Category

News

May 15
0

Worthless plastic? Gift cards can become valueless when retailers

By | News | No Comments

NEW YORK — You know that Sharper Image gift card you got for Christmas? Right now, it’s worthless. And other gift cards in your wallet could lose their value, too.

As more retailers file for bankruptcy or go out of business, more than $75 million in gift cards are at risk of becoming worthless pieces of plastic this year.

“If I knew this was going to happen, I would have used them right away,” said Jon Tapper, a public relations executive from Boston who received two Sharper Image cards as business gifts just a few weeks ago. Their total face value is $50.

“I love gift cards, but now this makes me think twice.”

Related Results

The Sharper Image announced late last month that it was suspending the acceptance of gift cards, at least temporarily. It urged shoppers to check the company Web site later this month for an update. That is typical of businesses that reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which treats gift cards as a loan to the company, not as cash.

For many shoppers, it’s a harsh lesson about the risks of gift cards. Consumers spent an estimated $26.3 billion in gift cards at retailers alone last holiday season, compared with $24.8 billion in 2006 and $18.48 billion in 2005, according to the National Retail Federation.

C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group, says, “You will see a lot of frustration among customers. You basically stole (money) out of the customers’ pocket. They will never forgive you.”

The number of retail bankruptcies or liquidations this year is expected to reach the highest levels since the 1991 recession.

Brian Riley, senior analyst at The TowerGroup, estimates that shoppers could lose more than $75 million just from stores and restaurant closings in 2008.

TowerGroup’s figure doesn’t include mom-and-pop services like the local nail salon. Riley said such small operations, which are most vulnerable to economic downturns, pose the biggest risks to gift- card holders.

The gift-card problem provides more ammunition to consumer- advocacy groups that have lashed out against expiration dates and burdensome fees imposed if cards are not used within a certain time frame. More than 20 states have passed regulations loosening restrictions on the use of gift cards.

“Consumers need to buy gift cards with their eyes wide open,” said Jack Gillis, a spokesman for the Consumer Federation of America.

Bankrupt businesses also face the risk that card holders left in the cold could defect to other stores just when struggling merchants need their customers the most.

Even if bankrupt retailers want to honor the gift cards, they may not be able to, according to Howard Kleinberg, director of the bankruptcy practice at Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein.

Either they can’t afford it, or their creditors’ committee or the bankruptcy court may not allow it. Gift cards amount to debt, and therefore holders are not necessarily going to get paid, Kleinberg said.

Sharper Image officials did not immediately return phone calls, but a customer-service representative told a reporter that shoppers would eventually be able to use the gift cards. She declined to say when.

Gift-card holders fall in the class of unsecured creditors, which is “low in the pecking order,” Kleinberg said. Those at the top of the list are secured creditors — with debts backed by assets such as real estate or accounts receivable.

Of course, if a company is purchased through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, the new buyer could honor gift cards.

That appears to be the case with Fortunoff, the jewelry and home furnishings chain that agreed last month to sell to an affiliate of NRDC Equity Partners LLC, which owns Lord & Taylor department stores and plans to expand the Fortunoff chain. A Fortunoff spokeswoman said the company is honoring gift cards.

Riley, of The TowerGroup, estimated that the retailer did about $32 million in business last year from gift cards.

Sharper Image’s rival, Brookstone Inc., based in Merrimack, N.H., is capitalizing on the situation. It announced last week that it would exchange Sharper Image gift cards for 25 percent off any purchase, no matter the amount of the gift card or the cost of the item.

“We thought it would be a great way of acquiring new customers,” said Brookstone spokesman Robert Padgett. “We are here for the long haul, and thought it would be good to let them know.”

Ricki Gard, a manager of the Saks Fifth Avenue’s Premier salon in New York, said it has been able to attract new clients from high- end spa Georgette Klinger, which abruptly closed its locations around the country a week before Christmas, leaving gift card holders in a lurch.

The Saks salon, leased to an outside company, has been offering 30 percent discounts on first-time services for Georgette Klinger gift-card holders, though that was little comfort to many who had thousands of dollars stored on their prepaid cards.

Carol Ann Razza, a Long Beach, N.Y., resident and Georgette Klinger customer for 18 years, lost several hundred dollars when the salon closed its doors.

May 10
0

China: Car racing incident

By | News | No Comments

On 7 of May, around 20:05, a 25 year-old young man Tan Zhuo (譚卓 see thumb nail photo) was hit and killed by a racing car when he was walking in a zebra crossing at Wen E Si road in Han Zhou. According to witnesses, the car was racing with another two cars in extremely high speed and Tan was thrown 5 meters upward before hitting the ground. The driver was an undergraduate student of a local university, Hu Bin, with rich family background. There were no tire-mark in the scene, and Tan’s body was landed 20 meters away from the spot he was hit. Below is a T.V report on the incident:

70 km car speed only

Police report on the next day quoted from the driver and his friends’ side of the story and stated that the car speed was only 70 km when Tan was hit. And the police said that they were yet to confirm whether Tan was in the zebra crossing. Even the reporters were outraged by the one side story presented by the police and challenged the police during the press conference:

No more reports!

However, local propaganda department has issued notice to all media organization in Han Zhou demanding that there should be no more follow up report on the car racing incident. Meanwhile netizen were outraged by the attitude of Hu and his racing gang. A photo showed that they didn’t show any remorse after the accident.

racing-gang

Uptill now there are more than 1.3 million visits to a single Tianya’s post with more than 15,000 comments, below is just a selection of some:

Outraged netizens

清风匝地123　2009-05-08　09:07:53

支持人肉,简直无法无天

Support human flesh search engine, there is no law and no justice.

伤心的马甲12　2009-05-08　09:15:04

这个帖子点击快四百了，却没人回复。
我觉得这种帖子就应该顶起来，制造社会舆论压力。最好能上门户网站，各大报纸，因为不是这件事就算了，杭州这边不管是城西还是滨江，这种人很多。我身边朋友很多都碰到过，不严打，难保又要出人命。

There are about 400 hit for this post, how come not so many comments.
I think this kind of post should be lifted to the top to create social pressure. I wish major portal and newspapers would report on this. We have so many such kind of scums in Han Zhou, many of my friends have witnessed similar incidents. If the government does not strike hard on this, more people lives will be at stake.

稻草玩偶　2009-05-08　09:18:53

只要不是无照驾驶，交通事故中就不会有太大的问题，撞死人比撞伤人省下很多麻烦，甚至赔的钱更少。这帮子富家公子是败类，那些撞来撞去的司机是畜生。他们这种情况只要不是无照驾驶连刑事责任都不用承担，所以才能笑得出来，不当回事

If the driver has a license, car accident is not a big issue and the compensation for killing someone is less than injuring someone. This gang of rich are human scum, these drivers are beasts.Driving with a license do not need to take up criminal responsibility, that’s why they can laugh like this as if nothing serious has happened.

走过路过人生　2009-05-08　09:21:04

申明我不仇富，但我仇视，毁掉别人生命还如此猖狂的人。说句不好听的，这般小孩就是欠教育，对生命都如此冷漠，以后还能指望他做出什么有意义的事来？他们这行为跟故意杀人罪的社会危害性没区别了。。。

I don’t hate the rich, but I hate such kind of attitude after taking away other’s life. They lack basic education for being so cold to life. What else can they do in this future? Such kind of behavior is no different with murder…

东元的KK　2009-05-08　09:22:09

还有，去年杭州滨江还发生过更惨烈的悲剧，一对小夫妻，孩子才几个月，吃过晚饭，在江边散步，一个开快车的马六把夫妻俩撞飞，肚肠都出来了，直接死亡。

Last year, a worse tragedy happened. A couple who just had their new born baby was taking a walk near the river, a over speed car killed them both on spot.

wlvlb　2009-05-08　09:27:32

这就是中国了，习惯就好

This is China, get used to it and everything is fine.

空水氤氲　2009-05-08　09:46:01

这种无良祸害
强烈要求修改中国这方面的法律
这不就是 杀人吗 他们明明知道市区道路人多
还开这么快 撞死人是必然的
虽然撞死谁是偶然的

We should demand the government to change the law. This is murder, they know that there are so many people in the street. With such high speed, it is inevitable that someone would be killed, although who would be the victim is random.

Human flesh search engine

Human flesh search engine decided to do the justice themselves and dig up all the information concerning Hu Bin, including his parent’ identity, his I.D card number, photo, mobile phone number, QQ number and even password (which is his car license number). Moreover, human flesh search engine also found out that the same car had two records in exceeding speed limit and the car’s engine has been modified.

As online discussion about the incident has been harmonized (critical and emotional comments were deleted), two websites have been set up to collect information and update about this car racing incident: http://70km.org and http://70yard.com.

Candle night vigil and open letter

Tan’s family, friends, fiancee, alumni, teachers and colleagues organized a candle night vigil on the next day and jointly signed an open letter to the city mayor asking for a thorough investigation on the case. Today (May 10), there will be another commemoration gathering at the city mortuary. For those who cannot attend the vigil can sign up here.

Below are photos about the candle night vigil in May 8 (via and 70yard):

qx7

qx6

qx5

May 08
0

Mother’s Day Gifts Mom Will Keep Forever

By | News | No Comments

Gifts from the Heart that Reflect the Special Love Between a Mother and Child

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and many Dads and kids will be struggling with what to get for Mom this year. Millions of flowers will be delivered, cards will be bought and restaurants will be full on Mother’s Day.

I suggest to you that for this Mother’s Day you think about giving her gifts that will last forever. A type of gift that will remind her for the rest of her life just how special she is to you, and how special

I have two beautiful cement bunnies, a frog and an owl. They are precious gifts that I have carefully wrapped and carried with me as we moved throughout the years. Every time I look at these garden statues I smile and remember just how special my son is to me.

Try giving your Mom a garden statue for Mother’s Day this year. It doesn’t have to be large, it just has to come from your heart.

Mother’s Day Gifts Mom Will Keep Forever #2

One year a red box with a white ribbon was presented to me for Mother’s Day. I opened the lovely box to discover a wonderful solid silver necklace from Red Envelope. As the site says about this Loving Arms Necklace, “This necklace represents the bond between mother and child with “arms” wrapped around one, two, three or four freshwater pearls, one for each child.”

I treasure this necklace with its very special single pearl, every time I pick it up to put on my neck I think of my son. This is a great forever gift for Mother’s Day.

May 08
0

Mother’s Day Gifts

By | News | No Comments

Mothers are pretty special people; toiling away for our benefit for many, many years; well past our childhood and teenage trials. Mother Nature has been personified as a female for thousands of years, representing the giving of life, sustenance and nurturing – and it’s quite fitting.

If you observe Mothers Day, honor your mom and Mother Nature by giving her a green gift this year!

The race is on to grab your Mothers Day gift card dollar – some retailers say she needs diamonds, others peddle expensive perfume; but stop and think about it a little. If your Mom is someone who cares about you and the natural world as so many mothers do, why buy her something that may contribute to poisoning her and the planet?

Local flowers

While I have not observed Mothers day for many years – in part due to my mother passing away a while back; I do remember how my mom appreciated nature and increasingly so as her time of passing drew near.

If she received flowers from someone, she wouldn’t just look at them and give them a perfunctory sniff; she would marvel at length at their beauty – gently touching the leaves and petals, viewing them from all angles and admiring their shape and texture. Flowers were a feast for her senses.

Cut flowers are usually a winner with moms; but so many flowers are imported from other states and sometimes internationally. This requires extra resources in terms of fuel for transportation, refrigeration and at times other treatments to keep them looking fresh. If you decide on flowers as a Mothers Day gift; try to buy ones that are grown locally.

Better still, perhaps potted flowers, herbs or decorative plants that can be planted in the garden – that way she’ll have a gift that won’t wither and die within a short time.

Jewelry

Gifts that sparkle are definitely popular with moms; but the jewelry industry has wreaked havoc on the environment. For example, it takes up to 5 tons of water and 20 tons of mine waste to create a simple gold ring! Consider buying something pre-loved, from a socially responsible jeweler or items made from glass, shells or recycled materials. It may sound a little tacky, but there’s some truly beautiful pieces available!

Organic Perfume

Many perfumes are made up of toxic chemical cocktails, components of which are not only hazardous to the environment, but to human health. Some of the common chemicals used are carcinogenic! I wasn’t able to locate a lot of information on earth-friendly perfumes, but it appears you should look for perfumes labeled as being organic and carrying the appropriate certification.

Organic Cosmetics

It’s the same situation with cosmetic items – chemical cocktails that wind up in the human body or flushed down the drain to pollute the environment. Again look for organic products such as olive oil based skin products.

Candles

Another Mother’s Day favorite – but did you know that many candles are made from crude oil byproducts? Burning candles releases all sorts of nasty stuff; including benzene, styrene, acetone and particulate matter. The wicks on some candles may even contain lead! Additionally, scented candles may contain more synthetic chemicals. As a more earth friendly and healthy choice, soy candles or candles made of beeswax are the way to go and for scented candles, look for soy or beeswax ones that incorporate essential oils – and have a non-lead wick of course.

Sponsorships and memberships

Mothers being the caring folk they are generally derive great pleasure from helping others. Perhaps a donation in her name for a tree planting or a conservation project might bring her joy? Maybe a membership to an online organic cooking club? A trip to a health spa? The possibilities are endless.

Fair trade clothes and accessories

Look for items made from organic cotton and produced in fair trade conditions. For example, if you wanted to buy your Mom a handbag as a gift, run a search on your favorite search engine for :

fair trade handbags

Or “fair trade” preceding any product you’re thinking of buying

Kitchenware and appliances

If you’re game enough to buy your Mother a gift that has anything remotely to do with domestic chores, good luck to you and tread carefully :). When purchasing electrical equipment, try to find items that consume as little power as possible and have recyclable components.

May 06
0

Features of Plastic Card Printers

By | News | No Comments

Plastic card printers have the capacity to create personalized cards based on your requirements. Using a computer and an image capture system, like a digital camera, plastic card printers give a well integrated system. At just a few seconds per card, the printing method is fast, so that cards are created and custom-made instantly. Digitally printed plastic cards begin with a clear and plain card that can be printed with any mixture of design, text, graphics, digital photograph, logos, bar codes and others. These designs and features are limited only by the issuers’ creativeness. Other machine-legible information, such as smart card chips and magnetic stripes can also be programmed.

Magnetic stripes can complement your plastic card order where the upper 1/3 of one part of the card is clear to contain the stripe. Magnetic Stripes have beneficial qualities that you can consider to be included on your card order. These help the new card works with previous card readers and software programs. Magnetic stripes save a small amount of information such as customer information, report numbers, user id, member numbers or also access codes for locks and other operational systems. They are compatible with other complicated software programs such as those used in Gift Card programs or Loyalty Card programs as well. The magnetic striped card is also suited with the promoter’s software so that it can provide the holder with special offers, credit towards marketing incentives and purchases, and is also used in building database that assist you in buying habits of customers. This information is useful since retailers can better serve their customers depending on stocks products that pull the interest of their customers. Also, it has many more advantages that offer a wealth of valuable marketing applications.

Another feature of plastic card that you can utilize is the signature panel on the digitally scanned signature on the face of the card or reverse of the card. Most cards are too glossy to draw on a ball point pen for signing. A signature panel provides a perfect surface to tolerate a handwritten signature. Also, a scanned signature can be added and can be personalized, however there are many card options available that can be printed on your card using digital signature.

It is simple and easy to add to your order, just ask your plastic card printing service provider about adding the Signature Panel feature. They will handle the rest. Just call them anytime if you have any queries and they can begin the process producing your high quality plastic cards. Bar-coding is a trendy choice at many plastic cards printing service provider. Most of the new retail cash register systems translate barcodes at the checkout stand, creating a perfect and fast way to collect data about customers and the products they are buying. It is also a great way to handle memberships in services and procedures that have many cards to surge in and out. Each card has the ability to carry a unique barcode on either front or reverse side. The advantages are almost endless: the card can then be linked to a database of select information customized toward your individual requirements. Indeed, digital plastic card printing symbolizes the next generation of card production. With the use of the stated digital printing technology, it adds the card delivery process into the electronic environment that helps you manage your business or agency.

May 04
0

Plastic card fraud goes back up

By | News | No Comments

There was a 25% rise in the fraudulent use of UK credit and debit cards last year, with losses amounting to £535m, according to the banking industry.
The Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) said the first rise in three years was mainly due to stolen and counterfeit cards used abroad.

Card fraud overseas rose by 77% last year to £208m, 39% of the total.

But losses also rose as cards were used dishonestly to buy more items over the phone, internet or by mail order.

It means that fraud where the credit or debit card was &quotnot present” now amounts to more than half of all card losses, here and abroad, at £291m.

Chipandpin

Taken together, all types of card fraud committed within the UK went up slightly, by 6% to £328m.

But that was still noticeably lower than a few years ago before the introduction of chipandpin technology.

The absence of this technology in some foreign countries has made the use of skimmed or cloned cards abroad relatively more attractive to criminals, said Apacs.

&quotAlthough card fraud levels have now begun to go up again due to fraud abroad and cardnotpresent fraud losses, chipandpin has proven to be an undoubted success in reducing card fraud on the UK high street,” said Sandra Quinn of Apacs.

&quotAnd, as more countries follow our lead and upgrade to chipandpin, the opportunities for criminals to use our stolen magnetic stripe details overseas will decrease,” she added.

Fraud abroad

Banks throughout Europe have agreed to bring in chipandpin cards by 2010.

They hope to emulate the success of the industry in the UK where fraud on lost or stolen cards, including those stolen in the post, has fallen to its lowest level for ten years.

Handinhand with this has gone a big drop in losses from fraudulent transactions in shops, stores and supermarkets which, although up very slightly last year, are still running at a third of the level seen in 2004.

Losses at cash machines are also down, falling by 44% in the past year to £35m.

May 04
0

Plastic Card Types

By | News | No Comments

Access Control Card

– is a plastic card used to gain/control access to premises or enter restricted areas. Usually associated with magnetic or chip cards and proximity cards with or without photo e.g. ID badges.

Affinity card

– is a form of loyalty card where the co-branding partner is a charity or organisation that benefits financially from card use.

Barcode Card

– is a card with printed codes made from vertical lines of different thickness used for fast error free data entry printed somewhere on the face or reverse. There is an array of machine-readable rectangular bars and spaces arranged in a specific way defined in international standards to represent letters, numbers, and other human-readable symbols. Cards are either the usually 30 micron credit card type cards or alternatively can be ‘pop out’ cards.

Blank Cards

– are cards with no printing usually used in imaging machines.
CR80 Card

– is the description for a standard credit card size (3 3/8″ x 2 1/8″ x .030).

Charge Card

– is a payment card that provides automatic credit within a given invoice date (usually monthly).

Cheque guarantee card

– is a card issued by a bank or building society for the purpose of guaranteeing settlement of cheques to third parties or supporting the encashment of cheques at financial institutions up to a specified value. Most debit and some credit cards may also function as cheque guarantee cards (multifunction cards).

Chip Card

– is another name for a smart card; refers to a plastic card with an embedded integrated circuit, which offers memory and micro processing capabilities.

City card

– is a multi-application prepayment card for use within a specific urban area – also known as town card.

Combi Card

– is a smart card with both “contact” and “contactless” technology on one card.

Company Card

– is a card issued to or by a company for use by an employee for business-related transactions (e.g., purchases, logical access, physical access).

Contactless Smart Card

– is a smart card that transmits and receives data using radio frequencies (RF) technology to communicate with compatible terminal. Eliminates physical contact or insertion into reader terminal while retaining intelligence. Often used in walk-by or gate access applications for mass transit.

Contact Smart Card

– is a smart card that requires physical contact with a card reading device to exchange data. Any card where information is transferred to a reader via a series of contact points located on the card.

Credit Card

– is a term used for a card allowing its owner to spend money with no immediate reimbursement.
Debit Card

– is a card similar to a credit card, but differs by immediately withdrawing money from an account and transferring it to another account. It replaces cheques (with no delay to give the issuer time to cover it) and does not have a credit line associated.

Digital Optical Laser Card

– is a portable card that passively stores information in the form of high-density marks or bars.

Electronic Purse (e-purse)

– is a smart card that contains electronic money. It is sometimes called the electronic wallet or the stored value card (SVC).

e-wallet

– is a small portable device that contains electronic money. E-wallets are generally used for low-cost transactions.

Financial Hologram Card

– is a card using a hologram, 30 mil thickness, ISO cards, e.g. MasterCard / Visa and others.

Financial Cards (Other)

– are typically Debit, Cheque, Charge or ATM cards not using a hologram.

Fuel card

– is a special purpose charge card used most by transport drivers to pay for fuel on the road.

Generic Card

is a card that utilises a base card stock of a pre-designed, centralised image and is not individualised to a specific issuer (or department) within its basic design. It may have an IIN (Issuer Identification Number) that groups the issuer with other organisations (for benefits of scales of volumes) but the users’ card can be subsequently individualised by personalisation techniques.

Gift Card

– is a standard or custom size CR80 card with a stored or prepaid value placed on the card through magnetic striping or bar coding. Usually a retail card initiated at cash desks or checkouts.

Health Card

– is a card used to store information about medical history or insurance coverage. Commonly used in the USA these cards can be of any technology.

Hologram card

– is an identification card bearing a hologram as a security measure against counterfeiting.

Hybrid Cards

– are cards that support more than one technology, such as an IC (integrated circuit) card with a magnetic stripe.

IC Card

– is an abbreviation for Integrated Circuit or “chip card”. The banking industry prefers the term “IC card” or “ICC”.

ID Card

– is an abbreviation for identity card: a card that identifies both the bearer and the issuer. All financial transaction cards are I.D. cards.

Java Card

– is a smart card that supports applications written in JAVA.

Key Card

– is a plastic card used to gain access to premises, usually associated with magnetic stripe and proximity cards.

Laser Engraved Cards

– see Polycarbonate cards.

Loyalty Card

– is typically a standard CR80 size card that has off line accounting capabilities e.g. mileage recording or merchandise purchases and often used as a retail frequent user card offering promotional benefits.

Magnetic Stripe Card

– is a card that has a strip of magnetic tape material attached to its surface. This is the standard technology used for bankcards (ATM, credit, and debit cards) and for other applications.

Membership Card

– is usually a club member card for ID purpose.

Memory Card

– is a type of smart card. Also known as a synchronous card, it features 256 bits or 32-byte memory and is suitable for use as a token or identification card. It is controlled only by fixed logic rather than by a microprocessor.

Microprocessor Card

– is a type of smart card, also known as an asynchronous card. Features 1 kilobyte to 64 Kbytes of memory and is suitable for portable or confidential files, identification, tokens, electronic purse or any combination of uses.

Mifare Card

– is a proprietary contactless smart card standard, equivalent to ISO 14443 Type A.

Multi-application Smart Card

– is a microprocessor smart card that can handle a variety of applications – typically with lots of memory and computing power – whilst maintaining separate security conditions.

Non-magnetic Card

– is a card without a magnetic stripe e.g. ID cards.

Optical Card

– is a card with information recorded on an optical memory stripe, similar to compact disks.

Other Secure Card

– are usually retail, oil/gas, telecom, transport, and pay TV cards.

PCMCIA Card

– is an abbreviation for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association: it is not considered to be a smart card, as, whilst this card type contains semiconductor chips, it is (a) physically thicker than a smart card, and (b) the connection means is through an edge connector, not via the standard surface-contact method.

PETG

– formal name is polyethylene terephthalate-glycol-modified is extremely clear. PETG does not contain a UV inhibitor. (Polycarbonate)

Photo ID card

– is an identification card bearing a photographic image of the cardholder. The image can be an actual photograph or one captured wholly electronically.

PVC

– Polyvinyl Chloride. The primary material used for typical plastic cards.

Payment Card

– is a card that is used as an identifier when used to transact full or part payment a bill. It enables the payees’ details to be swiftly recorded automatically and credit lodged against the account.

Pay TV Card

– is usually a chip card subscribing to a television service e.g. satellite TV.

Phone Card

– is a stored value card that allows the user to access telephone networks via a PIN number which is usually covered by a scratch-off panel for security.

Plastic card

– is a generic description of all payment cards including credit, debit and cheque guarantee.

Polycarbonate Cards

– are cards produced from a particular group of thermoplastics. These have the properties of high-durability, light weight and flexibility because they are polymers linked together by carbonate groups. Polycarbonate cards are stronger than Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) cards and thus more expensive. However, for applications where longevity and higher security is pre- requisite e.g. National ID, Passport and Driver’s Licence cards, Polycarbonate cards are ideal. These cards are utilised where the virtually tamper-proof personalisation technique of laser engraving is required.

Prepaid Card

– is a card paid for at Point of Sale and permits the holder to buy goods or services up to the prepaid value. Not all such cards show the identity of the bearer (e.g. phone cards).

Promotional Card

– is typically a card offering special benefits to users e.g. discounts or rewards.

Protected Memory Card

– is a smart card that requires a secret code or PIN number to be entered before the data can be sent/received from the chip.

Proximity Card

– is typically a contact less card whose presence and data can be sensed by an interface device not in physical contact with the card and used for access control applications. Embedded in the card is a metallic antenna coil, which allows it to communicate with an RF external antenna.
Radio Frequency Card (RFlD)

– A proximity card in which the coupling between the card and the interface device is by radio.

Retailer (Store) Card

– is a proprietary card used and issued by a retailer or retailing group.

Scratch Card

– is a card that is produced with special ink that can be scratched away to reveal a number or message.

Secure Card

– are cards with an intrinsic value e.g. financial, other secure cards etc.

SIM card

– is an abbreviation for Subscriber Identification Module: a smart card that connects to a GSM phone and establishes the users identity.

Single-application Smart Card

– is a smart card issued to a single organisation for a singular purpose.

Smart Card/Contact Smart Card

– also called a “chip” card or IC card. A smart card is a plastic card with an embedded microchip that may be used to store information about the cardholder or record card transactions as they occur. Plastic credit sized card that contains one or more semiconductor chips. This is a credit card or SIM card sized plastic card with an embedded microcircuit that contains either a: Memory Card, Protected Memory Card or Microprocessor Card.

Store card

– is a financial transaction card associated with a retailer or group of retail stores that can be used only for purchases from the retailers concerned.

Stored Value Card

Stored Value Card – is a financial card e.g. cash card, electronic purse, prepaid card that is loaded with a certain amount of money/value e.g. loyalty points or credit for canteen meals with each ‘purchase’ amount deducted from the card.

Telephone Card

– is a card that can be utilised for the payment of telephone calls. This type of card maybe a prepaid card, a credit card, or one that adds the cost of the call to a standard bill.

Town Card

– see City card

Apr 24
0

Fitness Business Cards Keep Them Stylish

By | News | No Comments

Having some stylish fitness business cards developed for your fitness company is a great idea if you really want to differentiate yourself from the rest of the people that you see out there. It’s really important in this day and age to create business cards that people will always remember and keep close to them that is why you need to make sure that you use your creativity or at least make sure you hire a designer that will be able to.

It’s all about getting great ideas so that you can put together some really creative cards that knock the socks off of your competition. Here’s a small list below with some ideas you might be able to implement if you want to design some trendy fitness business cards.

  • Use photography from your gym
  • Take photos of different parts of the muscles (zoom in on them so people can’t recognize what body part it is)
  • Use photos of the different equipment you have around the gym and see if you can put it together in a creative way to use on your cards
  • When it comes to choosing a font make sure it represents your fitness center properly. For example if your core focus is building strength then you might want to choose a nice strong looking and bold font. If your main focus is cutting weight then find a nice elegant font that represents a slender body.

So those are just a few ideas that I’ve come up with for you when you are considering the design of fitness business cards. It is very important to represent your gym properly and through the use of proper trendy and creative design you will definitely be able to achieve this!

Apr 20
0

Make more money as a freelance designer

By | News | No Comments

Most freelance designers get jobs from internet and friends,  yes you may have a lot of contacts and good reputation on getafreelancer websites. But you only work by yourself, there is always limits of a person’s time and energy.  If you want to be rich or live better, you need to take full advantage of your skills and resources. Here are several suggestions:

1. Google adsense.  If you have time, make a nice website or blog. Post useful articles , make your site famous, then you will make money on google adsense.

2. Sell templates and resources.  This is very easy for gaphic designers, if you can make really high quality and unique templates/theme, your income will be very steady by selling them. Use paypal, you can sell your works all over the world.

3. Become printing reseller. If you think the money is far from enough, then think about this. Most of your clients has printing requirement.  For example, a shop want you design a membership card, they will ofcourse print it somewhere. Then here is your chance, you can tell them, hey, i have done the design perfectly, and i can print the cards too.  But before you recommend your service to potential clients, you must find a nice printing company to work with. And if you want nice profit, don’t use local companys,  you may use hongkong companys or china mainland companys. There are same good quality but price in half. In this way you can make even more money than the design job. There are many printing company all over the world you may google and find some very easy. For example,  plastic card is always very popular and light weight for shipping. And the profit is almost twice than simple business printing like business card or flyers. Then google “plastic card online”, you may find some very large and professional company, contact them for reseller partnership.

4. Outsource your jobs. If your work load is full, so you have to turndown some jobs. Why not outsource them? Many good designer in Indian and China if you are lucky to find them. Don’t worry about the payment, most of them use paypal.

Apr 20
0

Put it on plastic: A freelancer’s credit card

By | News | No Comments

After doing my taxes this year, I’m firmly of the opinion that every freelancer needs a debit or credit card just for business expenses. A separate checking account for your freelancing business — and the debit card that comes with it — is ideal, but for freelancers who aren’t ready to do that, having a credit card that is used exclusively for office supplies, business lunches and all those other expenses you can write off on your taxes can pay off.

Get the Paperwork Off Your Desk

When I was still using the same piece of plastic for paying both personal and business expenses, I had to sort through receipts and bank statements in order to figure out just what was actually a business expense. I swore uphill and down that I would record business expenses every day, or even every month, but I always wound up with a big pile of receipts each April.

I know I missed some expenses: I had a whole stack of receipts from Starbucks, my favorite place to meet clients. But I also go to Starbucks when I just need some coffee, making it necessary to guess which trips had actually been business expenses.

These days, the only thing I have to remember is which card to use when I’m meeting a client. If I’m at a business lunch, I pull out my business card. If I’m out to dinner with family, I pull out my personal card. Because I use a debit card for each, I just toss each bank statement in the appropriate folder — come tax time, the bank’s already provided me with convenient totals to do my taxes. I also route incoming payments through the same bank account, making my income easier to calculate as well.

The Logistics of Extra Credit

If you’re freelancing part-time or otherwise don’t want the hassle of maintaining two bank accounts, the easy alternative is to get a credit card just for your business expenses. However, if you choose to go the credit route, there are a few extra things to remember:

  • Pay off your balance every month — you can’t write off credit card interest on your taxes, even if it was for office supplies.
  • The card will most likely be in your name, even if it’s only used for business expenses. That means it can affect your personal credit score.
  • Because of the current economic situation, it’s getting harder to get a credit card.
  • There are personal considerations when opening a new credit card — for instance, it’s generally a bad idea just before you try to get a mortgage or other loan.

None of that means that having a credit card for your business is a bad thing. It just means that exercising a little caution is in order. Unless you’re expecting to need a huge credit limit, your bank is probably the easiest place to get a new credit card. They may not offer the best interest rate — shopping around is entirely an option — but as long as you pay off the balance completely each month, it’s likely to be the most convenient.

Record-keeping: Paper and Plastic

It’s worth hanging on to receipts even after you’ve made the switch to one card for all your expenses, if only to substantiate your spending in the event of an audit. Receipts can also help clear up just what company a particular charge on your account went to, which is an important consideration when many companies don’t have the clearest names. Lastly, reconciling your receipts and statements is just as important for your freelancing as it is for your personal expenses: you can catch even small problems and deal with them just by going over your statement once a month.