Sears hasn’t had an easy time of it in recent years, but neither has its customers. The retailer has been trying out any way it can to create revenue and customer traffic, and its latest plan is a lease-to-own program.

The Associated Press reports that Sears tried out allowing customers to pay in installments for big purchases such as mattresses, home appliances, furniture and electronics in 10 stores last fall and is now introducing the option at all of its 900 locations, making it the first major retailer to have such a program.

Sears began offering layaway only a few years ago during the worst of the recession, but lease-to-own would provide a way to move inventory and bring in revenue simultaneously. For customers in a bind, the lease-to-own programs allows quick access to products, unlike layaway, which needs to be paid off before pick-up. Products need to be worth $280 or more and customers aren’t allowed to sign on unless they are at least 18, can show that they make $1,000 or more a month, and have a Social Security or tax ID number.Continue reading...

Visa's high-profile TV campaign for the London 2012 Olympics, like the commercial featuring Michael Phelps, carry the tagline, "People everywhere go with Visa." But what that doesn't tell you is that people everywehere at the London Olympics go ONLY with Visa.

That's because every one of the ATMs at the Olympic games accepts only Visa cards. It gets worse: There are only eight — count 'em, eight — ATMs across all of the London Olympic venues, according to the UK's This is Money. In fact, an agreement with Visa led to the removal or disabling of twenty-seven other ATMs.

Basically, that means anyone attending the Olympics without a Visa card needs to bring cash. To speed purchases — in keeping with the brand's London 2012 ambassador Usain Bolt — Visa instituted a contactless payment system, so visitors can wave their Visa card at a payment terminal to get food and souvenirs, or in one a few of London's iconic black cabs.

But on July 29 at Wembley, where Great Britain was playing the United Arab Emirates in football, aka soccer, the system went down. As a result even Visa cardholders were left out in the cold — which is not entirely unusual for Londoners to feel, but still.Continue reading...

MasterCard is once again sponsoring the UN's Project Inspire 2012: 5 Minutes to Change the World, following the success of last year's campaign. 

Joined by the Singapore National Committee for UN Women and academic partner INSEAD, Project Inspire offers 18-35 year-olds a 5-minute platform to pitch an idea and win a $25,000 grant supporting an existing women’s empowerment program in Asia/Pacific, the Middle East or Africa, helping women and girls sustain livelihood through entrepreneurship.Continue reading...