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(8/31/99) GenXers Max Out Gen X-ers carry $2,021 in credit card debt and are the most leveraged age group of American consumers. The figures comes from new research conducted by Scudder Kemper Investments. -READ MORE	(8/30/99) Blue SkyMiles For Delta's frequent flyers it's nothing but blue sky. Starting this week Delta Air Lines SkyMiles will no longer expire. The decision comes on the heels of similar adjustments made in programs run by United Airlines and American Airlines. -READ MORE
(8/26/99) First USA Surrenders Bank One's First USA credit card unit revealed yesterday that it will not grow as fast and will not produce as much profit as anticipated this year. The news sent shock waves through the industry and the stock market this week. First USA says the credit card business is not what it used to be. -READ MORE	(8/25/99) Rate Hike II They did it again! And they'll continue to do it until they drive inflation away. For the second time in two months The Federal Open Market Committee voted to raise its target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 5-1/4 percent. -READ MORE
(8/25/99) Cafe Card It's the newest breed of Java cards. No, not the Sun Microsystems kind, but a real payment card for real java. Borders Cafe Espresso introduced an electronic gift card this week. -READ MORE	(8/24/99) Speedpass Sweepstakes Mobil and Major League Baseball have teamed up to offer an opportunity to win a trip to the '1999 World Series'. Customers who enroll in the free Mobil 'Speedpass' program between now and Oct. 1 will be automatically entered in the sweepstakes. -READ MORE
(8/24/99) Gold Points Card National Car Rental is joining the 'Gold Points' program this fall. All U.S. National Car Rental locations will award 'Gold Points' at a rate of 350 'Gold Points' per rental day. 'Gold Points' is a card-based, consumer loyalty program offering awards ranging from hotels stays to catalog merchandise. -READ MORE	(8/19/99) 260% Interest? Where can you borrow $100 for an effective, annualized interest rate of 260%? Try your bank credit card! Credit card cash advance fees are soaring. Five years ago most card issuers charged a cash advance fee of 2.0% with a $2.00 minimum. -READ MORE
(8/18/99) Pokemon Smart Cards It's the biggest smart card program to be launched in the USA. It also promises to be the most fun! Nintendo of America Inc. announced this week it will distribute smart cards for its new 'Pokemon Snap' video game. The promotion will run through Thanksgiving. -READ MORE	(8/17/99) Alaska Air Platinumized Joining the fast moving trend of platinumizing airline co-branded credit cards is Bank of America's 'Alaska Airlines VISA' program. Cardholders of the new 'Alaska Airlines VISA Platinum' card will receive 5,000 bonus miles after opening an account, 1,000 bonus miles each year after renewal and double miles for each Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air ticket or vacation purchase. -READ MORE
(8/16/99) Card Scams Squashed The FTC and its enforcement partners shut down a number of scams last week involving the payment of an advance fee for a VISA or MasterCard. The Federal Trade Commission, state Attorneys General from six states and state banking officials were involved in 'OPERATION ADVANCE FEE LOAN'. -READ MORE	(8/16/99) College Credit Ed College students will be bombarded this fall with the question "Are You Credit Wise?". The United States Student Association and MasterCard International last week announced a joint program to begin student-to-student personal finance training on college campuses. -READ MORE
(8/13/99) Debit Air Miles Rewards for debit card use is catching on and has now spread to Canada. Bank of Montreal this week became the first bank in Canada to offer rewards for debit card purchases. Bank of Montreal launched the 'Double Dip with Debit' Air Miles program this week in Winnipeg. -READ MORE	(8/12/99) Marcus Reward Cards You've probably never heard of the name "Marcus Corporation" but this mid-west hotel operator has unveiled an interesting suite of new reward MasterCards. Wells Fargo/Norwest Bank and The Marcus Corp teamed up this week to offer four new reward MasterCards. -READ MORE
(8/12/99) Bankruptcy Decline While bankruptcy reform makes it way through Congress the number of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. is declining for the first time in four years. According to statistics released this week by Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, new bankruptcy filings during the second quarter declined from 373,460 last year to 345,956 this year. -READ MORE	(8/11/99) No Expiration One of best deals among VISA, MasterCard and American Express reward cards just got better. As of now all major U.S. air carriers have dropped the mileage expiration requirement from their frequent flyer programs. -READ MORE
(8/11/99) Biz FMA Business owners can now have their cake and eat it too. Citibank/Travelers Bank and Salomon Smith Barney joined up this week to roll out a 'Financial Management Account' for businesses. The 'Business FMA' account enables small and medium-sized businesses to consolidate cash flow management, investments, and borrowing through a single account. -READ MORE	(8/10/99) Lycos MasterCard Fleet Credit Card Services announced this morning the immediate availability of the 'Lycos MasterCard' throughout the Lycos network of web sites. The new card comes in two card designs and carries an introductory APR of 2.9% for five months and includes automatic membership into the 'Lycos Rewards' program launching later this year. -READ MORE
(8/10/99) Photo VISA Check Card Bank of America has introduced the 'Photo Security VISA Check Card' in California featuring a customer's photograph and signature on the front of the debit card. Bank of America also offers a 'Photo Security VISA Credit Card' in California. -READ MORE	(8/9/99) Piling It On It might be extremely dry in some parts of the U.S. this summer but when it comes to revolving debt it is anything but a drought. American consumers piled on another $5 billion to revolving debt during June according to figures released last week by the Federal Reserve. -READ MORE
(8/9/99) US West e.Card The First USA e-card has now become a co-branded credit card. U S West and First USA rolled-out the 'U S WEST e.card Platinum VISA' card last week. The program offers cardholders a 5% cash-back reward for online purchases made at more than 20 Internet merchants.... -READ MORE	(8/6/99) Getting Satisfaction The most loyal cardholders are consumers holding MBNA's Platinum card, Citibank's AAdvantage card and American Express Optima card. The findings come from J.D. Power's '1999 Comprehensive Credit Cardholder Study'. Power found that MBNA ranked highest in cardholder loyalty among VISA/MasterCard Platinum cardholders. -READ MORE
(8/6/99) Europeans Want Credit There is hunger for plastic in Europe, especially the credit card kind. A new 13-country study released this week by PSI Global found that significant numbers of Europeans want additional payment cards that can be used for more types of transactions in more places. -READ MORE	(8/5/99) Gone Platinum How about no limit for earning air miles? It's possible with the new Platinum version of the America West FlightFund VISA. Bank of America took its America West FlightFund VISA to the platinum level this week. -READ MORE
(8/5/99) Student FONCARD College students nationwide will be able to phone home for as little as 10 cents a minute this year. Sprint announced this week a student version its popular FONCARD. The calling card for college students now carries a rate of 10 cents a minute for weekday calls from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and all weekend long. -READ MORE	(8/4/99) FreeMac VISA How would you like to earn a free computer for opening a new VISA account? It will be possible this fall as a brand new company called FreeMac.com is launched. FreeMac.com will be the first company in the world to give away one million Apple 'iMac' computers. -READ MORE
(8/4/99) Business Debit Miles Business cardholders can now earn air miles without the hassle of credit cards. The first co-branded debit card for small business was unleashed this week by Chase Manhattan and Continental Airlines. -READ MORE	(8/3/99) Business Priority Club The first business credit card offered by a hotel rewards program hit the scene this week. The 'Priority Club Worldwide Business VISA', offered by Bass Hotels & Resorts and First USA, allows each company employee cardholder to earn points for free hotel nights, frequent flyer miles, merchandise and shopping rewards. -READ MORE
(8/2/99) Kroger Card - New & Improved After six years with Fifth Third Bank the Kroger bank credit card has switched to U.S. Bancorp. The new and improved 'Kroger VISA Rewards' card was introduced last week to store customers in Cincinnati, Houston and Dallas/Ft. Worth. -READ MORE