http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=795502&p=2
Summary
Many credit cards are offering travel reward points as one of their many perks. When selecting a credit card, its not only about the interest rates and affiliations, but rather the rewards that come with using that card. Travel rewards are one of the most popular ones out there for credit card holders. For each dollar spent, the Royal Bank Avion Platinum Visa Card gives one reward point. BMO Bank of Montreal’s Mosaik Gold Air Miles rewards program is being re-launched. Not only can card holders redeem more flights using less reward miles but the interest rates are slightly lower than most of the other cards. Scotia Gold Passport Visa’s best selling point is their flexibility. They ensure that “you can book flights on any airline, to any destination, at any time of the year, without blackout periods, limited seating or Saturday night stay restrictions”. Most of the credit cards that have travel reward programs charge cardholders an annual fee of usually $90 - $120. Some credit cards require a minimum annual income frequently $25,000 to $35,000 and most often give bonus points when you sign up.
Connection
This article connects well with what we’ve been learning in chapter 14 about how banks are involved in businesses and how a bank is actually a business of its own. One of the many revenues that enter a bank are the credit cards that they have associated themselves with. By offering their clients credit cards, they can charge interest fess, annual fees, and so on. But to attract consumers to get their bank’s credit card, they must offer perks to pull them into wanting to have that credit card. Different credit cards are trying different methods to draw in consumers so they can make more revenue. Even though credit cards are most often used at the time of purchase and swiped through a machine, I’ve heard that some credit cards also provide cheques, which could be very handy. By allowing cardholders to have larger amounts in their transactions, the bank benefits from this largely. If the cardholder fails to make their full payment, the bank is entitled to charge interest on the amount owing and continue piling on interest until the full amount is cleared. Credit card agencies bank on this deficiency of the clients in order to make prodits, as they charge high interest rates for delayed payments.
Reflection
Even though I am not of age to have a credit card, I know which credit card I would like to have when I can get one. The reason why my father uses the credit card from President’s Choice because they offer reward points and once you reach a certain amount you can use those points and get something that will make you believe it’s worth it to be using a credit card from that company. Because my dad is a man like any other father and guys tend to be lazy, he likes to do his shopping all at one store. So when he heard about the credit card that is affiliated with SuperStore, he knew he had to get one. Once he collects a certain sum of 20,000 points I believe he can get $20 worth of grocery from SuperStore free of charge. This method that SuperStore uses works extremely well because they carry almost everything, which allows customers to easily accumulate points, thereby successfully luring them into the program.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Chapter 12: Auto Executives Plead for Emergency Aid
http://www.financialpost.com/news/story.html?id=970258
Summary
Three Domestic auto manufacturers beg for financial aid from both the Canadian and US government. Letting everyone know that if they can’t survive this crisis, it will ultimately be the average families that get affected and both countries’ economy will suffer a fair amount of damage. GM, Ford, and Chrysler all requested the legislators to “approve US$25-billion in emergency bridge loans”. In unison, the three representatives that appeared before the legislators claimed that if even one automaker goes bankrupt, the whole auto sector would crumble and a domino affect will arise which would result in a lost of jobs for millions of workers and ultimately lower government tax revenue. “ “What we need is liquidity because we’re bumping up against our minimum cash levels now, as is Ford, as in Chrysler,” David Paterson, GM of Canada’s vice-president of corporate affairs.” The auto sector is slowly declining. Over the past 15 years, 500,000 jobs relating to this industry have been lost for US workers.
Connection
To make it through the current economic crisis, companies need an adequate amount of capital to keep their company out of danger. By using various methods, one being cash discounts as we have learned in chapter 12, will temporary assist the company gain more capital which will hopefully keep that company out of crisis. Cash discounts are very beneficial to both the consumer and the retailer. By paying the bill earlier, the consumer will be able to save some cash and this guarantees that the company’s accounts receivables will be paid off. Even though cash discounts will help with the situation, it is only a temporary solution. These small payments are not enough to keep the company running forever. It would be wiser to think of another approach to maintaining that cash flow.
Reflection
Even though these three auto manufacturers are located in Detroit, if they actually do go bankrupt, they have a much larger impact than only in Detroit. A manufacturing company in one city may appear like there’s no connection whatsoever with another city half way across the country, but what if the parts that the auto plant uses is imported from that other city half way across the country? By closing down any one of the three auto manufacturers, there will always be something else that will be affected. Whether it be negatively or positively, no one can be sure until the incident occurs. As I have recently learned in Geography12, “A system is an interconnected set of elements”. In more simple terms, all systems are connected and if there is any disruption in one of the systems, this change will have effects on the other systems. So the representatives are correct in the sense that one auto manufacturer going bankrupt will cause an unbalanced system, which will also cause a dramatic decrease in jobs and affect the citizens.
Summary
Three Domestic auto manufacturers beg for financial aid from both the Canadian and US government. Letting everyone know that if they can’t survive this crisis, it will ultimately be the average families that get affected and both countries’ economy will suffer a fair amount of damage. GM, Ford, and Chrysler all requested the legislators to “approve US$25-billion in emergency bridge loans”. In unison, the three representatives that appeared before the legislators claimed that if even one automaker goes bankrupt, the whole auto sector would crumble and a domino affect will arise which would result in a lost of jobs for millions of workers and ultimately lower government tax revenue. “ “What we need is liquidity because we’re bumping up against our minimum cash levels now, as is Ford, as in Chrysler,” David Paterson, GM of Canada’s vice-president of corporate affairs.” The auto sector is slowly declining. Over the past 15 years, 500,000 jobs relating to this industry have been lost for US workers.
Connection
To make it through the current economic crisis, companies need an adequate amount of capital to keep their company out of danger. By using various methods, one being cash discounts as we have learned in chapter 12, will temporary assist the company gain more capital which will hopefully keep that company out of crisis. Cash discounts are very beneficial to both the consumer and the retailer. By paying the bill earlier, the consumer will be able to save some cash and this guarantees that the company’s accounts receivables will be paid off. Even though cash discounts will help with the situation, it is only a temporary solution. These small payments are not enough to keep the company running forever. It would be wiser to think of another approach to maintaining that cash flow.
Reflection
Even though these three auto manufacturers are located in Detroit, if they actually do go bankrupt, they have a much larger impact than only in Detroit. A manufacturing company in one city may appear like there’s no connection whatsoever with another city half way across the country, but what if the parts that the auto plant uses is imported from that other city half way across the country? By closing down any one of the three auto manufacturers, there will always be something else that will be affected. Whether it be negatively or positively, no one can be sure until the incident occurs. As I have recently learned in Geography12, “A system is an interconnected set of elements”. In more simple terms, all systems are connected and if there is any disruption in one of the systems, this change will have effects on the other systems. So the representatives are correct in the sense that one auto manufacturer going bankrupt will cause an unbalanced system, which will also cause a dramatic decrease in jobs and affect the citizens.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)