Identity Theft
Assistance
The global
financial services company, American Express is famous for
its credit card & traveler’s check businesses and for
its charge cards. The Business Gold Card from American
Express that offers the best card protection and services
is an excellent financial tool for running a business.
Merits Of The Card
The card is
designed for the business owners, having a good credit and
wanting free participation in the Membership Rewards
program. This card requires the business owners to pay the
full balance every month and this keeps a check on the
piling up of high credit card debt. This proves very
advantageous for businesses in the long run.
The card is
flexible also as its reward program has a better variety
of services and merchandise than the other credit cards.
Furthermore, the points you earn never expire and are
limitless. The benefits this card offers are
characteristic of the American Express business credit
cards.
The card helps
you to save your business expenditure and comes with an
annual fee. The Business Gold Card from American Express
enrolls you automatically to the membership rewards
program offered by the American Express.
Your first
purchase on the card lets you earn 5000 bonus reward
points. After you spend $20000 on your card, you will
again get 5000 membership reward points. If you spend an
average of $5000 every month, you will obtain 60000
points. On your renewal of the card at the end of the
first year, you will derive 10000 bonus points.
The
introductory annual percentage rate (APR), introductory
APR period and the regular APR are all “n/a” as you are
not allowed to carry balance over time. The first year
fee-free option allows you to make a savings of $125.
There are no pre-set expenditure limit and no finance
charges on the card. You can easily avail of the benefits
of this card, if you have an excellent credit.
Fringe Benefits
You can easily
redeem your points for the business related items, which
includes entertainment events, office equipment and
travel. With Business Gold Card from American Express, you
can obtain unlimited points, which do not have any expiry
dates. You may save your points over many years for a
high-end merchandise purchase.
The business
card also provides you ongoing savings and discounts at
the business establishments, like AT&T, FedEx, Hertz
and Staples.
The card offers
access to savings on hotel, car and air reservations,
which can be booked through the Online Business Travel
Center, numerous Internet account related services, access
to expense management reports that are compatible with
QuickBooks.
Business Gold
Card from American Express also offers return protection,
purchase protection, lost and damaged luggage insurance,
emergency card replacement, identity theft assistance,
travel accident insurance up to $100000, emergency check
cashing and other similar services.
Emerging Technologies for the Prevention of
Identity Theft
Today, there
are a number of new methods being developed to help
prevent identity thieves from successfully preying on
unwary victims. While some of these new technologies have
sparked heated debates on personal privacy, others are
based on sound forensics methods that have been in use for
decades. Regardless of where you stand, chances are we'll
witness the implementation of one - or all - of the
following technologies in the next decade.
Fingerprint Scanning
Even though
most stores don't yet have fingerprint scanners, they are
rapidly becoming less expensive and more readily
available. Already, in a number of large corporations,
employees clock in and sign onto their computer terminals
using a scanner that compares their thumbprint to one on
file. This technology could be used to help prevent
identity fraud if it were installed in everything from
home computers to telephones - but the expense of doing so
might outweigh the potentia
Retina Scanners
Similar to
fingerprint scanners, there are also devices that can scan
the retina of your eyes and match them with images on
file. Even though this may seem dangerous - or more like
science fiction than reality - many researchers feel that
the technology is both safe and economically viable.
Implementing this type of technology would also be
expensive, but could be used in limited, high-risk areas
like personal banking and credit requests.
Disposable Credit Card Numbers
Some
researchers have developed a chip that ensures that your
credit card number changes after each transaction.
Basically, this means that your credit card must always be
synchronized with the bank's computer. Using this
technology would prevent identity thieves that manage to
steal a static card number from doing any real damage. On
the other hand, this technology may not be of much use if
someone manages to physically steal your credit card -
depending on how the how the information is
transmitted.
Implantable Radio Chips
Many dog and
cat owners are already familiar with identity chips that
are implanted in their pet's ear. Typically, these chips
transmit information to a GPS system, which reveals where
the animal is should it be lost or stolen. Similarly,
implantable chips for humans can do everything from store
medical information to banking codes. While this may have
some benefits in terms of protecting sensitive
information, there are religious groups and privacy
advocates that are strongly opposed to these
technologies.
Even though
identity thieves always seem to be one step ahead of their
victims and law enforcement, new technologies are
currently begin developed to stop them. Some of these
technologies are aimed at making any information you
divulge useless in the hands of a criminal, while others
aim to strengthen security measures already in place.
Regardless of which method becomes the takes off, it's
safe to assume that we'll see some major changes in the
ways transactions are handled in the coming years.
However, it's
also important to realize that technologies designed to
protect your personal information can be compromised.
Hackers and thieves intent on stealing your private
information will more than likely find a way to get around
almost any type of technology that emerges. For this
reason, it's important to take steps to protect your
personal information and avoid identity scams besides
resorting to technological means. Being responsible with
your own identity is half the battle in stopping identity
theft.
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