Payoneer's virtual US bank accounts make international cash out easier

Via TechCrunch:

The new offering allows Payoneer card holders that live outside the US to receive direct Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposits/payments without the necessity of actually having a US bank account.

Here’s how it works: Payoneer maintains a bulk of sub-accounts under its main account, which is held in an American bank. When an ACH transfer is initiated, each of these sub-accounts is referenced using its own routing and account numbers. When the funds are credited to one of these sub-accounts, Payoneer loads the funds to the associated card.

Contrary to their name, these accounts are not virtual at all. Payoneer’s thinking here is to call them virtual accounts because they only serve as channels for loading money onto their cards. The accounts cannot be used for wire transfers, they don’t bear interest, etc. I may be splitting hairs, but the name could be a bit snazzier.

Things you might now know about your credit card

7) Merchants Are Not Allowed To Make You Give Up Your Right To A Chargeback
You might see a receipt that has suspicious-looking waiver stating that you're agreeing to give up your right to issue a chargeback against the merchant for any reason, no matter what, period. These waivers are the result of some crafty entrepreneurs selling sales-receipt paper with the waiver printed on it, claiming that it helps protect the merchant. It's all nonsense and it isn't allowed. If you see it, you should report the merchant.

Pay-as-you-drive insurance: MyRate drive monitoring device goes national

With Progressive Insurance:

The little blue box plugs into your car's ODB II diagnostic port (all cars made after 1996 have one), and studiously records your driving habits, wirelessly sending the data back to Progressive HQ (it's not clear exactly how). Every six months, Progressive will crunch the numbers and issue a new rate for you based on how you drive -- savings of up to 40 percent are possible.

What the bagel man saw -- economics of the honor system

''But I found that as the unemployment rate goes down, dishonesty goes up,'' Paul F. says. ''My guess is that a low rate of unemployment means that companies are having to hire a lower class of employee.'' The data also show that the payment rate does not change when he raises bagel prices, though volume may temporarily fall.

A separate experiment at Kitchener's City Cafe Bakery.

Pixar's Brad Bird on fostering innovation

Then there’s our building. Steve Jobs basically designed this building. In the center, he created this big atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center—which initially drove us crazy—so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. [Jobs] realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company.

Business scams that failed miserably

Using Corbin's influence to get an audience with the President, the pair would argue to [Ulysses S.] Grant that selling gold was a terrible idea that the government should avoid at all costs. The wily pair also used their influence at the White House to secure a position as assistant treasurer of the United States for Daniel Butterfield, who would warn them if the government started to sell gold.

With their connections in place, Fisk and Gould started buying up gold in September 1869, quickly driving the price of gold up by around 30 percent.

Once Grant and his advisors got wise to the situation, though, the government quickly sold off $4 million in gold to break the corner, effectively killing the inflated prices on September 24.

Dealing with debt collectors

Stay calm, keep records.

Insurance myths quiz

From the Insurance Bureau of Canada, I think.

Voyant -- financial planning app

Need internet connection to get advisor input if desired.

Get over yourself and get haggling

With some personal reflections and links to tip lists.

From only $25 to a job, pickup truck, rental apartment and $5000 saved

Very little detail in the interview.

Hyplet -- embeddable business cards and flyers

Don't want to bother with html or Photoshop? This might be for you.

Accounting basics for a freelancer

I didn't know you weren't supposed to use personal bank accounts for business purchases.

Starbucks helps mom and pop coffeeshops

Taps into the anti-Starbucks market.

Western Union still relevant as migration continues

Long synonymous with Morse code, the company now advertises in Tagalog and Twi and runs promotions for holidays as obscure as Phagwa and Fiji Day. Its executives hail migrants as “heroes” and once tried to oust a congressman because of his push for tougher immigration laws.

Zilok -- rent anything

Some of techcrunch's reservations:

What is missing for me is a wizard to assist an owner in evaluating the rental price of his goods. If i know how to find a second hand price benchmark on the web (checking eBay for example) i would not know how to find the rental price of a piece of furniture (specially if it is unique). Zilok will not be appropriate for many categories of objects (cloths for example) and in many cases the rental price (even if rented several times) will not be a better bargain than just buying or selling the same product second hand or third hand. But i can see how this could catch with some product categories (some equipments and accessories, or utilities).

Retirement myths debunked

I do think that Boomers will crash the market. Aggregated pension funds are as big as wealthy people in the markets.

Various ways not to lose money

Mutual fund, real estate, credit cards, etc., but there's also:

Never hire a roofer, driveway paver or chimney sweep who is going door to door.

and

When you shop for electronics, don't pay for an extended warranty. One exception: It's a laptop and the warranty is from the manufacturer.

More income without the extra job

Mostly going to the region, industry (or part thereof) or skill set where the demand is high, supply low:

During his third year as a high-school teacher, 36-year-old Jonathan Ring earned $44,000 -- respectable, but in San Francisco barely enough to keep his studio apartment stocked with Top Ramen. Scott Shepherd, 34, teaches high-school students in Atlanta. In his third year, Shepherd will make nearly $80,000. Why the difference? Ring toils at an inner-city public school, while Shepherd tutors rich kids full-time from suburbia for $75 an hour.

Investing mistakes

Established advice, but the one that caught my eye was the need to pay attention to expense ratios.