SavvySugar

Decoding the Numbers on Your Credit Card

Emily Co — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:00:06 PST

The Goldman Sachs and Stephen Colbert debacle reached a high Tuesday night when Colbert received a letter from the lawyers at the bank. Here's a refresher of the drama: one of Colbert's staff found the credit card of Buckley T. Ratchford, a partner at Goldman Sachs, which the comedian used to try and blackmail Ratchford to come on his show by threatening to reveal a digit of his credit card number every night. This is part of his effort to get someone from one of the big banks to come onto his show to talk about Wall Street and bonuses, something that Colbert has been trying to do, but with no success.

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One of the funny highlights of the show was when Colbert reveals the first number of the card, a five, to which he says, "That's a good number. Indicates a high credit limit." Obviously it was a joke, but this made me wonder what what the first number of a credit card actually means. I found the answer on HowStuffWorks:

3: Travel or entertainment cards, like American Express and Diners club.
4: Visa, including Visa-branded debit and cash cards.
5: Mastercard and Mastercard-branded cards.
6: Discover card.

To satisfy your curiosity about what the rest of the digits mean, read on!

Readers Were Right: Kardashian Kard Is Not a Great Idea

Emily Co — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:30:31 PST

When I first talked about the Kim Kardashian MasterCard aka the Kardashian Kard that debuted last week, 80 percent of you thought the idea was baffling. Turns out, SavvySugar readers have great instincts and were totally on the ball with this one. One of the biggest downsides to the prepaid debit card is that activating it will cost you $50 or $100. Another one is the endless list of fees that happen after activation: $8 monthly fee after a certain time period, $1.50 ATM withdrawal fee, $2 bill pay fee, $1 for adding money to the card, $1.50 to talk to a customer rep, and more.

TrèsSugar recently shared five secrets to Kim's success, and although no one can deny the reality star's influence in the media and fashion world, maybe she shouldn't dip her hands in the finance pot. I think reader Suzanne Leung made a valid point when she commented on the SavvySugar Facebook fan page saying, "Maybe it's just me, but an image of the Kardashians doesn't quite say 'fiscal responsibility' to me." The girls live decadent lifestyles - buying designer clothes, wearing expensive jewelry, and driving premium cars. I'm asking: do you think the Kardashians serve as good role models for managing personal finances?

Better Use Your Visa Gift Card ASAP to Avoid Fees

SavvySugar — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:30:30 PDT

Out shopping this weekend, I happily remembered a prepaid Visa gift card I'd received months ago was nestled in my wallet. I called customer service to find out if a pin had been established, because I'd had the card for about six months and couldn't recall setting one up. The Visa representative gave me instructions for using the card and then told me my balance was $95 - but the card was given to me with a value of $100.

When I asked where the $5 went, I was told a fee goes into effect after the card is inactive for a certain period of time. The advantage of giving a Visa gift card is that it should work like cash. It seems very sneaky to me to punish someone with a fee for not spending soon enough, and makes me wonder if other gift cards have similar policies. Does it make sense to you that an inactive gift card would go down in value?

How Much Did Commercial Spending Account For in 2007?

SavvySugar — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:00:00 PDT

Global commercial spending rose 12.2 percent in 2007, according to the Commercial Consumption Expenditure index released by Visa Inc. yesterday.

Do you know how much commercial spending accounted for in 2007?

Source

Take the Quiz

On Our Radar: Models May Get Their Own Visa Category

FabSugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:00:22 PDT

They're young, they're gorgeous, but they don't have as much access as you may think. Many non-United States citizen fashion models are not granted visas to fly to the US, where many of their assignments are shot. That's because models must compete with engineers and other high tech workers for H-1B visas, which are given to well educated foreign citizens.

That may all change if models are granted their own visa category under legislation moving on Capitol Hill. The fashion industry's argument is that if models are not granted visas, assignments will be forced to move overseas, thus taking money away from American industry professionals. What's more, "American models lose the chance of working at events that move overseas. This is about millions of dollars that would go abroad that will be spent in America,” said Bruce Morrison, a former Congressman who lobbies for a coalition of fashion industry businesses. This sounds like a dire issue. I hope it gets sorted out soon so we can see more Fab faces in fashion.

Source

Olympic Sponsors Responsible for Human Rights Violations?

LibertySugar — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:00:00 PDT

Pro-Tibet groups are joining together to call out the corporate sponsors of the Beijing Olympics. The groups say that unless the companies use their influence to pressure China, they are complicit in a humanitarian disaster.

Twelve global sponsors, including Coca Cola, General Electric, McDonald's, Visa, Johnson & Johnson and Omega have paid a combined $80 million for the four year exclusive sponsorship deal. Activists explain that together these companies have a GDP equal to Canada's, the world's eighth largest economy. Thus, they can wield a lot of influence.

Do you expect sponsors to get involved in global politics, considering they work with governments, employ lobbying firms, and maintain international presences?

Are human rights more than politics, therefore giving everyone an obligation to pressure China, including corporations and consumers? Or, should the sponsors be commended for supporting the Olympic movement, which would be impossible without them?

Source

Monkey Business

GiggleSugar — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:00:00 PDT

A man drops his wallet at a zoo. Does this monkey look like a good samaritan to you? Let's tune in and find out...

Fab Site: VisaSwap.com

FabSugar — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 07:01:33 PDT

Visa, the credit card company, is no longer just about producing a plastic card to assist you in all your luxury shopping. The company has opened a temporary "swap shop" in London where customers can trade in their old clothing and accessories for other secondhand goods. Visaswap.com is the editorially driven site that provides comments from fashion editors, advice on trends, hot items to swap and buying secondhand merchandise.

Although us non-Londoners won't get as much use out of the site and the swap shop, it is still worth looking through to find out more about the revolutionary project and TRAID, a charity committed to protecting the environment and reducing world poverty by recycling. Plus, the tips from front row fashion experts are fun. I love the one about using a skinny belt to avoid looking like a potato sack!

Cool James Bond Ad

GiggleSugar — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:00:00 PDT

I can't get a taxi in this town. Maybe I should hang out with Bond-James Bond.

Daily Tech: Technology Takes a Creepy Turn

GeekSugar — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:51:56 PDT

Creepy poster responds when kissed - Geekosystem
Instructional charts for people that don't get technology - Cracked
Facebook linked to eating disorders - Newser
10 million Visa and MasterCard credit cards compromised in data breach - Geek.com
25 reasons why April Fools' Day is the worst on Facebook - BuzzFeed FWD
Q&A with a favorite geek and The Avengers director, Joss Whedon - SlashFilm
The man who predicted tablets in 1974 - Dvice
Neil deGrasse Tyson's behind the only major change in Titanic's theatrical rerelease - io9
Ashton Kutcher to play Steve Jobs in upcoming biopic - BuzzSugar