Business News Online

Posted on Thursday, 24th June 2010 by Gregory Moore

The longstanding battle between merchants and the banking industry has netted at least one victory for merchants on Capitol Hill. This week, the House and Senate came to an agreement over the issue of debit card swipe fees and are brining them under the purview of the federal government. What does that mean? We thought you’d never ask.

Interchange Fees

Interchange fees, or swipe fees, are a cut of the transaction that credit card issuers automatically get every time you pay with plastic. This is usually a percentage—so, if you buy a $100 DVD player,  about $98 goes to Best Buy and the remaining $2 gets divvied up between Bank of America, Visa, etc. By l

Read more…

Comments (0)

Posted on Wednesday, 23rd June 2010 by Gregory Moore

After college, I was waiting tables by night, living the good life of a 20-something in the city by day. Cool roommate, cute dog and a little spending money to boot. Then one day, my dog ran into the street and was hit by a car. She needed a $2,000 surgery ASAP and I had zero savings. I did what most of us would do — I whipped that credit card out so fast I gave myself whiplash. (P.S. The surgery ended up costing a lot more than 2K).

Fast-forward a few weeks. The pup was healing, I was doing a good job forgetting my newfound debt and the car I’d had since high school broke down. The repairs were $1,700. Dude, thank goodness for credit, I thought. Years later, I’m still paying for those two emergencies. Hey —

Read more…

Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 22nd June 2010 by Jeremy Lee

Oregon Court of Appeals affirms decertification of class action
Ater Wynne
Oregon Law Firm

Last week the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision to decertify a class action against US Bank.  In Belknap v. US Bank, the plaintiffs claimed that defendant employer failed to timely pay a portion of their wages.  In 2004, the trial court certified a plaintiffs’ class estimated to include up to 1,900 former employees.  But after two years of discovery and motion practice, the court decertified the class and the case proceeded with just the two named plaintiffs — only one of whom ultimately won his wage claim at trial.

Read more…

Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 22nd June 2010 by Jeremy Lee

New Zealand Businesses can be rewarded with successful outcomes when they apply their good old Kiwi ingenuity. All we need to do is ‘punch above our weight’ just like the NZ Football team – the ‘All Whites’ is doing at the World Cup 2010 or we can follow the business tips kindly provided by our Contributors in this article.

Tip 1: Always Sell On Value Not On Price

If you can deliver the quantifiable value your customers need you’ll always be in business. We’re in a

Read more…

Comments (0)

Posted on Monday, 21st June 2010 by Laura Hernandez

After I enjoyed the moment, that is. And because her arrest was on a beach-related offense — tampering with a sea turtle nest — my enjoyment of that arrest was all the more sweet, I admit.

After all, Schultz, 73, is infamous as the most hyper-territorial resident of South Manasota Key. She calls the cops and berates people if they dare treat her little stretch of private beach as a public one, or even if they assume it has the usual mandatory strip of public access starting at or near the mean high water line.

Schultz has long claimed her beach neighborhood to be an exception that has no such public easement.

Read more…

Comments (0)

Posted on Saturday, 19th June 2010 by Gregory Moore

The deep recession may be steadily winding down, but the banking industry still faces financial challenges that should generate further changes in 2010 and beyond. The effects of the collapse of the real estate and mortgage market causes long-term problems for the entire banking industry.

Read more…

Comments (0)