USA Banks News

Rewards credit card offers are a great idea and a real help if you already shop in a way that could offer you privileges without having to change the lifestyle. If you use a credit card very often, as in business, for example, where your company pays your expenses, then a reward credit card is probably the best type for you to have.

The rewards are not just confined to travel miles and cash back. Suppliers are always thinking up new and unique rewards to attract customers, for example tickets to family attractions, movie tickets and discounts on household appliances. Read more…

SmartyPig, the online social banking site, has a prepaid MasterCard that’s different from almost all other prepaid cards on the market: There aren’t many fees, plus you can earn generous cash-back rewards for using the card at participating retailers.

With the SmartyPig Cash Rewards Prepaid MasterCard, you earn up to 10% when you use the card to make purchases at more than 9,000 participating retailers across the country.

Here’s a look at the details of this prepaid debit card:

Card purchase fee $4.95 Monthly fee None Domestic ATM withdrawal fees $1.50 per transaction for withdrawals, 50 cents for balance inquiries. Rewards Up to 10% cash back at more than 9,000 participating retailers. Other features Free direct deposit; FDIC insured. Read more…

The US dollar jumped on Tuesday and reached its highest level since November versus the Japanese yen as the Bank of Japan has decided to expand its asset purchase program. The Bank of Japan disclosed that the asset purchase program will be increased by 10 trillion yen totaling to 65 trillion yen.

The central bank of Japan also decided to keep the key interest rate unchanged within the range of 0 to 0.1 percent with its temporary inflation target of 1 percent. Currency strategist, Chris Walker from UBS commented, “This is a significant amount of additional easing, and with the BOJ’s preferred measure of core inflation currently running at only -0.1% year-on-year, investors are bound to expect further bouts of monetary accommodation down the road.”

The US dollar gained to 78.49 versus the Japanese yen on Tuesday as compared to 77.60 in Monday’s late trading hours. The eur

Read more…

Dine out with a friend at your nearest Ask restaurant and you can get any main course for 2 when you order another.

What’s the deal?

Order any main course at your nearest Ask restaurant and you can choose a second for just £2 when you print off a voucher from their website.

How do I benefit?

Simply visit the Ask website, enter your details and print off your Ask voucher.

Once you have your voucher, take it to your nearest Ask restaurant and hand it to a member of staff before you order to redeem this offer.

Expiry

This offer is available until 6th March, 2012.

Conditions

This offer is only available Sunday to Friday.

The cheaper of the two main courses will be reduced to £2.

This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion.

For a full set of terms and conditions please refer to your voucher.

We have done our very best to make sure that the information included in this Deal is accurate. H

Read more…

The Ritz-Carlton Rewards program is offering up to 2 free nights for stays through April 15, 2012.

Earn up to 2 complimentary nights at participating Ritz-Carlton destinations when you register by March 1st and stay by April 15th.

To qualify, register for this Ritz-Carlton Rewards Bonus Nights Offer or enroll in The Ritz-Carlton Rewards program by March 1, 2012.

You’ll receive 1 free night when you complete 2 stays with The Ritz-Carlton between February 1st and April 15, 2012.

You will receive a second free night after you make 2 additional stays within the same dates.

Ritz-Carlton Rewards Promotional Terms and Conditions

Registration is required.

You will earn 1 certificate for a complimentary night at a Tier 1 to Tier 3 hotel after the completion of 2 paid stays, for up to a maximum of 2 complimentary night certificates.

Your complimentary night award will be added to your account within 3 to 5 business days after the second qualifying stay.

Certificates will expire 1 year from the date of issuance.

A stay is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/check-out activity.

Only 1 room per hotel per stay is counted toward earning for this promotion.

This promotion excludes The Ritz-Carlton Millennia Singapore, The Ritz-Carlton Montreal, Phulay Bay a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, and Partner Hotels.

Members of The Ritz-Carlton Rewards program as of January 13, 2012, and new members who were not previously members of the Marriott Rewards program are eligible to receive this offer.

This offer cannot be combined with any other offer.

You may also be interested in these Hotel Booking Discounts for more savings on your next hotel room.

Earn 2 free nights with Ritz-Carlton Rewards.

The Reserve Bank has signalled that the next move in interest rates is still likely to be up, not down, but will come later than the midyear it foreshadowed last month.

“Given ongoing uncertainty around global conditions and the moderate pace of domestic demand, it remains prudent to keep the OCR on hold at 2.5 per cent,” governor Alan Bollard said in the bank’s official cash rate review yesterday.

That was a verbatim repeat of what he said in December, apart from dropping the phrase “for now”.

The omission was significant, Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said.

“It removes the sense of impending hikes that was conveyed by the December monetary policy statement, which projected a gradual rise in the OCR from around June this year.”

It was broadly the message the market was expecting – a later start to rate hikes but not a marked change in the bank’s stance – and “far less dramatic than the US Federal Reserve’s commitment to keep rates at zero until at least late 2014, which pushed the New Zealand dollar a cent higher this morning”, Stephens said.

ANZ economist Mark Smith said the Federal Reserve’s move effectively gave a green light for a weaker US dollar and by implication a stronger New Zealand dollar.

All else being equal it would allow the Reserve Bank to keep rates low for longer, but it was unhelpful from the standpoint of New Zealand’s need to rebalance towards a more export-driven economy.

Bollard noted the recent rise in the kiwi was reducing exporters’ returns, though export commodity prices remain high.

The high exchange rate is partly the product of improved sentiment in global financial markets.

While Bollard acknowledged improved liquidity in European financial markets – boosted by a large injection of cheap money by the European central bank last month – he repeated warnings of the likelihood of pressure on New Zealand banks’ funding costs over the coming year because of their reliance on offshore wholesale funding.

Smith said ANZ’s analysis suggested elevated funding costs would knock about 1 per cent off growth in New Zealand over the year ahead.

Read more…