What do Google, Quicken, Publishers Clearing House all have in common? Credit cards, of course!

Written by Geoff Williams
Posted On: October 24, 2012

What's going on in the world of credit cards right now? Glad you asked.

Own a small business?

You may be happy to hear that Google, Inc., recently started offering credit cards to small businesses. The Google credit card is called AdWords Business Credit. It has an annual percentage rate of 8.99, and there are no annual fees. But if you want to take a client out to lunch, or use it for a personal reason, like seeing a movie, you'll be out of luck, because it is only good for AdWords, which allows businesses to spend money on certain keywords and create ads. So when someone types in a key word relating to your business, your "sponsored link" pops up. So be sure to hang onto your other business credit cards as well.

"Clearing House" is right

I think most people reading this, and most people over the age of 10, are savvy enough not to fall for anything like this, but if nothing else, it's always entertaining to read about what con artists will try to do to part people from their money. According to WINK News Now, a news channel in Southwest Florida, a resident in Punta Gorda, Florida received a phone call from Publishers Clearing House.

This woman was told she won a sweepstake prize. All she had to do was go to her local CVS store to buy a paper Green Dot pre-paid debit card for $450, and then call the caller back and give him the number to the pre-paid debit card number, and she would have her prize money.

The woman asked a friend for a ride to CVS, and the friend wisely informed the sheriff about this prize, and the sheriff fortunately set the woman straight.

I'm sympathetic toward the woman. She apparently doesn't own a car, probably really could have used a sweepstakes prize and was presumably hoping she finally had a break in life. But look, here's a hint to whether or not you're being scammed: if you have to work really hard to get a prize, going on errands, spending your own money and having to do chores like calling a stranger back and giving him information, then it's not a prize.

Quicken, kind of slow here, but happy news nonetheless

If you're a Quicken fan, you should love this news. The software company Intuit recently announced that their newest version of their well known financial management software, Quicken 2013, will have mobile companion editions for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android smartphones and tables, and the Kindle Fire.

Why is this exciting? Well, if you've ever been in a store, and you're trying to remember how much money you have on your credit card or in your bank account, you either have to rely on your memory, or you can go to the credit card or bank web site and find out. But with the Quicken app, you can presumably shave off a minute or two or more with easy, instant access to all of your financial information, including your credit card balance, your bank account balance, your savings account information and so on. It feels like this is something Quicken should have released back in, say, 2007, but, hey better late than never.