The Prepaid Press - June 15, 2008 - (Page 28)

RETAIL FOCUS June 15 · 2008 - 28 NRF Says Retail Sales Showed Resiliency in April Retailers See Largest Increase Since November Rosalind Wells. “The month-to-month sales increase was the largest we’ve seen since last November, a much welcomed reprieve.” The NRF said that as consumers continue to stick to necessity-type purchases, sales in health and beauty care stores increased a solid 3.1 percent unadjusted year-over-year and 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted from last month. Thanks to the onset of spring-like weather in much of the country, building material, garden equipment and supplies stores had slight sales increases for the first time in months. Sales increased 1.9 percent seasonally adjusted from March and 1.2 percent unadjusted year-over-year. Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores sales also saw healthy increases. Sales rose 4.7 percent unadjusted year-over-year and 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted from last month, according to the NRF. Electronics and appliance stores sales increased 5.1 percent unadjusted from last year and 1.4 percent seasonally adjusted from March. Clothing and clothing accessories stores sales increased 0.7 percent seasonally adjusted from last month and 0.5 percent unadjusted yearover-year. Source: National Retail Federation (www.nrf.com) TravelCenters Adopts Coinstar Pay As You Go Product Suite to be Available in TA, Petro BELLEVUE, WA (May 28, 2008) Coinstar E-Payment Services (NASDAQ:CSTR) announced that its Pay As you Go products and services will be available in TravelCenters of America LLC fullservice travel centers operating under the “TA,” “TravelCenters of America” and “Petro Stopping Centers” brands. Coinstar Pay As you Go products include prepaid wireless, long distance, gift cards, financial services such as prepaid re-loadable and onetime gift debit cards among others. These products and services became available at more than 230 TA and Petro locations at the end of May. “We’re excited about working with TA to provide an optimal product and merchandising mix to match their customer demographics and preferences in various regions,” said Mike Skinner, general manager of Coinstar E-Payment Services. Our ‘Pay As you Go’ product suite is ideally suited for people on the move and is complementary to TA’s approach of providing many convenient services at one stop.” As a Coinstar 4th Wall customer, TA and Petro have already installed other Coinstar products, including amusement vending equipment in more than 85 locations, as well as a number of coin counting locations. Source: Coinstar, Inc. (www.coinstar.com) Marriott Offers a $25 Visa Gift Card Bonus for Summer Weekend Stay BETHESDA, MD (June 3, 2008) Guests who spend a weekend at participating Marriott or JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts between June 5 and September 1 will receive a $25 Visa Gift Card when they pay with a Visa card. The Visa Gift Cards are valid anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. The booking window began May 29, 2008 for stays June 5 - September 1, 2008. Guests must stay a Friday or Saturday night to receive the offer. Applicable terms and conditions are on the Marriott International website, http:// creativeservices.0catch.com/boilerplate/ Source: Marriott International (www.marriott.com) WASHINGTON, DC (May 13, 2008) After several months of lackluster sales, the National Retail Federation says retailers finally have a reason to cheer. According to the NRF, retail industry sales for April (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) rose 2.3 percent unadjusted over last year and 0.6 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month. April retail sales released today by the U.S. Commerce Department show total retail sales (which include non-general merchandise categories such as autos, gasoline stations and restaurants) decreased 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted from the previous month and increased 2.6 percent unadjusted year-over-year, said NRF. “While it’s apparent that consumers are still holding back, the spring season helped get people back into stores,” said NRF Chief Economist NRF Favors Law Protecting Retailers from Lawsuits Credit Card Expiration Date Printing Targeted WASHINGTON, DC (May 20, 2008) The National Retail Federation’s National Council of Chain Restaurants division welcomed Senate passage of legislation that would protect retailers and restaurants from frivolous lawsuits over credit card expiration dates printed on customers’ receipts. “The confusing manner in which this provision was written has caused hundreds of retailers and restaurants to inadvertently run afoul of the law,” NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said. “The vast majority of merchants made a good faith effort to comply with the law by truncating credit card numbers but were unaware of Congress’ apparent intent that expiration dates be omitted. Including expiration dates on receipts has done nothing to put consumers at risk, but opportunistic attorneys have nonetheless seized on this ambiguity in the law to file lawsuits that threaten innocent businesses with hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties. This legislation will put a stop to that effort to shake down America’s merchants.” Merchants have been hit with more than 300 class acts lawsuits contending that FACTA required them to take both steps, and seeking fines as high as $1,000 per incident, the maximum allowed under the 2003 law, according to the NRF. FACTA does not allow individuals to sue, instead giving enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission, but the lawsuits were brought under state laws citing FACTA. At issue is a provision in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act – a 2003 update of FCRA – intended to prevent credit card fraud. Under FACTA, merchants were told they could no longer print more than the last five digits of a credit or debit card number “or” the card’s expiration date on receipts after December 4, 2006. Many merchants interpreted the law as meaning they could either truncate the card number or leave off the expiration date, but that they were not required to do both. Most truncated the card number but some continued printing the expiration date, reasoning that the expiration date was of no value without the full card number. The Senate approved the Credit and Debit Receipt Clarification Act by voice vote on May 20, 2008. The measure was approved by the House on May 13 and is now on its way to the President’s desk for signature. The bill was sponsored as H.R. 4008 in the House by Financial Services Committee member Representative Tim Mahoney, D-Fla., and as S. 2978 in the Senate by Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee member Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.y. The bill says a business that printed an expiration date on a receipt over the past 18 months cannot be found in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act as long as the merchant truncated the customer’s credit card to no more than the last five digits and complied with other FCRA requirements. The legislation would protect merchants from lawsuits for expiration dates printed between the time the FACTA rule went into effect and the time the measure is signed into law. But merchants would still be required to both truncate card numbers and leave off expiration dates going forward. Source: National Retail Federation (www.nrf.com) and The National Council of Chain Restaurants (www.nccr.net) CAESARS PALACE, LAS VEGAS · AUGUST 19 – 21, 2008 THE PREPAID PRESS EXPO 2008 Booked Yet? Be part of the Expo excitement, and stay right in the middle of the action! Reserve your room now to guarantee your stay at Caesars Palace. tppEXPO’08 has contracted a special group rate for Expo attendees. This rate is available from 8/18 – 8/21. To reserve your room online, please visit www.prepaidpressexpo.com You may also call 1.866.227.5944 to book your reservation over the telephone. International callers may dial direct to 702.731.7222. Please be sure to identify yourself as part of the group “SCPPE8” or “The Prepaid Press Expo Group” to receive the group rate. Palace Tower Deluxe Room (FREE UPGRADE FOR TPPEXPO’08 ATTENDEES) Unwind in the delicate elegance of the Deluxe Room. The open and inviting bedchamber is highlighted by a marble dressing table, refreshment center, and dark wood furnishings. The Caesars-style marble bathroom indulges you with brass xtures, dual sinks, and an oversized spa tub. LCD Television Oversized Spa Bathtub Conveniently located near the Convention area and the Garden of the Gods Pool area Starbucks Card Members Get Free AT&T Wi-Fi Two Hours of Connect Time With Card Buy SEATTLE, WA (June 3, 2008) People who received a Starbucks gift card now get two consecutive hours of free AT&T Wi-Fi daily in Starbucks stores in the U.S. Customers can participate by either loading at least $5 on a new Starbucks Card, or enrolling on the Starbucks website with an existing Starbucks Card. Starbucks said the new offer of free Wi-Fi service for registered card holders who sign up with AT&T is the result of an agreement between Starbucks and AT&T. The agreement is for AT&T to deliver its Wi-Fi service at company-operated Starbucks locations across the U.S. Starbucks said it is working with AT&T to roll out the Wi-Fi service to every participating WiFi enabled Starbucks location in the U.S. by the end of 2008. Source: Starbucks (www.starbucks.com) and AT&T (www.att.com) REGULAR NIGHTLY RATE $249 TPPEXPO’08 DISCOUNTED GROUP RATE ONLY - $189 VISIT PREPAIDPRESSEXPO.COM OR CALL 866.203.2334 ext. 505 FOR MORE INFORMATION http://www.coinstar.com http://creativeservices.0catch.com/boilerplate/ http://creativeservices.0catch.com/boilerplate/ http://www.marriott.com http://www.nrf.com http://www.nrf.com http://www.nccr.net http://www.prepaidpressexpo.com http://www.prepaidpressexpo.com http://www.starbucks.com http://www.att.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - June 15, 2008

The Prepaid Press - June 15, 2008 Contents The Retske Report: The More Things Change… Regulatory Rundown: June 2008 5 Minutes With Harvey Caron VP/Marketing Director, Pentagon Graphics TPPExpo’08 Spotlight Handset Trafficking Dealt Blow Prepaid Wireless Roundup Virgin Mobile to Use Platform-A Sprint Reports Lower Wireless Revenues Virgin Mobile Adds Samsung to Offerings States Considering Photo ID for Prepaid Wireless Prepaid Reviews Podcast Includes TPP Editor Prepaid Wireless in Brief Managing Equipment and Capacity Upgrades Atlantax Systems and TMI Form Alliance The Legal Line Spot Rates FTC Halts Bogus Prepaid Phone Card Claims Titan Global Re-Appoints Kurt Jensen as Pres/CEO Calling Cards in Brief TX AG Files Suit Against Calling Card Company Startec Moves to PhoenixSoft Cirrus Ringplus.net Offers Free Calls Interchange Fee War Begins edo Interactive Launches Networking Card MasterCard Uses CSC Platform nFinanSe Gets $15 Million Line of Credit Travelex Cash Passport Debuts at US Retail Stores CardEx Offers Cost-Free Gift Cards Payments in Brief Altair and Blueberry Launch a Prepaid Card for Moms FrontStream Acquires Direct Technology Innovations New Etelcharge Version Goes Live Prepaid 101: POSA Retail Focus in Brief NRF Says Retailers Fighting Organized Crime Blackhawk Announces Annual Hawk Awards NRF Says Retail Sales Showed Resiliency in April TravelCenters Adopts Coinstar Pay As You Go Marriott Offers a $25 Visa Gift Card NRF Favors Law Protecting Retailers from Lawsuits Starbucks Card Members Get Free AT&T Wireless Wi-Fi Our Advertisers Classifieds Contact Us

The Prepaid Press - June 15, 2008

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