Shopkick, which already dominates the location-based shopping app world for large companies like Target, Best Buy, Macy’s and more, has announced it’s adding small local stores and coffee shops into its retail program that rewards shoppers for walking into stores. Shopkick is initially launching the app in Austin and Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; Chicago; Detroit; Los Angeles; the San Francisco Bay Area; New Orleans; New York City; Seattle and Washington, DC. Interested small businesses should apply soon. The

Read full article…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Macy’s department store chain will pay a $750,000 penalty for failing to report it had sold children’s outerwear that had been recalled because it had drawstrings. Such garments pose strangulation and entanglement hazards.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Monday that the Cincinnati-based retailer agreed to pay the civil penalty. Macy’s denied CPSC allegations that it knowingly violated the law.

The commission alleged that Macy’s failed to immediately report it had sold children’s sweatshirts, sweaters and jackets with drawstrings at the neck between 2006 and 2010. The clothing was also sold at Macy’s-owned stores including Bloomingdale’s and Robinsons-May. T

Read full article…

The credit card and bank account details of Aussies are being targeted by con artists who are calling people offering carbon tax compensation.

An alert from SCAMwatch warned consumers not to pass on the details of their bank accounts if contacted, noting that the federal government will never ask for this information.

According to the body, up to $5,000 is being offered to those who are contacted.

“If you receive a phone call out of the blue asking for your bank account or personal details, or claiming you need to pay money to receive a compensation payment, hang up immediately,” it urged.

SCAMwatch urged Aussies never to provide their personal details over the phone and to be on the alert for any communications claiming to be running a survey on carbon tax.

The organisation said those who want to keep their details secure should avoid get-rich-quick schemes and never pass on sensitive financial data to anyone they do not know or trust.

Yesterday, I wrote about the technique of reconsideration, in order to give people a chance to be approved for a credit card for which they were initially declined. Today, I would like to talk about a similar process I call bumping up your bonus. Suppose you have applied for and received a particular card. You were able to realize a healthy sign up bonus, but wouldn’t you know it, you have since come across an offer for an even better bonus on the same card. Sign up bonuses are a wildly fluctuating aspect of credit card promotions. Like reconsideration, many people are actually able to contact their bank and obtain the higher award.

How Bonuses Work

When someone applies for a credit card, their application contains an offer code. A

Read full article…

PARIS German supermodel Claudia Schiffer launched her first cashmere collection during Haute Couture fashion week in Paris with the hope of creating a lasting brand that she could pass on to her children.

The 40-year-old former Chanel muse said she has been thinking of getting into fashion design for years and had finally decided to start with the kinds of clothes she wore all the time as a working mom such as cashmere dresses and sweaters.

“I am always very busy, I have a family life… I want to wear the same outfit when I bring my children to school and then go to work with it and in the evening I want to be able to just change accessories,” Schiffer told Reuters at the launch of the Claudia Schiffer clothing line in trendy Paris boutique Colette.

“Effortless chic. Read full article…