Book lending for air travellers

I was thinking of creating a book lending business in airports for travelers on long flights. Instead of buying the book in the airport bookshop the passenger can borrow it only for the course of the flight by having the credit card charged full retail price of the book. Upon arriving in the destination airport the passenger returns the book and gets full refund in their credit card. The book can then only be re-lent to passengers traveling back to the country airport the book originally came from.

If a passenger really likes the book they will have the option to buy it by simply keeping it. In this case a new order to re-stock the book will be automatically made via the system and a small profit realized from having sold it retail price. People can also donate books in this business and if their used-book is sold they get to keep a portion of the profit.

http://thinkaloo.com

How I saved my card but lost my finger!

The card looks exactly the same but uses fingerprint id technology anywhere on its surface. Once you hold it with your thumb it gets activated for no more than 1 minute which is enough time to be inserted in the ATM machine or be swiped. You still have to enter the pin but even if you enter it correctly the card can't be used if the fingerprint didn't match. Unintended consequences? Hmmm, let me think. Your card's safer but not your finger. Thieves inspired by Tarantino and desperate for your money might cut it and that bloody sucks :D

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baskets with scanners

a way to save time is to put scanners on supermarket baskets to show customers the total cost of all items in it. this way customers would know if they are about to overspend and when ready they just pay at the cashier or swipe their credit card on the side of the scanner for faster payment.

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The 95% rule! Want a good credit score fast?

Does paying the full amount on your credit card every month make your credit score increase the fastest? Yeah??

No it doesn't. Your score goes up but that's not the fastest way it can go up. You must always leave a minimum amount unpaid. How much? Say the total you owe is $100 and this month you must pay a minimum of $5. Don't pay the full amount even if you can. Just pay $95. This will raise your score faster than if you paid the full $100. Banks reward their making some money too you see. Most people don't know about it!!

http://www.thinkaloo.com

How online cheating sites make extra money

Many people who join cheating sites use them anonymously to find sex partners but could end up emailing their wife or girlfriend. You never know who's on the other side and if you send your photo first you could be caught! So when you are about to make your credit card payment to join, the website can ask you if you want to run a background check on the site and see if your girlfriend or wife is already there so that you can avoid bumping into her. If not, you set up an alert and the service will notify you if she joins in the future. Of course they will charge you a bit extra for it.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

VISA Browser

Amex, Mastercard, Discover whatever. When you get a new credit card you also get a secure internet browser to install on your computer or internet phone. Everything's highly encrypted. Whatever you come across online that accepts your credit card for payment you press the buy button on the browser and that's it. No need to enter credit card or any details. Not secure enough? Another solution. A secure url managed by the credit card company that acts as web navigator where merchants submit their sites. Customer surfs the web and makes payment instantly of any product available online.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Fired? Your debt is cancelled

What about canceling all debts (credit card, mortgage etc) of any person who loses their job in this economy? Make it law and make it applicable for all people who lost their jobs since September of this year and keep the measure until the recession is officially announced over. Pink slip for debt cancellation. Instead of bailing out companies and banks who may not survive anyway as millions of people lose their jobs, use the money to bring real relief to the people who need it the most.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

award points directly into the credit card

the problem with retailers' cards is that each retailer awards its own card and people end up carrying too many of them. since every retailer accepts credit cards, credit card companies should allow for an additional magnetic bar or chip to be added at the back of the credit card that will store any and all retailer's points (gas station, supermarket, groceries, malls, airlines etc). swipe the card once so that the scanner reads the balance and gives the discount, swipe it once again to make payment.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Credit card date tip

When I got my first credit card out of college, it was a stupendously crappy one. $500 limit, secured. Couldn't be less prestigious. But it was a "titanium" card with a metallic finish, and the bank's logo was screen printed across it with cheap ink. I scraped the logo off with a coin in about 10 seconds and just had a blank, gray Mastercard. I was quite amazed at the reactions this provoked among the many people who assumed it must be something quite exclusive. It was a conversation starter and I leveraged it into a few dates.

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Edible Business Cards: Eat me before you call me :)

I never thought contacting you could be so yummy! The cards exist, I think it is an nice concept for a gift, the person who eats the card might certainly remember the taste of it (good or bad) but forget all about the contact details. In which case what does one do? Vomit? Browse the crap? Just kidding of course! Ok, the business person has to make sure the cookie or chocolate bar on which the contact details are devoured tastes good, is fresh and won't poison the recipient. If you must make the card memorable by taste you might have to buy several of them to satisfy individual tastes which makes it costly. Unless you are a chef! In that job it makes perfect sense to actually use it as a card. Perhaps all chefs should adopt them and it might be the perfect gift to give someone who is a cook :)

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The "ice glass"method for reducing credit card spending

This is not my idea. A lot of you may already know about it. For those that don't, I copy and paste: "It's a home remedy for impulsive spending. You put your credit card into a glass of water and put the glass in the freezer. Then, when you impulsively decide to make a purchase, you must first wait for the ice to thaw before extracting the card. By then, your compulsion to purchase has subsided. You can't put the card in the microwave, of course, because then you'd destroy the magnetic strip." The concept might not work well in high temperature climates but it might still worth trying if you want to use some good sense of humor to reign in on your impulsive spending :)

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Credit stylists turn to black

Gold has turned black. VISA came out with what it calls the world's most prestigious and exclusive card and named it the 'Black Card' (https://www.blackcard.com). Maybe it's just me thinking like that, but isn't black the color of mourning? When people everywhere experience the most severe credit crunch ever, black associates with bleak. It might be 'appropriate' to name the card black but will it make people spend? Why not name it the Carbon Card after the material it's made of?

www.thinkaloo.com