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South Africa will welcome almost half a million tourists during June and July of 2010. These visitors are in for an unforgettable experience; beautiful scenery, divergent cultures, world class hospitality and the big five are just some of the wonders they will enjoy.

Banking analysts say the volume and value of card transactions will go through the roof as these visitors swipe their cards for purchases at hotels, restaurants and general retailers. One of the risks to foreign visitors is they don’t know how much they’re spending in Euros, Pounds or Dollars, until they get their card statements, often a month after they have made their purchases. Absa Card has partnered with Planet Payment to bring Pay in Your Currency™ also referred to in the industry as Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), to South Africa to address this concern.

The Pay in Your Currency service will provide Absa merchants with the ability to present the international consumer with a choice of paying in Rand, or completing the purchase in any one of the 30 supported foreign currencies. This service enables the merchant to improve client service, thereby aiding their volume growth whilst at the same time increasing their operating margins.

The process ensures foreign exchange transaction transparency by converting Rand amounts into the cardholder’s home currency at point of sale. The sale amount is agreed and verified by the cardholder using either a PIN or signature. Further, merchants gain access to Planet Payment’s best-in-class analytics and reporting package, which allows for the complete reporting and reconciliation of all transactions through a single, easy-to-use, web-based interface.

Absa Card decided to introduce the technology after extensive consultation with Barclays, the majority owner of Absa. Barclays (through Barclaycard) has been offering a DCC solution in European countries for a number of years.

Absa Card Acquiring is the first to offer the DCC solution in South Africa. Their vision is to own the world of simple payment by providing a differentiated point of sale offering to merchants, ensuring ‘feet in store’ and improving cardholders’ experiences.

Absa Card’s Card Acquiring division is rolling out Pay in Your Currency with a trial of the simple payment solution at selected Absa Card merchants beginning in April 2010. Absa anticipates rolling out the solution to Absa Card merchants nationally starting the second half of April.

Tourists visiting South Africa will be able to pay in their own currency wherever they see the Pay in Your Currency sign.

For more information, visit planetpayment.com.

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41st Parameter Inc., the leading provider of online cross-channel fraud detection and prevention solutions recently announced that it has been chosen by AlwaysOn as one of the OnDemand Top 100 winners. Inclusion in the OnDemand Top 100 signifies leadership amongst its peers and game-changing approaches and technologies that are likely to disrupt existing markets and entrenched players. 41st Parameter was specially selected by the AlwaysOn editorial team and industry experts spanning the globe based on a set of five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value and media buzz.

41st Parameter protects brand integrity while defending bottom line revenue for some of the best-known companies in the world, including four of the top ten largest multinational financial institutions, leading international airlines, and over 120 brand-name global retailers. FraudNet, 41st Parameter’s suite of tagless cross-channel fraud detection and prevention solutions has proven uniquely effective at detecting fraud ring activity and stopping multiple forms of online and offline theft while staying compliant with increasingly stringent personal privacy regulations. FraudNet customers report an average review rate 80 percent below industry standard, while simultaneously reducing fraud losses and improving the customer experience.

For more information, visit the41st.com.

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To help Chicagoans give their family finances a healthy check up and spring cleaning, ING DIRECT USA, the nation’s largest direct bank, announced today it will host a series of free financial education workshops and activities at its Chicago Cafe beginning April 17 through April 23, 2010.

As part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s ninth-annual Money Smart Week®, the ING DIRECT Café in Chicago will hold five events to raise consumers’ financial education awareness and promote fiscally responsible behavior. Events at the Cafe will range from financial education activities for children to important lessons on how new government regulations will affect checking accounts.

Throughout Money Smart Week®, ING DIRECT’s Cafe in Chicago, located at 21 East Chestnut Street (between N. Wabash Ave. and N. State St.), will host the following free financial workshops and activities. All attendees will receive a special $50 bonus to open an Electric Orange checking account with ING DIRECT.

• Saturday, April 17, 2010 – Local speaker, educator and author, X’ernona Woods, will be in the Chicago Cafe on Saturday, April 17, from 1 p.m. – 2p.m. CT, to read her book Save That Penny for a Sunny Day to children in grades 4-6. Activities will follow that encourage kids to pay close attention to their ideas, use time wisely and reach goals.

• Tuesday, April 20, 2010 – Learning about money should be entertaining and educational. Teachers and parents are encouraged to stop by the Cafe from 5 p.m. – 6p.m. CT to learn how Planet Orange – ING DIRECT’s virtual web experience for children – can help them prepare students for a solid financial future.

• Wednesday, April 21, 2010 – Looking for some helpful ways to save money in Chicago? At 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. CT, the ING DIRECT Cafe will let visitors in on secret ways to immediately save hundreds of dollars in Chicago on everything from entertainment to dining out with friends.

• Thursday, April 22, 2010 – How will the federal government’s July 1 changes to bank overdraft policies affect consumers? During a seminar at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. CT, ING DIRECT will highlight what consumers need to know about overdraft protection as well as the benefits of online banking. Stick around afterward for an hour with Rob Weaver, Head of IT Security at ING DIRECT, to find out how safe online banking really is and what you can do to further protect yourself online.

• Friday, April 23, 2010 – Missed a workshop from earlier in the week? On Friday, from 4 p.m. – 6p.m. CT, the Cafe will host a Money Smart Week® recap followed by a customer appreciation reception. Free cookies and coffee will be handed out to show how much the Cafe appreciates Savers.

For more information, visit ingdirect.com

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Technology can now be geared towards saving consumers thousands of dollars on credit cards, Credit Card Transfers claimed today. This is achieved by automating the process that transfers balances from an old credit card to a new one, so that no interest charges are imposed. The process may be repeated over and over so that it is possible to not have to pay any interest at all for over twenty years. The service is free to use.

Credit Card Transfers’ new service has now incorporated what is known as an autoresponder to tell people when their 0 APR period is about to run out. Up until now autoresponders have been the preserve of the Internet marketing industry.

The service uses what is known as javascript code within the web site, which allows the user to easily select the week when the credit card’s opening interest free offer expires. The system then automatically sends the card holder an email several days before that time. The email has a hyperlink in it that allows the balance to be transferred to a new card.

The service is completely free to use.

For moe information, visit credit-card-transfers.com.

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