Other Breaking News
In today’s CardFlash News Que: INTECH (Forte); PIVOTAL (white paper); PRESTIGEPAY (website); and KONY (exec).
Other Breaking News
In today’s CardFlash News Que: AMEX (UNSTAGED); GOLDMONEY (Aurum); ACCEPTEMAIL (CEO); and HELPSHIFT (growth).
Enhanced Visa Simon Giftcard
Simon® announced today it will team up with prepaid and payments provider Blackhawk Network to offer an enhanced Visa Simon Giftcard® at select Simon malls, Premium Outlets® and Mills, and online at simongiftcard.com. The Simon Giftcard will also be made available outside Simon centers through Blackhawk’s participating network of grocery stores and other third-party locations.
MBNA
MBNA announced its http://www.mbna.co.uk website now offers improvements in navigation for easier use and accessibility. New features also will help customers choose the credit card which is most suited them, manage their accounts online more effectively and have access to helpful information about protecting their accounts and understanding credit. The credit card selector is designed to help customers choose which of MBNA’s range of cards best fits their requirements. Also, the ‘card services and benefits’ section allows new customers to activate their credit cards online, log in or register for Online Card Services to manage their accounts and learn more about MBNA’s credit card rewards program. Additionally, the ‘protection and security’ section offers customers important credit card security advice, whilst Plain English guides have also been introduced to help customers better understand credit.
AmEx Partners to Offer Car Rental Loyalty Program
In partnership with American Express, the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands have re-launched their “Cash-In Club” loyalty rewards program. Allowing agents to incorporate award points into American Express-branded reward cards, the “Cash-In Club” promotion offers an updated website with more flexible rewards. It is being offered through all U.S.-resident travel agents who book a qualified reservation through October 2010. Program members will also be automatically entered to win every time they reserve a car with Alamo or National, for which the grand prize winner will be awarded 15,000 points, while the second place winner will be awarded 10,000 points and third place wins 5,000 points.
Plasticrewards.com Expands Toolset For Credit Debt Management
Because selecting the right credit or debt management program involves visiting multiple issuerâs websites with endless comparisons of complicated terms and conditions, PlasticRewards.com has compiled the data from over 200 credit card offers and features credit card comparison tools to help users find a credit card that fits their needs by arranging categories with detailed information for each credit card. The newly re-launched website also offers helpful user reviews, debt consolidation services, credit reports, loans, more detailed information than before and allows consumers to compare credit cards from categories such as travel, cash back, airline miles, business, student benefits and more.
Best Western and Barclaycard Relaunches MasterCard Reward Program
MasterCard Worldwide and Barclaycard US have re-launched their
rewards card program with Best Western International. Cardholders can
now earn five Best Western Rewards points, up from the 3.3 points earned
previously for every $1 spent at Best Western and one point for every $1
spent away from Best Western. The Best Western Rewards program also
features unique point redemption options in addition to hotel stays such
as gift cards, Best Western Travel Cards, dining rewards, theme park
awards, gas and auto rewards such as car rental certificates and
charitable contributions. In addition, the card program now features
other World MasterCard benefits, such as up to 5,000 bonus points for
balance transfers for new cardholders; 0% on balance transfers for the
first six months for new cardholders and exclusive point redemption
discounts and offers. Travelers who sign up for the card and use it once
will receive 16,000 bonus points, which is enough for a free nightâs
stay at roughly half of Best Westernâs 2,200 North American hotels. In
addition, cardholders who use the card for $6,000 in purchases within a
calendar year will earn an upgrade to Elite status in the Best Western
Rewards program, which entitles them to at least a 10% point bonus on
all Best Western hotel stays.
Microfinance Relaunches MIX Market
The Microfinance Information Exchange has re-launched the “MIX Market”
global platform for micro-finance data, analytics and business
information through a partnership with The MasterCard Foundation. Developed to help improve transparency in the rapidly growing but diverse
microfinance industry, MIX Market is an online marketplace for data,
analytics and
benchmarks on the institutions that provide financial services to the
world’s poor. The data base is the deepest in the industry, with financial,
operational and social performance data on more than 1400 microfinance institutions (MFIs)
throughout the developing world.
The website was redesigned and the underlying database rebuilt to allow for
the rapidly expanding network of microfinance institutions and their broader array
of products, services and metrics. The new platform also provides increased
functionality and tools for all users. MIX Market now includes the
availability of all content in English, Spanish, French and Russian, with Arabic content
coming online in early 2010.
PRACTICALMONEYSKILLS.CA
Visa Canada has re-launched ‘practicalmoneyskills.ca’ “Practical Money
Skills” website, providing an easy-to-navigate user interface with cost
calculators, budget templates, games and quizzes for better personal
finance management. Personal finance information on the site is
organized into ‘Saving & Spending’, ‘Credit & Debt’ and ‘Life Events’
with sub-topics in each category paired with corresponding calculators,
brochure and information. Visa Canada’s “Choices & Decisions: Taking
Charge of Your Financial Life”, a curriculum based financial literacy
resource program developed by educators, is available free for download
and hard copies of the kit may be ordered through the site’s Educators
section. Visa has committed to reaching 20 million people with financial
literacy information globally by 2013.
Advanta Relaunches KivaB4B for Small Biz
Advanta has re-launched “KivaB4B.org”, an online community for small business owners share best charitable
practices, highlight their philanthropic models and develop new ways to
give back. The Project also helps small business owners increase the impact of
actual grants â large and small â to entrepreneurs in developing countries through
Kiva.org. If a small business owner uses an Advanta credit card to make a grant through
Kiva to an entrepreneur, Advanta matches the grant, dollar for dollar, up to $200 per account,
per month. KivaB4B.org provides participating small businesses with information and
resources to market their philanthropic activities to their community. In
addition, every week the site profiles a business owner who supports entrepreneurs in the
developing world through Kiva. Advanta recently released a new KivaB4B credit card for business
professionals who donât own a business entity.
MasterCard Launches a New Hispanic TV Spot
MasterCard has launched a new 30-second U.S. Hispanic television spot entitled “Luchador” as part of its “Priceless” integrated marketing campaign in conjunction with the re-launch of its Spanish language U.S. consumer website, “mastercardenespanol.com.” Leveraging the Mexican tradition of Lucha Libre wrestling, the ad spot follows a Hispanic wrestler and shows his use of his credit/debit MasterCard to pay for beauty services. “Luchador” will air in Chicago, Dallas, Harlingen, Houston; Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio and San Francisco on Spanish Spanish television in response to research demonstrating 75% of Hispanics prefer cash payment. Furthermore, MasterCard will also be initiating a series of grassroots campaigns to spark interest in plastic spending among Hispanics. Creative for the new “Priceless” campaign is handled by McCann Erickson/New York.
MOSAIK GOLD AIR MILES REWARDS
The BMO Bank of Montreal has relaunched its Mosaik Gold AIR MILES
Reward Option. With this reintroduction, cardholders are now afforded
discounts on flights to over 500 destinations around the globe, can
accumulate one reward mile for every $15 spent, can accumulate 2 reward
miles for every $15 in card purchases at Shell Gas, can collect reward
miles
when using their payment card in stores/online and receive a 20% discount
on AIR MILES flight redemption, which can be used for flights on any
of the eleven participating airline reward partners. Moreover, cardholders
can stimulate the rate at which they accumulate reward miles by up to 40%
each month by holding such BMO products as a mortgage, savings account,
line of credit or business banking account.