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"Earth to TIX" - IVA Market Misses Target Completely With Changes That Benefit Creditors
The IVA situation today is so bad that it is almost as if the creditors are putting a boot to the face of the consumer sinking into debt quicksand while at the same time holding a placard that reads "I'm Here to Help."
Read more about the reality of creditors helpful changes to the IVA marketplace.
You've Got to Give American Express Credit For This
At least you can't fault them putting the product placement right up front and center. It turns out that a new reality show is in the works. This one stars the American Express card as the key tool that the top ten contestents must use to win the €10,000 prize.
This story emerged after Jackie Turnure (Rockpool Productions and LAMP Story Mentor) won a Content 360 award at Milia 2007 in April for her Alternate Reality Game, "Diamond Reef". Milia is an annual conference in Cannes, France that brings together content creators, producers, and distributors to conduct business and discuss the future of creative content.
The award-winning "Diamond Reef" alternate reality game centers around the American Express online credit card. While following a gripping tale of adventure and intrigue, players will explore the features of American Express credit cards within the spy thriller format. Jackie describes the project as a collaborative online treasure hunt paying homage to James Bond stories: in her words,
"The world's most expensive diamond has been stolen, a beautiful young woman has gone missing, and you must find the diamond and rescue the girl, using your American Express card. This alternate reality game is an interactive treasure hunt where clues and story are distributed across the real and virtual worlds. And the stakes are high - if you are one of the top 10 players to solve the mystery, you win 10,000 euros!"
Players will be issued a Blue Amex card and must make numerous virtual purchases both on their own and in groups to arrange for DNA tests, billboard purchases and package deliveries.
Through the course of the game, savvy players will see their cards upgraded from Blue to Green to Gold to Platinum and finally to the famed Black American Express card in an extended experience.
Come Here My Little Pretty
You know how marketers shove sample packets of mints at people as they emerge from the underground or subway. A recent news report from China makes it sound like credit cards are being given out there in a similar way.
Of course, any news story from China that begins with "Young going crazy for credit" is going to get my attention.
From the story "Young people living in urban areas are increasingly using credit cards to pay for goods instead of cash.
"I'm shocked (web based sarcasm). People are always in love with credit cards. They love and lust to have a plastic wafer in their pocket that can let them buy a television at will or let lonely and drunken business men pay for anonymous sex.
From the story "A survey conducted by Daily Business News showed that by the end of this year, China will have 60 million credit cards, 80 percent issued after 2005."
Holy crap! You've got to work overtime to pass out that many cards. I suspect that a couple of those slipped through without much regard to the card holder's ability to pay. Call me crazy but it sure sounds like the goal is to get the cards out as quickly as possible.
I've got this mental picture of an old DC-3 flying over China filed with credit cards standing up and snapped to the line ready to bail out. There is a banker at the door shouting "Go, Go, Go!" as they dive out the door.
From the story "Banks try to attract more customers by offering various perks, cooperation with stores, airliners, hotels and even universities."
Yeah, it's called marketing.
I have to admit that it is interesting watching new countries assimilating credit cards into their culture while watching the wave of credit card use go from gleeful embrace to the "oh crap what have we done we can't pay our bills.", mentality.
Behavioral Economics, Overindebtedness & Comparative Consumer Bankruptcy: Searching for Causes and Evaluating Solutions
In this paper, I draw on the insights of behavioral economics to explain the rise of consumer debt and analyze the potential of several emerging European consumer debt relief systems in preventing excessive consumer borrowing.
First, I submit that behavioral economics offers compelling explanations for some of the reasons why consumers get themselves into financial trouble despite the obvious dangers of over-borrowing and over-spending. Consequently, I propose that behavioral economics might also indicate which legislative models of consumer debt relief might be most effective, not only in treating, but also in combating the growing problem of excessive consumer debt.
Drawing on my recent studies of the operation of the new consumer debt relief systems in Germany, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg (and my initial observations on the system in the Netherlands), I argue that some aspects of these systems are likely to be more effective - and others may even be counterproductive - in achieving the often-stated European goals of imparting positive lessons to consumers about personal responsibility and payment morality. At least from the perspective of behavioral economics, the German system seems to emerge as the most potentially successful system, although other systems seem to be moving in the right direction in many areas.
Hockey Player Credit Card Key To Hockey Agent Murder Plot
I guess you'd have to dump this story under the heading of people do stupid things with credit. Imagine, David Frost, the professional hockey agent using his former client's credit card to purchase gas for his own vehicle. How dumb can you get?
Frost's credit card fraud case has been postponed yet again for another month. The dispute stems from an unintelligent incident where David Frost used the credit card of former NHL professional hockey player Mike Danton. You see, Mike was one of David's former clients.
I guess we can assume that this match between Frost and Danton was not one made in heaven since Danton, a former St. Louis Blues hockey player is currently in the correctional penalty cage (read that jail) after pleading guilty to conspiring to have Frost killed.
Now at the same time, rocket scientist David Frost is facing six charges of sexual exploitation related to incidents involving three boys and one girl between 1995 and 2001.
Frost was coaching a Junior A hockey team in Deseronto, Ont., at the time the offences are alleged to have happened.
Maybe we should just put the two in a cage and hook-up a pay-per-view event and watch them settle the score between them?