Online Banking Information Blog

Signs for Fraud in Card-Present Payment Processing by M. Owen

2008-08-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

There are signs of suspicious behavior that unauthorized card users may display at the point of sale and, if your personnel have received the proper training, they should be able to identify them and act according to your organization's procedures. Identifying fraud before it actually takes place helps to avoid chargebacks against which you have no remedy. Following is a list of suspicious signs at the point of sale that you should look out for:

* Purchasing large quantities without much attention to details. If a customer is purchasing a sizable amount of merchandise, without much care for size, color, or even price, that might be an indication for fraud.
* Ignoring free delivery options. If your customer asks no questions or completely ignores a free delivery option, in favor of a quicker but paid one, this could be a warning sign.
* Rushing the cashier into a quicker processing of the payment. Although your customer may really be in a hurry, such behavior may be intended to force the point-of-sale person to circumvent fraud prevention measures.
* Making multiple purchases within a short period of time. If a customer completes a purchase, leaves the store and then comes right back in, he or she might be doing it because they believe that making multiple fraudulent transactions, each for a lesser amount, would not attract much scrutiny.
* Shopping either right after the store opens or before it closes. A fraudster might be shopping early in the morning or late in the evening, in the hope that the point-of-sale personnel will not be as attentive as during other stretches of the day.

Be advised that, although suspicious, a certain behavior might be perfectly well justified and explained in another, completely legitimate way. By themselves, none of the above examples constitutes a proof of a fraudulent activity. You should always use your observations of customer behavior in the context of the particular setting. Different establishments attract different types of customers and what is considered a normal customer behavior at one place might be interpreted as completely irregular at another.

Once the point-of-sale person has accumulated enough observations to conclude that a fraudulent activity is probably taking place, you should contact your merchant bank's authorization center and make a "Code 10" request. You should keep the card in your possession, but only if it is safe to do so. If you feel threatened or uncomfortable, complete the transaction and make the call to your merchant account bank's center right after the customer leaves. Then follow the instructions your merchant bank gives you.

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5 Important Points to Obey to Earn Money From Blogging by Ben Sharp

2008-08-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why your blog is not making any money? Have you wondered why have others done, yet you didnâ€™t? Well, you will soon find out how you can also earn money from blogging, just like many bloggers who are earning money from their blogs. By following the five pointers below, you will be on the right direction to make your blog a money-making machine.

1. Do not stuff too many keywords into your blog postsIf you are thinking of putting in many keywords into your blog posts or trying to fully optimize your webpages, then you might want to reconsider your options. Search engines, such as Google, Yahoo! Or MSN are looking for real, good contents. They prefer websites which are done by human, not machines. That means, the posts should be written for people to read, not for spiders. In short, write normally, as if you are writing for your school teachers to read. 2. Value add your blog visitorsHere, we are not expected to come out with something which will change your visitorsâ€™ lives completely or some ideas which will blow their minds. However, your posts should provide your visitors with some information which they may not know, or want to know. Hence, provide them with information or links to the information your visitors will like to know, and not just blogs filled with RSS. 3. Keep updating your blogIt is not just because you have many visitors coming to your blog means that you can stop blogging and still can sustain this amount of visitors. When you stop blogging, your visitors may also stop coming back to your blog again. Hence, remember to keep your blog updated. You may not want to blog everyday, but do remember to update it whenever you can. 4. Make your visitors come back for moreAfter you have attracted visitors to your blog, then make sure you make them your blog fans. Consider put a RSS reader button on your blog so that people can subscribe to the feed. You may also want to get them to opt in to your list so that you can inform them whenever you post on your blog. 5. Research the topic which you are blogging aboutIn order to make money from your blog, you also have to do a bit of market research to find out what are the areas which people are looking for. Only when you have done that, you can blog on something which is profitable.

With the five points which I have discussed, you should be on your way to earn big money from blogging.

Blogging To The Bank 2.0

Personal Loans: Applicable For All The Purposes by George Kane

2008-08-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

It's a common thing to get bogged down with financial crisis at some point of time or other. In order to cope with the crisis, you have to rely on external finances. Personal Loans in these circumstances turn out to be a good option, as it enables you to meet your various demands. Moreover through these loans, you can avail a bigger amount with very feasible terms and conditions. These loans are applicable for any purpose and are open top all the borrowers.

As the name refers, these loans can be utilized to serve a large number of purposes. With the support of these loans, you can cover the expenses on home improvement, financing education, consolidating debts, meeting wedding expenses, holiday tour etc.

To make it appropriate for all the borrowers, these loans are approved by classifying the loans in to secured and unsecured form. if you are looking for a bigger amount and enjoy low interest rates, then you should prefer availing the secured form of the loans. For the approval of the loans, you will have to offer one of your valuable assets as collateral to secure the loans. It is because of the collateral that you get to derive these loans at low rates. The repayment term too is flexible and spans over a long period.

Unsecured form of the loans is just the opposite of secured loans. To avail the loans, there is no need to pledge any collateral. This option of the loan is beneficial both for tenants and non homeowners. Under the loans, you will be able to derive a small amount for a short term period. The interest rate for the loans is high due to its unsecured nature. But suitable rates can be obtained by undertaking a proper research.

As per their need and requirement, bad credit borrowers too can derive the loans. However to avail the loans, they have to prove their repaying capability by offering income and bank statements.

Finding the best deal son person loans is not that tough. You can take the help of online services. You will be able to find numerous lenders offering the loans at a single place. By comparing and contrasting the rate quotes of various lenders, you can easily select a deal that suits your prevailing circumstances.

About the Author

George Kane has no formal degree in finance, but years of work that he has put in the finance industry makes him perfectly eligible to be called an expert in financial matters. To find personal loans, secured loans, debt consolidation loans, unsecured loans visit http://www.loans-4-uk.co.uk/

An Indian vote of confidance by Fat Prophets

2008-08-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

The Indian government recently won a hard fought vote of confidence as part of its effort to secure a controversial nuclear power pact hashed out with America. Now we will wait to see if some of this confidence in the political arena can help boost investor sentiment in the stock market. There are a number of reasons, in our view, to believe it can.

This is due primarily to the new look of the ruling coalition which is still headed by the Congress Party and the reformist Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. For years holding back more comprehensive reform in India was, in our opinion, the minority coalition Communist party partner.

The loss of Communist support due to the nuclear deal with the US left the government in search of a new partner. In the event, it was the Samajwadi Party that joined the coalition thus maintaining a parliamentary majority.

Having won the confidence vote in last month, new elections are now not likely to occur until the spring of next year (May 2009 at the latest). With new found political momentum, this leaves enough time for a reform agenda to be advanced albeit in the context of the upcoming elections.

And reform can be a powerful force in India. In the 1990s, it was Mr Singh, then as Finance Minister, who led reforms that laid the groundwork for the country's higher sustainable rate of growth we have witnessed in the recent past. A rate in keeping with India's dynamic and astute corporate sector.

Very often when talking of restraints on Indian economic growth, the first topic addressed is inevitably infrastructure and with good reason given the well documented need to upgrade everything from roads to ports to schools. However, loosening the ties of bureaucracy and regulation that reform would bring is equally important.

Already changes being floated in the insurance and banking sector aiming to entice more foreign investment look promising. Add in potential pension reform and privatization, which will require significant heavy lifting, and we believe India is capable of returning to the solid 9 percent economic growth the West has become accustom to.

Such tangible results may have wait as growth slips back towards 7-8 percent in the year ahead, however these changes can have a more immediate impact on outlook and investor sentiment. This would be welcome given the domestic stock market's recent volatility.

Since reaching a high 21207 in January, the SENSEX has undergone a significant correction. Over this time, the index has declined by as much as 40 percent, touching a low of 12515 in July.

Encouragingly, the major lows from 2007 at 12316 remain intact. This support coincides closely with a 50 percent retracement level of the 2003 to 2008 rally. In the months ahead, we anticipate a period of consolidation above this support, which will in turn, keep alive the potential for an eventual revival in broader upward momentum.

There was no question as we entered 2008 that the stock market was overextended and in need of a healthy correction to restore some balance. The average price to earnings (PE) ratio of the index was trading well above the long-term average of around 20 times in early January when it briefly exceeded 30 times. That said, we have been disappointed by the size of the pullback we have witnessed since the start of the year.

According to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the index in April was back trading on a trailing PE of less than 21 times. However considering the market has moved lower in the interim this figure is almost certainly lower now. Factor in moderate growth in corporate earnings (in the case of India this is between 15-20 percent) in the year ahead and the prospective PE is even lower, which in our view provides a better foundation for future growth whilst also limiting further downside.

A banana skin which India will need to avoid in today's economic climate is the threat of runaway inflation. Already the country is wrestling with inflation growing at a 13 year high. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was in our view slow off the mark in reacting to this danger. However, since June the RBI has raised rates by 1.25 percent and cash reserve ratio requirements at banks by 0.75 percent.

We believe that more will need to be done as inflation has got off to an unfortunate head start. However, now that the RBI is engaged we are optimistic the rot can be halted before inflation becomes too entrenched. This will also make the choice of a new RBI governor in September even more important than usual.

It also highlights why the efficiency and productivity gains that reform can contribute are so important. As we have seen in America, when inflation is rising and growth slowing, monetary authorities must tread a fine line.

However, we continue to believe that Indian equities are in a secular bull market and as such, the recent correction has not derailed our long-term investment case for the region.

We believe the underlying fundamentals remain overwhelmingly positive for the country's future prospects. And in this context, the Indian stock market should over the long term out-perform.

And investing in India is a long term proposition. During that period there will be inevitable ups and downs. We believe we are experiencing such an episode today to the downside. This however does not change our overall bullish view and confidence in the robust growth story that is India.

With a middle class expected to grow by a multiple of ten to over 500 million in the years ahead, we believe an internally driven market will in time help power India into the world's economic heavyweight division. Add to this the substantial domestic investment required to upgrade the country's infrastructure and the future becomes brighter.

If the government can continue to do away with the impediments that have held back foreign investment, a further shift into services industries is likely which will further boost economic vitality. Indeed, we believe the race towards a higher standard of living and sustainable growth is India's to lose. Having successfully embarked on the journey thus far, the country will continue, in our opinion, its steady progress towards fuller development.

In this context, we expect the business community and the companies listed on the Indian stock market to both enable and benefit from the changes. As such, we recommend investors retain exposure to Indian equities during this current downturn.

IMPORTANT: This message, together with the Fat Prophets website and all its contents have been prepared for general information only, and as such, the specific needs, investment objectives or financial situation of any particular user have not been taken into consideration. Individuals should therefore talk with their financial planner or advisor before acting on any information present on this message or the Fat Prophets website. Performance is hypothetical and based on recommendations made in the Fat Prophets report. The table is updated monthly. Transaction costs have not been taken into account. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance, and investors should be aware that returns can be negative. For a full explanation of the performance calculation methodology, please visit the Fat Prophets website.

About the Author

Fat Prophets are leading global independent stock market advisors with a comprehensive product range of research reports for all investors. Visit the Fat Prophets website to learn more and get expert advice on investing in shares and managed funds. fatprophets.com.au

Banking blog

2008-07-28T03:25:00.001-07:00

Hey folks, Find useful banking information here in this blog.. enjoy :-)