The Hidden Costs of Gift Cards

Tagged Under : Cards, Gift Cards

Gift cards are a great way to show your appreciation to someone. Next to cash, there is nothing that is quite as convenient.  And with the holidays fast approaching, you can be sure that they will be distributed by millions.

But there are some caveats to using gift cards that most people don’t realize. While they do offer incredible flexibility and convenience, they also come with costs. First off, in order to be profitable they cost more than they are worth.

There are monthly fees charged against the card’s balance that usually kicks in, on average, six months after the card has been issued. American Express, for their part, recently dropped their monthly charges on its general-purpose gift cards.

A federal law has also been passed that will prohibit companies from charging fees on gift cards in the first 12 months of their issuance. That law however, will not go into effect until August 2010.

In the vast majority of cases store issued gift cards are different than bank issued gift cards. The

Read more…

Corporate Credit Cards – Compare & Apply Online

Tagged Under : Cards, Corporate Credit, Corporate Credit Cards, Credit Cards

Most banks and financial institutions offer corporate credit cards as a part of their service. These cards can vary in their features and some are more suitable for the smaller rather than the larger corporation. Credit cards for the smaller business are different and are referred to as business credit cards.

For a corporate credit card customer, a low rate of interest is a good starting point because you will most likely be using your card a lot, and the amounts you put on them may well be too large to pay off at the end of every month. However, the interest rate on your corporate credit card should not blind you to any of the other features that may benefit your business. It is all down to your own circumstances and how you operate your business.

The Commonwealth bank corporate credit card offers the customer the chance to separate personal expenses from business expenses, and removes the need for your employees to resort to petty cash for business-related expenses.

Read more…