Identity Theft Online

AmEx rewards Cardmembers for tweeting, and more

AmEx + Twitter = savings

On Mar. 6, American Express announced that it has launched a new Twitter promotion for its Cardmembers. If you register an eligible card, and then tweet using hashtags associated with certain special offers, couponless savings are loaded directly to [your] synced Cards no coupons, no print-outs, according to a company press release. Confused? AmEx vice chairman Ed Gilligan explains:

American Express is turning Twitter content into commerce by connecting Cardmembers to merchants and delivering real world value to both. With the continued convergence of online and offline commerce, our closed loop continues to enable us to bring seamless, relevant ways to connect our Cardmembers and merchants on the most powerful social and digital platforms.

IPad app allows in-store credit card applications

Also on Mar. 6, U.S. Bank announced that it was trialing an iPad app that would allow shoppers to apply for its credit cards in stores.

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Tags: Amex, Amex Rewards

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Ask Creditnet: Pay Off Credit Cards vs. Installment Loan

Dear Creditnet: Will it be better for my credit scores if I pay down my credit card debt (I have about $8000 in balances) or pay off an installment loan of $10,000?

I am looking to buy a home in the next year and I need to improve my credit score about 50 points.

- Pete from GA

Answer: Pay off your credit card balances as soon as possible. Its not only the best choice for your credit scores, but its usually the choice that will save you the most in interest charges as well.

While Im not sure what the interest rate is on your installment loan, I think its probably safe to assume that its lower than the interest rates your credit cards carry. If this is true, then youll want to focus on completely paying off the credit card debt before reallocating any of your debt payments to the installment loan.

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Tags: Installment Loan, Loan

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Marital Status and the Recession

Job losses among women during the recent recession exhibit a curious pattern by marital status that is revealing about the importance of labor demand and supply factors.

During the 2008-9 recession, job losses were not equitably shared; employment rates fell more for some groups than others. Not surprisingly, employment changes varied by industry, with the greatest percentage job losses in residential construction and large job losses in manufacturing.

It is also well known that job losses were greater among men than among women – the so-called mancession – largely because men had been more likely to work in the residential construction and manufacturing industries that were hit hardest.

In this way, changes in the patterns of demand help explain why employment changes were different for men than for women. People stopped buying new houses, cars and other items that were disproportionately produced by men, and many times continued buying health care and education that were disproportionately produced by women.

The chart below displays quarterly employment rates separately for married women and unmarried women who were heads of households, both under age 65. Not

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Tags: Marital Status, Recession

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Unclutter Your Financial Life: Stop Receiving Prescreened Offers and Marketing Information

I hate junk mail. H.A.T.E. I.T.!

I have been receiving large numbers of prescreened credit card offers recently. In fact, my mailbox often comes stuffed with three offers from the same credit card issuer: One for me, one for my husband, and one for my business. The result is a great deal of clutter that builds up as I throw all these offers in a pile until I have time to open and shred them all. Other types of financial clutter also end up lying around: Last chance offers for special FHA loan refinancing, letters insisting that I can save money on my car insurance premiums, and other marketing materials fill my mailbox. And thats just the mail. I could spend hours of my time on the phone with telemarketers and scammers if I didnt screen my incoming calls.

But there are easier ways to avoid much this financial clutter in my life.

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Tags: Offers, Prescreened Offers

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Who Plays Video Games?

The other day Trent of The Simple Dollar was talking about video games.   One or two of the readers made comments that sounded like they thought video games were only for children and express surprise that adults actually play video games.   I’ve seen this attitude from some adults in the past.  Some people seem to think that only children play video games or that adults shouldn’t be playing video games.

I expect that this believe held by some people that video games are just for kids is an old perception holding over from decades past or held by people who they themselves do not play video games.    The video game industry has surpassed the movie industry as far as total revenue generated.   This is big business and to act as if its all just ‘kids stuff’ is quite frankly out of touch and a little patronizing.

I think some people may be confused about what constitutes video gaming.   People may that video gaming is only things like Call of Duty on an Xbox or playing World of Warcraft online.    If you’ve ever played solitaire on your computer, joined a Words with Friends game on Facebook or played Bejeweled on your cell phone then you too are a video gamer.

Below I share some facts about video game player demographics which are from a 2010 study conducted by the Entertainment Software Association.

First of all, is the common perception that video games are mostly played by children.  That is certainly not the case.  I’m 40 years old and my generation grew up on video games.   I can’t think of a single person my age that I know who doesn’t play video games.

The average video game player age is 34 years.

25% are under 18 years
49% are 18-49 years
26% are over 50 years

More people over the age of 50 play video games than children under the age of 18.

Not only is video gaming common among adults it is also common in most households.

67%

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Tags: Games, Video Games

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