A computer buff who hacked into two Hervey Bay ATM machines and stole $28,000 over a seven month period in 2007 was released with a two-year probation and 100 hours community service after agreeing to pay reparations.

Ashley Brian Sommer, 23, normally works in a pizza parlour. But information he found online and in an ATM repairman’s manual taught him how to access the hard drive and alter the settings on one machine in Maryborough Road and another at a Bundaberg petrol station, allowing him to make large withdrawals. He stole $7,500 from the Maryborough ATM and $21,120 from the one in Bundaberg. read more..

If you’re planning a summer holiday, you probably intend to use your credit card for at least something. Maybe you’ll use it to rent a car or book your flight or hotel room online or over the phone. But do you plan to actually finance anything with your credit card while on holiday (paying the bill off over time), or do you expect to use your credit cards mostly for rewards points (like with the American Express Gold Ascent credit card) and pay them off immediately?

Even if it’s not an ideal option, it’s not terribly uncommon for people to finance a holiday with at least one credit card, paying it off over the year. A better option is to save the equivalent of those payments before your trip so you can pay off the bill in full (without interest). However, some consumers will still choose to finance their holiday. Maybe that includes you. If so, you should at least go into that decision with a good idea of the types of holiday expenses you’ll end up financing so you can more accurately set a budget based on not only how much the trip will cost, but how much you’ll pay in interest as you pay off that total over time.

Here are some holiday expenses you might end up financing with a credit card: read more..

Do you have a tendency to overspend during the holiday season? Do the costs just keep piling up to the point where you have to finance some of that holiday spending with credit cards, paying them off during the New Year? Are you sick and tired of overspending and being stuck with credit card debt? Don’t worry. There are things you can do this holiday season to help you save a bundle!

Follow these three tips if you want to cut down on credit card spending over the holidays this year, and avoid starting the New Year with new credit card debt to worry about: read more..

Four years ago, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) required a bailout from the Chinese government. Shortly thereafter, three Western financial institutions—credit card company American Express, European insurance giant Allianz, and investment bank Goldman Sachs—took stakes in ICBC, exchanging their expertise, branding, and capital for shares, six months before the IPO on the Hong Kong exchange. read more..

Treasurer Wayne Swan urged other banks to follow NAB’s lead in eliminating monthly fees on transaction accounts.

The decision affects NAB’s e-Banking and Classic accounts, eliminating the $5 and $4 monthly fees, as well as those for ten other, unnamed accounts. Transaction fees will also be abolished. The new regime takes effect from 22 January 2010 and will cheer the owners of 860,000 accounts. read more..