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The article reports on the signature card deal entered by Visa Inc. with movie ticket service Fandango in the U.S. The said agreement is noted to provide special offers and discounts to cardholders of Visa Signature when their cards will be used to book tickets through Fandango. As indicated, the advance movie screenings will be hosted by Visa under the agreement for its Signature cardholders.

The article inquires the possible outcome of credit card industries' decision to drop credit card programs in the U.S. According to co-founder Richard Vague of First USA and Juniper Financial Corp., the outcome will not prompt the potential to create monoline issuers. He reasons out that the probable result maybe the acquisition of new account in reducing the value of shareholder.

The article reports on the "virtual" prepaid card introduced by Springbok Services Inc. in the U.S. Corporations are noted to be able to use such as a reward or incentive when the Internet-based surveys, promotions or product trials are completed by consumers. According to Springbook's senior vice president of product development Mike Ross, the link to the virtual prepaid card received by the participant after a survey will help companies determine the card's status.

The author reports on changes that have occurred in the way in which customers redeem their credit card rewards points. The author states that fewer customers are redeeming their reward points to pay for travel expenses and more customers are using rewards points to help them pay for everyday items. Comments by Nancy Gordon, an executive vice president at Citigroup Inc., in which she discusses products that customers are purchasing with their rewards points are presented.

The article reports that rewards-point programs of cobranded General Motors Corp. (GM) credit cards would be safe despite the automaker's bankruptcy filing. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which is handling GM's reorganization, has affirmed last week that GM rewards-point programs were safe. HSBC Credit Card Services, which issues the GM Flexible Earnings MasterCard and the GM Extended Family MasterCard, is reassuring customers that the cards are safe.

The article reports that the rewards points held by users of cobranded General Motors Corp. (GM) credit cards have been declared safe despite the company's bankruptcy filing. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which is handling the reorganization, affirmed that GM rewards-points programs would be maintained.

The article reports that J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has launched Ultimate Rewards, a credit card rewards program, and a premium-level Sapphire card for consumers. The program and the Sapphire card leverage online air travel, entertainment and shopping places for earning and redeeming points. Under the program, Freedom cardholders will be provided the option to pay annual fee of $30. On the other hand, Sapphire cardholders will be provided the option to pay $95 annually.

The article discusses a credit card rewards program that has been introduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. The author states that the rewards program gives customers several options of how to earn and redeem their points. The opinions of Rob Rosenblatt, JPMorgan's general manager of customer loyalty, regarding the rewards program are presented.

The article focuses on the opinions of Adam Levitin, associate professor of law at Georgetown University, regarding the subsidization system related to credit and debit cards in the U.S., as expressed during a conference on payment pricing hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. According to Levitin, consumers who pay with cash or with credit and debit cards that offer no or modest rewards subsidize the cardholders who use premium rewards cards.

The article announces that prepaid cards will be added by the Discover Financial Services to its credit card reward program's redemption options. It mentions that cardholders can start trading in reward points for prepaid cards beginning May 1, 2009. It notes that cardholders are also given more options on how to receive their rewards. In addition, the firm has began to inform cardholders about the option through web sites and monthly statements as well as other marketing channels.

The article announces that the Circuit City gift card promotion of hhgregg has been extended for the fourth time. Under this program, hhgregg will give discounts to customers who present Circuit City gift cards or credit cards. According to Jeff Pearson, marketing vice president of hhgregg, the company is extending the promo as a way to demonstrate its superior service and to assist those who may still hold gift cards or credit cards from Circuit City.

News briefs on public opinion polls are presented. Almost 75 percent of respondents said they were angry over U.S. executive salary levels. Fifty percent of teenagers said they were attending fewer motion pictures due to the recession. The number of consumers choosing the "cash back" reward for their customer loyalty programs for credit card use increased to 61 percent in 2008.

The article reports that according to a new report by Corporate Insight Inc., American Express Blue and Green, Chase Freedom, Wells Fargo Visa with Enhanced Rewards, and HSBC Ecosmart offer the highest reward rate among universal rewards cards. The five cards offer a rate of return of 1% on a $50 rewards redemption. When considering a variety of factors that determine the rate of return on rewards cards, the return on Bank of America's Accelerated Rewards AmEx card is 0.96%.

The article focuses on how to increase return on assets (ROA) in business. Card Services for Credit Union (CSCU) executive Bob Hackney recommends that credit unions (CUs) should work on credit cards and platinum programs to generate 7% more revenue. One platinum program is with rewards and annual fee while another is without rewards but with price-driven annual fee. The strategy of establishing card portfolio business will be shared by Hackney at the Grow Show event on April 27-29 in San Diego.

The article reports that credit card company American Express Co. (Amex) is offering common and everyday rewards to its customers. In the past, Amex provided luxury goods and travel packages to its customers, but because of the 2009 financial crisis, the company has decided to focus on low-end rewards such as restaurant gift cards and home appliances.

This article reports that American Express Co. is introducing a new premium rewards product called the Hilton HHonors Surpass Card. This card gives users triple the number of rewards points for every dollar spent at a Hilton Family hotel. Points are also offered for purchases at supermarkets, gas stations and other retailers.

The article focuses on customer reward services for credit card customers. It states that Maritz Inc., a marketer of loyalty programs for several major credit card companies, is offering a rewards program for customers at the point of sale instead of the traditional monthly or quarterly point accumulation. It mentions that customers can use reward points from loyalty programs to pay for purchases at the point of sale.

The article reports that loyalty-program marketer Maritz Inc. has introduced a program that it says would deliver credit card rewards instantly to cardholders at the point of sale. Maritz, which provides rewards services to several of the U.S.'s top card issuers, is offering Maritz Real-Time Rewards to card issuers and merchants through a partnership recently inked with Welcome Real-time, which is based in Aix-en-Provence, France.

The article discusses the measures followed by credit card issuers to deal with the current economic crisis and regulatory pressures. A report by Aite Group, "Overcoming Challenges of Credit Card Issuing," says that in a survey, U.S. issuers cited the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which threatens to decrease revenue from fees and interest rates. It says that issuers are developing more rewards for the consumers rather than developing alternative payment options.

The article reports the launch of a new No Hassle Rewards Card by Capital One Financial Corp. The card offers double miles for each dollar spent after reaching $1,000 in spending for the month and one mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.

The article reports that credit card issuers are trying to find ways to make more money off their creditworthy customers. Topics include retaining good cardholders, an increased focus on selling more services to existing customers, and creating rewards for reliable customers. Also discussed are rewards for customers who consistently pay more than the monthly minimum.

This article reports that a rewards program offered from the financial services company Citigroup Inc. called the ThankYou Network allows its customers to spend their rewards points at the electronic commerce website Amazon.com. Comments are included from Nancy Gordon, the executive vice president in charge of the ThankYou Network.

The article reports on the UChoose Rewards introduced by Fiserv Inc. in Brookfiel, Wisconsin. The UChoose Rewards which was created by Fiserv in partnership with Affinity Solutions Inc. and Bridge2 Solutions Inc. It is described as rewards and loyalty product which aims to provide financial institutions with merchant-funded and issuer-funded rewards capabilities. According to the company, both consumers and businesses will have the ability to earn rewards through debit and credit card usage.

The article presents the results of a survey by Vesdia Corp. that show consumers with credit or debit cards featuring rewards programs attached to a merchant network are spending more at participating merchants' outlets in 2008. Findings show that consumers increase their card spending at participating merchants by 37% during the first nine months of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007. Consumers may gain as much as 10 times the value of standard rewards programs funded by card issuers.

The article reports that Revolution Money Inc. has started a holiday promotion in 2008 that will reward customers who use the RevolutionCard. Each time customers use the card for purchases of $50, they will be credited with $5. Customers can make up to 20 purchases this way, totaling $100 in rewards. Vice President Duncan Evans said the company is growing.

The article discusses rewards given to credit card customers. These rewards include not having to pay for checked baggage when flying and to be able to fly without paying any fees. Companies who have established these types of promotions are mentioned, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Continental Airlines Inc.

The article reports that Bank of America Corp. has started a rewards program that lets people earn points applicable to renewable energy products. The card lets people direct one point from each dollar spent to Brighter Planet, which develops clean-energy products. The bank said it would donate an additional point for every two earned by Brighter Planet cardholders through the end of 2008.

This article reports that Smith Barney, the private wealth management unit of Citigroup Inc., said that it will join its parent's 'ThankYou' rewards program. It will initially offer the program to users of its Financial Management Account card but plans, to expand it to other Smith Barney cards. Users of the Financial Management Account card will earn one ThankYou point per dollar spent, Smith Barney said.

This article reports on the customer benefits of American Express cardholders. In February 2007, American Express Co. said it would start a travel-booking Web site for cardholders. Ralph Andretta, Amex's senior vice president for membership rewards, announced the plan at the company's investors meeting. The site would work like Expedia.com and Travelocity.com, which match requests with available seats on airlines. Currently, Amex cardholders must clear many hurdles to book their travel plans.