Credit card parking meters included in 2007 budget

Drivers could use credit cards in new parking meters that would replace more than one-third of Milwaukee's downtown meters next spring, a city official said Monday.

The Department of Public Works is preparing to review proposals to install at least 100 of the new devices, said Dorinda Floyd, public works finance chief.

Because each unit would handle payments for up to 15 parking spaces, they would replace 1,500 of the 4,000 meters downtown, Floyd said.

Plans for the new meters are included in Mayor Tom Barrett's 2007 budget. Floyd discussed the budget's parking provisions with the Common Council's Finance & Personnel Committee.

In 2004, an Australian company provided four of the devices for a three-month test along a one-block stretch of N. Jefferson St. Each meter took coins, credit cards and debit cards as payment for five to nine spaces.

Drivers would punch the number of their space into the meter's keypad, then insert coins or swipe their cards.

Flashing lights told parking checkers which spaces were out of time.

Parking revenue for the block rose 3% during the test, and public reaction was positive, officials said.

The devices also provide much more information about how people use parking meters, which eventually could be used to come up with different rates for different times of day, Floyd said.

Although the city has 6,300 parking meters, the devices accepting credit cards make more sense downtown where parking is $1 an hour than in neighborhood business districts where parking is as little as 25 cents an hour, because the minimum credit card charge is $1, she said.

Also Monday, Floyd said a $5 increase in parking ticket late fees would produce $600,000 a year.

Unpaid tickets now rise $5 after 10 days, another $5 after 28 days and another $15 after 58 days. Barrett's budget would change the increase after 28 days to $10.

The parking fee boost is the largest of several fee increases that will be considered by the full council today.

Fee increases are often considered before the rest of the budget, to give the city comptroller time to verify they will produce the revenue projected by the administration. Other fee increases on the agenda are aimed at businesses.

Wal-Mart, GE launch Chinese credit card

BEIJING Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and General Electric Co.'s finance arm are joining the race for a share of China's growing consumer credit market by launching their own credit card this week, a Wal-Mart spokesman said Tuesday.

The card is to be formally launched on Friday but the companies began taking applications on Monday, said Jonathan Dong, a spokesman for Wal-Mart China. Wal-Mart's partners are GE Money and China's Shenzhen Development Bank Ltd.

The card will be part of the Visa network and can charge purchases in China's currency, the yuan, or a foreign currency such as the U.S. dollar, Dong said.

"It can be used throughout the country as well as overseas," Dong said.

Chinese and foreign banks and credit card companies are expanding in China in hopes of tapping its growing consumer market as Beijing eases restrictions on their operations.

Chinese banks that have taken on foreign banks as strategic investors have cited their expertise in issuing credit cards as a key reason for seeking them out as partners.

Wal-Mart's new credit card is the second issued by the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company in China in as many months.

In September, the company issued a card with British-owned HSBC Corp. and China's Bank of Communications Ltd., according to Dong. That card is part of the Mastercard network.

The cards, which bear the Wal-Mart logo, are both a marketing tool for the company and a service to customers, Dong said.

"It gives us a great branding advantage. The card I carry has the Wal-Mart logo on it. People are surprised to see it," he said by phone from the company's China headquarters in the southern city of Shenzhen.

Wal-Mart has been expanding rapidly in China, where it opened its first outlet in 1996. The company now has 66 stores with 36,000 employees and news reports say it is bidding to buy a Taiwanese-owned chain of hypermarkets in a US$1 billion (€700 million) deal.

The credit card with GE will be issued in southern China, while the card with HSBC was issued in the north, Dong said.

The strategy reflects the limitations of China's developing banking and credit industries, where most companies lack a nationwide service network.

Online Secret: Credit Cards for Everyone

Credit cards popularity has increased over the last 20 years. There is a wide range of credit cards available out there and they are now accessible almost for everyone. There are unique cards that offer lots of benefits to the holders.

Some cards have small fees and offer a pack of rewards in exchange, but there are also cards with no fees, no charge for balance transfers and you’ll even find 0% interest rates offers for a period of time.

Wide range of Credit Cards

You can’t even begin to imagine how many options are out there. There is a huge variety of cards ranging from Business credit cards, Rewards credit cards, Low interest credit cards, Student credit cards, Airline Rewards credit cards, Sub-prime credit cards, Secured and unsecured credit cards and so on. There are so many options that sometimes it can become very difficult to choose a particular one or compare the options to see which one best suits your needs.

The credit card industry has grown outstandingly in the last decade, since the market keeps growing everyone wants a share and new companies continue to add options to the already crowded market. Also taking this into account long-established credit card providers are offering better terms on their traditional cards. Thus, the key to getting the right card for you is to get an organized comparison of what the market has to offer and see which credit card has the most advantageous terms. This is best done by searching online for sites comparing different type of credit cards. These sites will also let you apply for the cards online so you won’t even have to move from your home in order to get approved.

Shopping online

Overcoming common but unjustified fears, more and more people are shopping online. Online shopping has become safe and regular practice for young people who feel more comfortable shopping online than in regular stores. Credit cards have a lot to do with this new approach to shopping and you can easily notice that’s almost impossible to find an online store that doesn’t have credit cards as a payment option, furthermore in many cases it’s the only payment option available.

Most credit cards have a number of customer protection programs to make sure their clients are not victims of fraud or identity theft by the use of credit cards in online stores. Moreover, through some insurance policies, the credit card companies or their affiliate insurance companies take responsibility for frauds and unsuccessful transactions and compensate the client with a reimbursement.

Traveling Abroad

Credit cards have also become a reliable aid when traveling abroad. Paying with a credit card saves you from the trouble of exchanging currency and the dangers that this transaction implies when you don’t do it on a well known institution which are not easily found everywhere. Many Credit cards also offer medical aid when abroad and free emergency telephone calls. Also when lost or stolen you can easily cancel them to prevent them from being used by calling a toll-free telephone number. Since most credit card companies have offices all over the world, you can get personalized assistance everywhere and your cards can be replaced if stolen, lost or damaged.

Seoul Taxis to Accept Transit Cards

The Seoul metropolitan government said yesterday that transportation cards including pre-paid, T-money and credit cards can be used in taxis starting next year.

According to the plan, about 3,500-5,000 taxis will be equipped with the transportation card device for a three-month trial operation, and the city will install the devices in all taxis in Seoul during the first half of the year.

Currently, Seoul has 72,000 taxis and they accept only cash. After receiving feedback from citizens, the city government will consider making it compulsory for taxi drivers to install the card devices.

``Although using cards became the norm, Seoul taxis doesn’t accept cards inconveniencing passengers,’’ said a Seoul City official. ``The plan will revitalize the use of taxis by improving the payment system.’’

However, it is questionable whether the new system will be smoothly adopted in Seoul, considering many troubles occurred in Inchon. Three years ago, the city of Inchon introduced the card payment system in taxis for the first time nationwide, but it had caused ceaseless problems both for drivers and passengers due to defects in the card devices.

The devices often failed to read the cards and imposed double-payments on some passengers. The city made it compulsory for taxi drivers to accept cards and fined those who didn’t install the card device in 2004. In response to the city’s policy, a driver even committed suicide.

Top two banks charge the most for credit cards

The country’s top two banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, are the only credit card providers that charge customers interest on money paid off their credit card if the bill is not repaid in full, according to a survey by The Sunday Business Post.

The survey asked providers whether a customer with a €1,000 bill would be charged interest on the €1,000 if they repaid €900 by the repayment date, or if the customer would only be charged interest on the outstanding €100. Only AIB and Bank of Ireland said the customer would pay interest on the €1,000.This means customers of the two banks could pay more than 18 per cent interest on money they have already repaid to their bank, simply because they did not repay in full.

Bank of Scotland, EBS Building Society, First Active, National Irish Bank, Permanent TSB, Tesco and Ulster Bank said the customer would only pay interest on the outstanding €100.

Barclays and MBNA said the customer would pay interest based on the average amount owed on their credit card each day. A spokesman for AIB said it charged interest in this way ‘‘as an incentive to customers to pay off their bill in full and on time’’.

‘‘If a customer made €1,000worth of credit card purchases on March 17 and did not repay their bill by May 16 when the payment was due, they would be charged interest of €21.88,” said the bank’s spokesman.

David McCarthy, managing director of Galway financial consultants McCarthy and Associates, said: ‘‘Credit card providers are charging what they like. Charges for credit card transactions outside the eurozone can be very prohibitive and you often don’t notice them because they’re built into the exchange rate.”

When customers use their credit card to buy something or withdraw cash in a non-euro currency, the credit card provider provides a foreign exchange service.

‘‘The rate offered by credit card providers is substantially lower than the market rate,” said McCarthy.