Halloween is right around the corner, and while you frantically look for a costume or the perfect party (it falls on a Saturday this year, so you have no excuse), you’re joining millions of Americans as they put their consumer dollars to use. The National Retail Federation projects we’ll be spending a solid $6.89 billion on Halloween this year on everything from paper ghosts and Snickers bars to costumes for our kids and dogs. Here are your Halloween ’15 facts by the numbers: $6.9 billion: Total Halloween consumer spending in the U.S. expected for 2015 64%: Americans who plan to celebrate Halloween this year…
Archive for October, 2015
New EMV Credit Cards Causing Problems for Some
Posted on October 27, 2015 by Saldutti
Millions of Americans are getting new credit and debit cards with more secure chip technology, and that’s already leading to headaches for companies that rely on working cards to charge their customers every month. Video and music streaming companies, dating websites, gyms and other subscription-based companies can take a hit when customers don’t update their accounts after receiving a new card with a new number or new expiration date. It’s always been a hassle, but with millions of cards carrying the new chip technology being mailed out all at once, it’s creating bigger problems. Netflix said that large numbers of…
Nationwide Report Finds Housing Stable
Posted on October 21, 2015 by Saldutti
Despite a slowdown of home sales nationally in August, the U.S. housing market continues to look bright, according to Nationwide’s quarterly Health of Housing Markets Report. The report uses employment, demographic, housing and mortgage data to gauge the underlying health of housing, with any score above 100 considered healthy. The current score is 109.1. According to the report, “most U.S. housing markets are healthy with little chance of a downturn in the near term.” Nationwide did, however, downgrade the health of several communities, notably in states that rely on the oil and coal industries, such as Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming and…
Banks Plan to Spend More on Tech in 2016
Posted on October 19, 2015 by Saldutti
Driven by the need to secure computer systems, develop analytic capabilities and enhance customer-facing platforms, most banks are planning substantial increases in spending across a wide spectrum of technology in 2016, according to SourceMedia poll of chief information officers. Anticipated increases in spending on security are particularly intense, with most executives forecasting jumps in budget allocations of at least 10%. By contrast, banks are finding little to cut in the technology arena, with desktops 1 of just 2 categories where more CIOs forecast decreases than increases in spending next year. Besides security, most bank CIOs plan to spend more next…