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Showing posts with label financial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label financial. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Banks to Start Charging Fees To Use Your Debit Card
...as a debit card
Bank of America will start charging debit-card users $5 a month to pay for purchases. The move comes as the cards increasingly replace cash and as banks look for ways to offset the loss of revenue from a new rule that will limit how much they can collect from merchants.
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Paying to use a debit card was unheard of before this year and is still a novel concept for many consumers. But several banks have recently introduced or started testing debit card fees. That's in addition to the spate of other unwelcome changes checking account customers have seen in the past year. Bank of America will begin charging the fee early next year.
Bank of America's announcement carries added weight because it is the largest U.S. bank by deposits.
The fee will apply to basic accounts, which are marketed toward those with modest balances, and will be in addition to any existing monthly service fees. For example, one such account charges a $12 monthly fee unless customers meet certain conditions, such as maintaining a minimum average balance of $1,500.
Customers will only be charged the fee if they use their debit cards for purchases in any given month, said Anne Pace, a Bank of America spokeswoman. Those who only use their cards at ATMs won't have to pay.
The debit card fee is just the latest twist in the rapidly evolving market for checking accounts.
A study by Bankrate.com this week found that just 45 percent of checking accounts are now free with no strings attached, down from 65 percent last year and 76 percent in 2009. Customers can still get free checking in most cases, but only if they meet certain conditions, such as setting up direct deposit.
The study also found that the total.. Continue to the rest of the article..
Source
Bank of America will start charging debit-card users $5 a month to pay for purchases. The move comes as the cards increasingly replace cash and as banks look for ways to offset the loss of revenue from a new rule that will limit how much they can collect from merchants.Image Source
Paying to use a debit card was unheard of before this year and is still a novel concept for many consumers. But several banks have recently introduced or started testing debit card fees. That's in addition to the spate of other unwelcome changes checking account customers have seen in the past year. Bank of America will begin charging the fee early next year.
Bank of America's announcement carries added weight because it is the largest U.S. bank by deposits.
The fee will apply to basic accounts, which are marketed toward those with modest balances, and will be in addition to any existing monthly service fees. For example, one such account charges a $12 monthly fee unless customers meet certain conditions, such as maintaining a minimum average balance of $1,500.
Customers will only be charged the fee if they use their debit cards for purchases in any given month, said Anne Pace, a Bank of America spokeswoman. Those who only use their cards at ATMs won't have to pay.
The debit card fee is just the latest twist in the rapidly evolving market for checking accounts.
A study by Bankrate.com this week found that just 45 percent of checking accounts are now free with no strings attached, down from 65 percent last year and 76 percent in 2009. Customers can still get free checking in most cases, but only if they meet certain conditions, such as setting up direct deposit.
The study also found that the total.. Continue to the rest of the article..
Source
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Lockouts - NBA vs. NFL: A Primer On The Similarities And Differences
by Joel Thorman, SB Nation's NFL Editor & Tom Ziller, SB Nation's NBA editor
The NBA lockout began last week as David Stern decided Roger Goodell shouldn't have all of the fun. The NFL lockout has gone on since March. How are the stoppages similar and different?
Jul 5, 2011 - The NBA decided last week to stop letting the NFL have all of the fun and instituted a lockout to shut down the league until a new collective bargaining agreement can be reached. Given that these are two multi-billion dollar leagues with fairly similar set-ups, there are some comparisons to be made in the NBA lockout and NFL lockout. But there are just as many differences.
What's the lockout about?
NBA: The NBA lockout is focused almost completely on cutting player salary to help struggling teams -- the league claims 22 lost money last year -- make a profit. A line you hear often from the league is that while players are collectively guaranteed more than $2 billion in salary every season, team owners are never guaranteed a profit, and in many cases, are guaranteed losses because of extraordinary expenses.
NFL: The NFL lockout is focused on a number of issues, the biggest being how to split the over-$9 billion figure in annual revenue. The owners feel they need a larger slice of the pie, since they're taking the larger financial risk, while the players have called for the current system to stay in place. NFL teams aren't claiming poverty, like some in the NBA, but they do want a bigger cut of the pie in order to grow the game.
What are the major issues?
NBA: The NBA's biggest two issues are the revenue split and the hardness of the salary cap. Currently, players receive 57 percent of basketball-related income, which was about $2.1 billion for the 2010-11 season. This is taken from gross receipts and includes gate, TV revenue, merchandise and more. The NBA has a soft salary cap around $60 million; through cap exceptions and the ability to re-sign their own players in excess of the cap, teams easily surpass the soft cap, and it's rare that more than two or three teams end the season under the cap. The NBA is trying to turn that soft cap into a hard or harder cap to shrink overall salary levels and expenses at the team level, and is trying to shrink the revenue split to something closer to 50-50. The players have been willing to go down to 54 percent without a hard cap. The hard cap is seen as unacceptable by the players' union.
NFL: The biggest issue, by far, is how to split the money. The players were previously receiving a little over 50 percent of all the revenue, and recent reports say they have given in to the tune of a 48 percent slice of the pie. It's believed that, once the money issue is figured out, the rest of the deal will fall into place relatively smoothly. Another major issue is the rookie wage scale because the owners feel that the players at the top of the draft are receiving a disproportionate amount of money. The players have been receptive to changing the model in which the rookies are paid by funneling some of that money to established veterans. One more major issue is retired players and increasing the amount of money they're given. The owners have reportedly been open to the idea of giving more money to the retired players and this issue has not become one of the most divisive on the table.
Continue to the entire article..
Via
The NBA lockout began last week as David Stern decided Roger Goodell shouldn't have all of the fun. The NFL lockout has gone on since March. How are the stoppages similar and different?Jul 5, 2011 - The NBA decided last week to stop letting the NFL have all of the fun and instituted a lockout to shut down the league until a new collective bargaining agreement can be reached. Given that these are two multi-billion dollar leagues with fairly similar set-ups, there are some comparisons to be made in the NBA lockout and NFL lockout. But there are just as many differences.
What's the lockout about?
NBA: The NBA lockout is focused almost completely on cutting player salary to help struggling teams -- the league claims 22 lost money last year -- make a profit. A line you hear often from the league is that while players are collectively guaranteed more than $2 billion in salary every season, team owners are never guaranteed a profit, and in many cases, are guaranteed losses because of extraordinary expenses.
NFL: The NFL lockout is focused on a number of issues, the biggest being how to split the over-$9 billion figure in annual revenue. The owners feel they need a larger slice of the pie, since they're taking the larger financial risk, while the players have called for the current system to stay in place. NFL teams aren't claiming poverty, like some in the NBA, but they do want a bigger cut of the pie in order to grow the game.
What are the major issues?
NBA: The NBA's biggest two issues are the revenue split and the hardness of the salary cap. Currently, players receive 57 percent of basketball-related income, which was about $2.1 billion for the 2010-11 season. This is taken from gross receipts and includes gate, TV revenue, merchandise and more. The NBA has a soft salary cap around $60 million; through cap exceptions and the ability to re-sign their own players in excess of the cap, teams easily surpass the soft cap, and it's rare that more than two or three teams end the season under the cap. The NBA is trying to turn that soft cap into a hard or harder cap to shrink overall salary levels and expenses at the team level, and is trying to shrink the revenue split to something closer to 50-50. The players have been willing to go down to 54 percent without a hard cap. The hard cap is seen as unacceptable by the players' union.
NFL: The biggest issue, by far, is how to split the money. The players were previously receiving a little over 50 percent of all the revenue, and recent reports say they have given in to the tune of a 48 percent slice of the pie. It's believed that, once the money issue is figured out, the rest of the deal will fall into place relatively smoothly. Another major issue is the rookie wage scale because the owners feel that the players at the top of the draft are receiving a disproportionate amount of money. The players have been receptive to changing the model in which the rookies are paid by funneling some of that money to established veterans. One more major issue is retired players and increasing the amount of money they're given. The owners have reportedly been open to the idea of giving more money to the retired players and this issue has not become one of the most divisive on the table.
Continue to the entire article..
Via
Calling Foul On NBA’s Claims Of Financial Distress
by Nate Silver, The New York Times
At midnight on Thursday, the N.B.A. locked out its players in what could be the start of a long labor dispute. Some observers, like ESPN’s Michael Wilbon, believe the entire 2011-12 season could be threatened.
Such a move would not be without precedent: the N.H.L. canceled its 2004-5 season. But the
Image Source
N.B.A.’s current financial condition is different than the N.H.L.’s in one important respect. Whereas there was almost no doubt that the N.H.L. was in fact losing money in advance of its lockout — player salaries had mushroomed by more than 400 percent from 1994 to 2004, according to independent estimates — the N.B.A.’s claims of financial hardship should be viewed more skeptically.
Instead, independent estimates of the N.B.A. financial condition reflect a league that has grown at a somewhat tepid rate compared to other sports, and which has an uneven distribution of revenues between teams — but which is fundamentally a healthy and profitable business. In addition, it is not clear that growth in player salaries, which has been modest compared to other sports and which is strictly pegged to league revenue, is responsible for the league’s difficulties.
The table below reflects the N.B.A.’s financial condition from its 1989-90 through 2009-10 seasons, as according to estimates prepared by Forbes and Financial World magazines. (All figures are adjusted for inflation. Some data was not published by Forbes in some years and is therefore left blank.)
The first column is league’s gate receipts or ticket revenues; the Forbes data suggest this is one area of legitimate concern. Adjusted for inflation, ticket revenues are down 6 percent compared to five years ago, although they are up 22 percent compared to the 1999-2000 season.
Other revenues, like licensing and media rights, have increased at a healthier clip, because the N.B.A. is locked into long and lucrative television contracts. They have grown by 11 percent over five years, adjusted for inflation, or by 30 percent over 10 years.
The league’s primary expense is player salaries. Continue on to the rest of this incredibly informative article..
Via
At midnight on Thursday, the N.B.A. locked out its players in what could be the start of a long labor dispute. Some observers, like ESPN’s Michael Wilbon, believe the entire 2011-12 season could be threatened.Such a move would not be without precedent: the N.H.L. canceled its 2004-5 season. But the
Image Source
N.B.A.’s current financial condition is different than the N.H.L.’s in one important respect. Whereas there was almost no doubt that the N.H.L. was in fact losing money in advance of its lockout — player salaries had mushroomed by more than 400 percent from 1994 to 2004, according to independent estimates — the N.B.A.’s claims of financial hardship should be viewed more skeptically.
Instead, independent estimates of the N.B.A. financial condition reflect a league that has grown at a somewhat tepid rate compared to other sports, and which has an uneven distribution of revenues between teams — but which is fundamentally a healthy and profitable business. In addition, it is not clear that growth in player salaries, which has been modest compared to other sports and which is strictly pegged to league revenue, is responsible for the league’s difficulties.
The table below reflects the N.B.A.’s financial condition from its 1989-90 through 2009-10 seasons, as according to estimates prepared by Forbes and Financial World magazines. (All figures are adjusted for inflation. Some data was not published by Forbes in some years and is therefore left blank.)
The first column is league’s gate receipts or ticket revenues; the Forbes data suggest this is one area of legitimate concern. Adjusted for inflation, ticket revenues are down 6 percent compared to five years ago, although they are up 22 percent compared to the 1999-2000 season.
Other revenues, like licensing and media rights, have increased at a healthier clip, because the N.B.A. is locked into long and lucrative television contracts. They have grown by 11 percent over five years, adjusted for inflation, or by 30 percent over 10 years.
The league’s primary expense is player salaries. Continue on to the rest of this incredibly informative article..
Via
Thursday, February 10, 2011
6 Costs You Should Always Negotiate
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Most consumers think haggling is only appropriate when buying tchotkes at a street fair or facing off against a used-car dealer. But why not negotiate the cost of medical procedures? Or a new Sub-Zero refrigerator? If you're not paying less than sticker price for these and other goods and services, you're leaving money -- and often lots of it -- on the table. "Everything is negotiable," says Stuart Diamond, adjunct professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and author of "Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World." "All you have to do is ask."
With that philosophy in mind, follow these tips to negotiate the best possible deal on 6 common fees and expenses:
1. Credit Card Rates
• Why they are negotiable: Now that most of the dust has settled following the big credit card reform act, card companies are competing fiercely again for new customers. Issuers sent out 1.2 billion credit card offers in the third quarter of 2010 -- more than three times the number sent during the same period in 2009. "Use the competition to yourImage Source
advantage," says Ira Rheingold, executive director for the National Association of Consumer Advocates. "Don't jump at the first offer. You should argue for the best rate."
• Who to talk to: Call the 800 number associated with a new card offer (or the number on the back of a current card) and talk to the customer service rep. If the rep can't -- or won't -- adjust the rate, ask to speak with a manager.
• What to say: "I've gotten several credit card offers with lower rates. Tell me what you can do to beat those offers."
• Possible savings: How much you're able to lower your interest rate will depend on your credit and payment history, as well as your credit score. In a study conducted by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group several years ago, more than half of consumers who asked for lower rates got them, with their average APR dropping from 16 percent to 10.47 percent.
2. Mortgage and Refinancing Rates and Fees
• Why they are negotiable: "Mortgage lending has gotten difficult, which means that a lender will work hard to make a deal," says Rheingold. And that's particularly true for consumers with credit scores of at least 750.• Who to talk to: Mortgage brokers or lenders at banks and credit unions.
• What to say: Get several estimates in writing and ask, "Here's the best deal I can get. Can
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you beat it?"
• Possible savings: In addition to offering better rates, lenders might reduce certain fees or even waive them altogether. To negotiate the lowest out-of-pocket costs, ask for discounts on all upfront fees, including application and origination fees. According to the Federal Trade Commission's website, comparing and negotiating mortgage fees can result in thousands of dollars of savings.
3. Home Improvements
• Why they are negotiable: "Business is slow and that means contractors are willing to haggle over their prices," says Greg Daugherty, executive editor of Consumer Reports. Plus, the prices of many common home building materials are down as much as 35 percent from their peak in the mid-2000s.• Who to talk to: The contractor.
• What to say: "What are the options for less
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expensive materials? And what discounts can you offer me on labor?"
• Possible savings: Up to 20 percent of the cost of the project, according to a new survey by Angie's List, a website that publishes surveys and consumer reviews of service businesses. Of the home improvement contractors who were surveyed in 2010, 80 percent were willing to drop their prices to get a job (compared with 43 percent in 2008). And more than half of the contractors surveyed said they were willing to lower prices by 10 percent, with nearly 25 percent willing to drop their fees up to 20 percent.
Click here to continue to the rest of the article..
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Sunday, September 5, 2010
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