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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Democratic leaders in the Alabama Legislature are sponsoring a bill to guarantee that full tuition be paid for all current participants in Alabama’s Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Program.

House Minority leader Democratic Rep. Craig Ford of Anniston introduced a bill Tuesday that would use money accumulated in an account called the Budget Stabilization Account after 2016 to fill any shortfall in the PACT program. PACT is a two-decades-old program that parents pay into and PACT pays the tuition for participants to attend in-state colleges and universities. The program ran into f…………………continues on The Republic
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10 ways to save for college
Article from Journal and Courier:

Here are 10 tips on how to approach college savings plans and what to try to avoid.

1 Understand the tax benefits of your savings plans. A number of college savings options offer federal or state tax breaks. Taking advantage of these savings options may greatly affect how much you can pour into your child’s college fund. Many states allow you to deduct some or all of your contributions to a 529 plan if you’re a resident of the state sponsoring the plan.

2 Read the fine print to understand the fees and expenses of the plan you’re signing up for. A college saving option with higher costs must perform better than a low-cost option to generate the same returns for you. Even small differences in fees and expenses can translate into a large difference over time.

3 For mutual funds, check the fee table in the prospectus to see how the costs add up over time.

4 If you invest in stock, make sure you understand how much in commissions you must pay and factor them into any gain you may make.

5 Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Compared to saving for retirement, your college-saving timeline is relatively short. At most, it may be 18 years, and i…………………continues on Journal and Courier
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By ANNAMARIA ANDRIOTIS

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SC taxpayers could pay fees with Bank of America refund-debit-cards
Article from Greenville News:

Bank of America could take bites out of some South Carolina income tax refunds this year with a new arrangement that could lead debit card users to pay fees to get their tax refund money.

Taxpayers who overpaid on their 2011 S.C. income taxes will automatically get the refund on a Bank of America prepaid Visa debit card unless they instruct the Revenue Department to deposit the refund in a bank account or request a paper check, according to filing instructions on form SC1040.

Bank of America says use of the tax refund card is free for a purchase from a merchant, cash back from a purchase at many grocery and convenience stores, and cash from ATMS nationwide and tellers at any bank or credit union that accepts Visa.

But the Charlotte-based bank says it will charge an ATM fee of $ 2.50 per transaction for withdrawals at non-Bank of America ATMs, $ 2.50 per transaction at ATMs outside the United States and $ 5 for card replacement.

Check back as GreenvilleOnline.com develops this story.

…………………continues on Greenville News
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Redirect Notice

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moneto brings NFC Mobile Wallet to Six Additional Smartphones, Announcing the …
Article from Albany Times Union:

Six Samsung Galaxy S Android smartphones now supported on the moneto mobile wallet in addition to the iPhone 4S, 4, 3GS and 3G.

Richardson, Texas (PRWEB) February 20, 2012

Today moneto announced the first line of compatible Android smartphone devices with the moneto mobile wallet. The mobile wallet was launched earlier this year during CES and became the world’s first mobile Near Field Communication (NFC) wallet supporting both the iPhone and Android platforms for mobile payments using the In2Pay™ microSD by DeviceFidelity, Inc. With a General Purpose Reloadable prepaid NFC enabled account personalized in the microSD, 1GB of storage for photos, videos and music, and a compact design so universal it can be used with million…………………continues on Albany Times Union
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Samsung Exhibit II 4G Prepaid Android Phone (T-Mobile)
Samsung Dart Prepaid Android Phone (T-Mobile) Budget-friendly and feature-rich, the Android-powered Samsung Exhibit II 4G keeps y…

Samsung T301G Prepaid Phone (Tracfone)
Samsung T301G Prepaid Phone (Tracfone) VGA Camera BlueTooth Black T301G. Product may differ from image shown.This stylish Samsung …

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US prepaid cards charges clients to access own money
Article from Malaya:

NEW YORK – Why should you pay to spend your own money? The newest generation of prepaid debit cards, which banks keep offering despite the growing chorus of advice to the unbanked against buying into them, often levy more fees than conventional credit cards. The latest indignities even include charges for adding money to your account.

There are myriad reasons people choose a prepaid debit card, but they are all predicated on the hypothetical equation that the cards will save them money over traditional checking accounts with potential overdraft fees. Yet, with these cards, you don’t build a credit history to increase your credit score; you don’t avoid fees; and, you don’t structure your finances so that you spend more wisely.

The only real beneficiaries of these cards are the institutions that issue them, because the fees add up with the same regularity as with bank accounts, and sometimes amount to more charges for the users than there would be with a traditional checking account.

Take the new Mango card, for example. While it gives you a paltry $ 20 one-time bonus for…………………continues on Malaya
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Last week Google said it had fixed the latest security flaw in Google Wallet, whereby a determined thief could root your non-rooted device ex post facto and retrieve your Google Wallet prepaid card. That was partly true. From what we can tell the technical issue still remains, even if Google Wallet itself is safer. 

To recap the Google Wallet brouhaha this month, first researcher Joshua Rubin from zvelo revealed a quick, simple brute force technique to extract the Google Wallet PIN from a rooted phone. That actually requires some skillz, but the next day The Smartphone Champ revealed that even in a non-rooted Nexus smartphone with Google Wallet, a thief can steal your Google Wallet prepaid card by simply wiping Google Wallet settings and attaching the app to a new Google account. Finally, Rubin reported how a thief can root your non-rooted phone ex post facto and steal your Google Wallet funds. This works because some root privileges do not remo…………………continues on PC Magazine
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Mobile money services receive success in Africa (Africa)
Article from Wireless Federation:

The success of mobile banking services in Africa can be gauged by a report by FNB, highlighting a 150 per cent hike in transaction growth for its cellphone banking service and 1384 per cent growth for eWallet, for the month of December 2011 when compared to the previous December.

The report reveals that customers conducted 2.4 million cellphone banking transactions during December 2011 in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Swaziland and Lesotho, to the value of US$ 27.9 million as compared to US$ 128,485 transactions in December 2010.

Botswana, recorded over 1.3 million cellphone banking transactions, representing a 126 per cent increase year-on-year. Further, Namibia recorded year-on-year growth of 155 per cent, with Zambia at 308 per cent and Swaziland at 227 per cent.

As per the report, Ravesh Ramlakan, CEO, FNB Cellphone Banking Solutions, has said that the increasing confidence amongst consumers in using their handsets for money transcations have greatly aided in the ad…………………continues on Wireless Federation
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The importance of a college education is something David Coakes has instilled in his two daughters from a very young age.

Along with pushing that goal for his girls — 16-year-old Courtney and 11-year-old Cameron — Coakes has funneled money into savings to help pay for it.

With college costs continuing to rise each year, Coakes and other parents know how important it is to start socking away funding for the expense as early as possible. He and his wife, Tracey, bought into 529 plans for their daughters early on, which are investment accounts (named for the section of federal tax code that governs them) available in every state and valid toward school expenses in any state.

Coakes said they bought the prepaid plans in Florida, where they were living at the time, but then transferred up to Indiana. He said the perk for investing in a 529 plan in Indiana is good, because people who put up to $ 5,000 each year into the account earn a 20 percent credit — up to $ 1,000 — on their state taxes.

“And that’s dollar-for-dollar, so it’s a 20 percent return on your investment immediately,” he said.

Now that his older daughter is getting c…………………continues on Journal and Courier
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State Senate committee approves tuition-increase bill
Article from The Independent Florida Alligator:

As UF students flooded the Florida Capitol to meet with legislators, a state Senate committee passed a bill that would allow UF to charge higher tuition as early as this fall semester.

The Senate Higher Education committee unanimously passed a measure on Thursday that would allow Florida universities to charge higher tuition if they meet 11 of 14 requirements.

UF President Bernie Machen has been pushing the issue of higher tuition as a way for UF to continue to succeed in the global arena.

“Any significant increase in tuition will certainly have a detrimental effect to students,” said Student Body President Anthony Reynolds. “The legislature and those who are making these decisions should really keep this in mind.”

At a Board of Governors meeting in December, Machen stressed that UF is different from the other 10 schools in the state university system and should be treated accordingly.

Although he said he is averse to placing undue financial burden on students, UF needs to look for more funding that doesn’t come from the state. Raising tuition is one way to do that.

If the bill passes, Machen wrote in an email…………………continues on The Independent Florida Alligator
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Prepaid mobile recharges stalled

Yasir Ashraf

Srinagar: In a major discomfort to the mobile subscribers in the Valley, the Jammu and Kashmir Police directed the recharge vendors to maintain registers of prepaid subscribers who approach for recharge, while the vendors in Srinagar were refusing to provide recharge services.

“We have been told to maintain registers with complete details of those prepaid subscribers who approach us with recharge requests,” said Basharat Ahmad Bhat, a recharge vendor.

“We face lot of inconvenience due to his procedure, as complete details and verifications of prepaid phones have already been made before issuance of SIM cards to the users by various service providers,” Bhat said.

“So we declined to recharge their connections on the police direction for proper verification of the phone users before each recharge,” he added.

City police Chief Ashiq Hussain Bukhari told Agence India Press, that the directions had been issued to prevent misuse of prepaid connections.

“The service providers have been asked to furnish details every fortnight of various recharges made…………………continues on Kashmir Watch
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In South Carolina this year, state income tax refunds will be delivered on prepaid debit cards unless a taxpayer has a refund directly deposited to a bank account, or requests a traditional check.

For the state, contracting with Bank of America to issue debit cards saves money, compared to processing and mailing paper checks.

For those without a bank account, a debit card may be preferable to dealing with check-cashing fees.

But for most people, those debit cards could amount to an unnecessary expense.

The fact that they come with a “schedule of fees” is a good clue that most people would be better off getting their refund a more traditional way.

Yes, the income tax refund debit cards come with fees. They aren’t very large fees, but why pay any money to get access to your own money?

Here’s how the cards work.

If you’re owed a South Carolina refund, and don’t arrange for direct deposit or check the tax form box indicating you want a paper check, the state Department of Revenue will transfer the money to Bank of America, which will create an account and issue a debit card.

The card is a prepaid debit card that can’t be…………………continues on Charleston Post Courier
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A statement issued on Friday afternoon by the Jammu and Kashmir police said, “Instructions issued to recharge vendors to maintain records of customers have been rescinded, following assurances by mobile service providers to provide such details centrally.

“Accordingly, the district police authorities have been asked not to collect any details vis-a-vis the subject matter, henceforth, from recharge vendors.”

Media had highlighted the problems prepaid cell phone users would face each time they recharged…………………continues on India Today
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Google freezes prepaid cards to counter Wallet flaw
Article from msnbc.com:

Google has stopped issuing new Google Prepaid Cards after last week’s disclosures regarding security flaws in Google Wallet on Android phones.

“To address an issue that could have allowed unauthorized use of an existing prepaid card balance if someone recovered a lost phone without a screen lock, tonight we temporarily disabled provisioning of prepaid cards,” Google Wallet head Osama Bedier wrote on the Google Commerce blog Saturday. “We took this step as a precaution until we issue a permanent fix soon.”

Discussions in a developer forum in December revealed that users of stolen or secondhand phones with Google Wallet could access the Google Prepaid Card balance, even if the Wallet app had been cleared of old user information. That’s because the card balance is stored on the handset’s Secure Element chip, not in the Wallet app itself.

The flaw gained wider publicity Friday thanks…………………continues on msnbc.com
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