US Financial News

Finally, a focus on merchant rewards, but from the view of the merchant. American Express’ program Go Social allows everyday merchants to enroll and post deals, but where does that leave other credit cards and rewards programs?

Before Amex rolled out this product, companies like BillShrink and edo Interactive created consumer rewards that targeted shoppers based on their purchasing habits, but the service was only available to big merchants like Barnes & Noble or Pottery Barn. Soon those partnership successes led to handshakes with a larger scope of other brands, but still excluded smaller merchants like your local wine store from taking part.

Now, American Express (NYSE: AXP), who has been on top of the social deals game, is essentially offering just that: Smaller merchants can take advantage of a program they call Go Social. This is the other end of the merchant rewards, where merchants can create, offer and manage deals across both Facebook and Foursquare (so far).

How it works

Business owners create a coupon-less deal in a self-serve manner, by choosing the type of deal, the locations where it will work, and the dates it will be available. W

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| Tags: Merchant Rewards, Rewards
Posted July 23, 2011 by Hanna Silver under Financial News

See Simon Pegg’s latest comedy, ‘Paul’, with a friend and get 2 tickets for the price of 1 at Vue Cinemas.

What’s the deal?

You can get 2 for 1 tickets to see Paul at your nearest Vue cinema until 6th april.

How do I benefit?

To claim your 2 for 1 tickets, print a 2 for 1 voucher and take it to your nearest Vue cinema.

Expiry

This voucher is valid until Wednesday 6th April, 2011.

Conditions

The 2 for 1 voucher is only valid on standard seats only and cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion.

| Tags: Paul, See Paul
Posted July 23, 2011 by Admin under Financial Guru

Yet more on the consumer bust, this time from David Backus (via Andrew Gelman):

The suggestion … is that the economy is growing slowly because consumers arent spending money. But how do we know its not the reverse: that consumers are spending less because the economy isnt doing well. As a teacher, I can tell you that its almost impossible to get students to understand that the first statement isnt obviously true. What Id call the demand-side story (more spending leads to more output) is everywhere, including this piece, from the usually reliable David Leonhardt.

DAVID LEONHARDT

Thoughts on the economic scene.

We cant know, for sure. But heres an important clue: If a weak economy inexorably led to weak consumer spending, which in turn led to an even weaker economy, we would never escape recessions. Wed enter an inescapable spiral. You often hear warnings of such a cycle in the latter stages of a typical economic slump. Unemployment is high and even rising. Income growth trails inflation. B

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| Tags: Spending, Spending Chicken
Posted July 22, 2011 by Hanna Silver under Financial News

Six are dead in Texas after a man opened fire on his estranged wife and her relatives at a family birthday party.

Tx. Man Opens Fire on Family at Sons Birthday Party is categorized as us. This video was licensed from Grab Networks. For additional video content, click the video tab at the top of this page.

If you are a new American Consumer News reader, we would like to welcome you to our website. American Consumer News exists to help people become better managers of money and more savvy consumers.

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| Tags: Birthday Party, Man Opens Fire, Opens Fire, Party
Posted July 22, 2011 by Hanna Silver under Financial News

Order some luxury chocolates from Thorntons for less, with 20% off everything online.

What’s the deal?

You can save 20% on your order from Thorntons on Monday 13th & Tuesday 14th June using an online discount code.

How do I benefit?

Simply visit the Thorntons website on either the 13th or 14th of June, shop as normal and enter the promotional code TF51 at the checkout to claim your 20% discount.

Expiry

This code is on valid on Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th June, 2011.

Conditions

The code cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion or discount and can only be used once per account.

The 20% discount excludes gift wrapping charges.

| Tags: 20 Thorntons, Thorntons
Posted July 22, 2011 by Admin under Financial Guru

Kinshasa, Congo , July 20, 2011 Media organizations want to purchase your iPhone images of the DRC.

OneNews has developed a free iPhone application which will allow users to take photos and upload them to OneNews servers where the OneNews media-publishing partners will be looking to purchase them for use in news stories about the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

OneNews has been approached by several members of the global media community who have made it clear that they want to buy photos depicting everyday life in the DRC.

Interested parties can use the OneNews iPhone app to capture and upload images of the DRC and media buyers will consider those images for purchase.

These images do not have to depict breaking news they should depict everyday life in the DRC street scenes, crowd photos, people working, wildlife, landscapes any images that convey the experience of contemporary life in the DRC are of interest to OneNews.

The app is free and the process is simple:

Use the OneNews iPhone app to capture and upload images.

Those images will be reviewed, and possibly purchased, by the newsrooms of global media organizations who have expressed interest in photos of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

| Tags: Drc, Iphone Images
Posted July 22, 2011 by Admin under Financial News

European leaders reached an accord Thursday to reduce Greece’s debt burden and prevent a collapse of confidence that has threatened to engulf some of the region’s largest economies. Economix has asked three prominent economists to offer their views on the accord and the effects it may have, intended or otherwise, in Europe and the United States. They are:

Simon Johnson, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and a Daily Economist here at Economix.

Carmen M. Reinhart, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, an economic historian and the co-author of This Time Is Different, which chronicles 800 years worth of debt crises and sovereign defaults.

Laura DAndrea Tyson, a professor of global management at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and national economic adviser in the Clinton administration. She, too, is a recurring contributor to Economix.

Q.

What effect is the European accord, including “selective default,” likely to have on Greece’s economy as it tries to recover?

A.

Simon Johnson: The debt deal will help Greece, but likely not enough. The debt

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| Tags: Accord, Debt Accord
Posted July 22, 2011 by Hanna Silver under Financial News

Paying at the pump will take on a different transactional procedure for Chase debit card customers when making gas purchases.

Chase (NYSE: JPM) is notifying debit card customers about a change to the way that the bank processes purchases for gas.

Starting July 17, customers will find a pending $1 authorization charge on their account that will serve as a placeholder for the gas purchase. When the merchant verifies the purchase, usually within 72 hours, the “final amount will change to reflect the purchase amount.”

Previously, debit card customers did not see this activity on their account. So, this new change by Chase is positive news for customers.

If you are a Chase debit cardholder, you may not have received this email notification if a gas purchase wasn’t recently posted to your checking account, according to a Chase customer representative.

In a typical “pay at the pump” transaction, customers are asked to insert their debit cards before the pump is activated. The merchant has no idea how much gas a customer will buy so it pre-authorizes a charge – often ranging from $1 to $75 – on the customer’s bank account.

This process effectively bars the customer from accessing this portion of their account funds. Meanwhile, the

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| Tags: Debit Card, Gas Purchases, Purchases
Posted July 21, 2011 by Hanna Silver under Financial News