We’ve all heard of phishing scams. There are numerous attempts everyday to get you to give up your personal information. And I received one recently. Sadly, it went to my inbox. But before I mark it spam and send it on its way, I want to share it with you. Here is screenshot of the offending email from my inbox:

I would like to draw your attention to a few things that tip me off that this is, in fact, a phishing scam. First of all, the return email address is “account”, and it it goes to a European site. While …read more

U.S. is seeing a drop in international business applications.

While most of the financial industry is struggling, a few companies are still able to shine. One such company is Visa. The biggest credit card company on earth, Visa’s year-over-year income rose approximately 70% in their latest quarter.
This time last year, they posted an income of $314 on the quarter that finished at the end of March. In 2009, that number jumped all the way up to $536 million — beating predictions from almost every expert.
Visa thanks their increased fees, the increase use of debit cards and cut expenses for the improvement. In recent advertising campaigns, Visa has focused on …read more

One of the more interesting things that people are finding out as credit card issuers start closing accounts of those who are responsible with their credit is that issuers don’t actually want you to pay off your balance every month and use your card only occasionally. I was asked about this recently:
“I don’t understand why credit card companies care,” a friend said. “Don’t they get money on each transaction? Even if I pay off my credit card every month, or use it only occasionally, aren’t they making money even if I don’t pay interest?”
My friend has been caught in the …read more

Earlier this week I wrote about one of the things the US has been doing (or at least thinking about doing) to discourage travel to this country. Obviously, one of the biggest disincentives to travelling to the US is the whole border experience, even for citizens. It’s even more complicated for many of those who would like to stay and work in the US.
One of the most common visas for those who want to work in the US, particularly in the technical fields, is the so-called H-1B visa. The problem is that the H-1B is subject to a quota and …read more

So, you’ve decided to start doing business in the US, you’ve looked at locations for your US office, and maybe you’ve even incorporated an entity in the US. Now it’s time to start work, and it’s likely that you need to send someone to the US. Now you need some visas.
First things first, in most cases, the organizational work leading up to this point is likely ok “without a visa,” assuming you’re from one of the countries whose citizens are permitted to enter without a visa. Others will have completed that work on the B-1 visitor visa, but either way …read more

Those of you who travel or purchase products abroad using a credit card may find things a little cheaper if the EU gets its way. According to this report at CNNMoney.com, the EU is pressuring Mastercard to drop fees on international transactions. While Mastercard appears to be the immediate target, the EU is also looking at Visa as well.
image from mastercard.com