By Justin McHenry

Office supply store Office Depot will begin accepting “contactless” credit cards in its 1000+ stores later this year, including MasterCard’s PayPass cards and American Express’ ExpressPay cards. The move is a victory of sorts for the contactless technology, which to this point has been available mainly at food-related merchants such as quick serve restaurants, convenience stores and sports stadium concessions. Moving into the retail arena, especially with a retailer whose main clientele is small business owners, could significantly increase contactless acceptance by both merchants and card customers.

MasterCard’s PayPass and ExpressPay from American Express both use radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips in their cards in order to speed credit card transactions. Instead of swiping their cards, consumers can just tap them or wave them in front of a reader to complete checkout. For smaller purchases, signing a credit card slip is not required, moving the purchase along even faster.

In related news, American Express also announced the introduction of its contactless technology at Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores. a regional merchant with 276 retail stores throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Missouri and Arkansas.

By Justin McHenry
First Premier Bank, which offers credit cards to consumers with bad credit histories, will refund $4.5 million to current and former New York cardholders to settle complaints about its fees and business practices.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said the complaints came from consumers who responded to the cards’ marketing that touted $2000 credit lines and no processing fees but delivered cards with much lower credit limits and immediate fees that ate up most of the credit line.

First Premier Bank has had predatory lending criticisms leveled against it in the past, but the company maintains it is providing a service to customers with past credit problems, and that its fees cover its risk of doing business with these cardholders as well as being the price these cardholders must pay to get credit after having done a poor job with it in the past.

Cuomo’s office said the settlement will be spread among thousands of New Yorkers who’ve done business with First Premier in the past.

By Seth Harbison

American Express has added to the perks offered to its Platinum and Centurion cardholders by partnering with American Airlines to allow cardholders to gain access to the airline’s 44 Admrals Club lounges in worldwide airports. American Express now offers cardholders access to over 150 such airport clubs, after adding Admirals Club admittance to its existing deals with Continental Airlines Presidents Clubs, Delta Crown Room Clubs, and Northwest Airlines WorldClubs.

Among the amenities the Admirals Club lounges offer are the use of conference rooms, high-speed wireless Internet access, showers, Lenovo PCs with free high-speed Internet access, and free snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.

Admirals Club lounges are found in the airports of many major cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, New York Kennedy, New York LaGuardia, Orange County, Paris, Philadelphia, Rio de Janeiro, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, Tokyo, Toronto, Washington, D.C. Dulles, Washington, D.C. Reagan and more.

By Justin McHenry

Citi has launched a new cash back credit card that isn’t trying to tempt you so much with the size of its rebate but with its simplicity. The new Citi CashReturns Card offers a straight one percent cash back rebate, with no earnings tiers and no cap on earnings per year, and automatically pays you by check every time you’ve earned $50. While the card is not offering the biggest rebate out there, it is surprisingly one of the very few that automatically pays out reward money. Most other cash back cards make you take the step of redeeming them, or they limit your rebate to a once per year payment. Citi is also offering a major incentive by giving 5% cash back on all purchases for the first three months of card usage.

The Citi CashReturns Card also allows cardholders to earn bigger rewards when they make purchases via the Citi Bonus Cash Center, which includes over 400 retailers. Citi CashReturns is a MasterCard credit card and is equipped with MasterCard’s PayPass technology, which allows “contactless” payments by being waved in front of a reader instead of swiped.

To apply for the Citi CashReturns Card, go here.

By Liz Morris

Recording star and actress Beyonce Knowles will be the latest big name to represent American Express in its advertising, according to OK! magazine. OK! says Knowles has already done photo shoots for print advertising as well as a TV commercial. The campaign is reportedly to start later this year.

Assuming this news is true, Knowles will join a long and prestigious list of stars who’ve appeared in American Express advertising campaigns, including Robert De Niro, Tiger Woods, Kate Winslet, Ellen DeGeneres and others.

By Liz Morris

American Express announced a deal with the Professional Golfers Association, or PGA, last week that makes American Express an “official patron” of the PGA. While that sounds like a run-of-the-mill sponsorship deal, it does provide some potential benefits for golf-loving American Express cardholders, including golfing lessons from PGA professionals and pre-sale access to golf tournament tickets.

American Express offered an example of the potential benefits in a press release on the new partnership, saying that American Express cardholders could expect the following benefits tied to the upcoming PGA Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma:

• Complimentary 10-minute one-on-one golf lesson with PGA Professionals at the PGA Learning Center
• Onsite hospitality suite exclusively for cardholders
• Complimentary use of “myLEADERBOARD” handheld devices to take out onto the course and track the action
• Commemorative gift with merchandise purchase for cardholders

American Express also confirmed that cardholders will get pre-sale access to tickets for the 2008 Ryder Cup, taking place in Louisville, Kentucky.