolving $6000. Then Amex requested he immediately pay it off in full.

My friend the One card has gone from telling me it’s OK to push my limits to being the voice of reason. Instead of, “You need a new laptop”, I’m hearing “You don’t really need that DVD.” That’s a good thing…after all, Vegas is almost paid for.

Today, I filled up at the same station with a different credit card. There was no $60 limit. So maybe it was the combination of that particular gas station and my bank. This will go unsolved for now.

Along the same lines, a gas station owner in West Virginia has ceased taking most credit cards. The credit card surcharges are costing his business $1 for every $50 that is spent. It seems this would mean fewer customers, and fewer customers mean less business. So do gas stations make so little off of gas, that this is a reasonable option? Apparently so. They make most of their profits off of what is sold in-store.

When getting gas, I always use my bank card at the pump. Over the past few weeks, I’ve gradually accepted the rising prices as a cost for loving my gas-devouring beast. However something new happened the other day—the pump stopped at $60 flat. My tank wasn’t full, and I wasn’t able to milk anymore gas from that transaction. I decided to look into it.

Who did it

There are three suspects for why the pump stopped when it did.

Me. This could be my fault if my account was empty. But it wasn’t (at that moment, anyway), so I ruled this out.

Wells Fargo. In the almost 10 years I’ve used Wells Fargo, this has never happened. What’s more, the week prior I paid over $65 at another station.

The station. This was my first time at this station, so I have no experience to compare. Therefore, rightly or wrongly, it’s getting the blame.

Before these charges can stick, I need more evidence. So I turn to a very accurate and trusted resource: The internet.

I immediately stumbled onto City-Data.com, a site that collects and analyzes data about US cities. Oddly, the forum posting that was the most useful mainly discussed gas in the UK. But hidden in the petrol talk was the snippet that solves it all:

The gas station owners have to find a middle ground between how much people usually get and how much they can put a hold on those funds in the account. When you swipe your [debit] card neither the station or your bank knows how much you are going to spend, so they put a “hold” on a set amount of funds in your account. If they set it too high, and there isn’t enough to cover it, the card will be denied and the pump will not authorize and turn on. Most lately have been set at $50 or $75. Generally enough for average sized tanks and not too big of an amount that the [debit] card will not work.

Thanks Bydand.

At peace

Credit cards don’t have this issue. Also, depending on the program, many credit cards feature rewards or cash back programs for filling up. I use a Discover Open Road credit card that offers cash back on gas and maintenance on my ever-hospitalize Jeep. This, or other gas cards,can help the hurt.

But as traumatizing as my weekly 17 gallons are, at least I don’t have the 26 gallon Escalade, the 32 gallon H2 Hummer, or the (gulp) 40 gallon Suburban.

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