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After reading about the HESS Visa credit card in the October 2008 issue of Consumer Reports, I had some difficulties finding the official online sign-up for it so I thought I’d make a quick post here in hopes of helping others. So without further ado, here are some instructions on how to reach the link (I cannot post it here on Ezine Articles, per their usage code).

Google ‘Hess Corporation’. The first link that should come up will be there homepage. As of the publishing of this article, a large graphical link to apply for the card can be found in the bottom right hand corner of their homepage. Googling just ‘Hess Credit Card’ will lead you on a far lengthier path.

My wife signed us up, and while her credit isn’t the greatest - we got a $4000 credit line after completing no more than that standard application. Considering we plan on using this solely for gas and groceries, this is far more than we need. It should be noted that we were not automatically approved online. After completing the full application, we were told we would hear back from Chase within 30 days. To our surprise, two cards came in the mail in just under 10 days.

Why is this card so valuable? Ignoring the introductory offer (which may change after this article is published, and in my opinion should not factor into a credit application), the card provides a 5% cash rebate on all gasoline purchases at HESS gas stations, and a 1% cash rebate on all other purchases. HESS gas stations are on the east cost, with 1250 locations from Massachusetts to Florida. Although there will be exceptions, I have always found HESS stations to have some of the cheapest gas prices around, especially when compared to east coast superpower, Exxon/Mobil.
For my wife and I, saving 5% on gas is a no-brainer. If gas is at $4.00, this equates to a 20 cent savings per gallon. Looking at it another way, we plan on putting about $550 on this card each month:

Name Amount Cash Rebate Projected Annual Rebate

Gas $250 $12.50 $150
Groceries $250 $$3.00 $36

Annual Total: $186.00

$186 isn’t changing any lives, but it’s certainly nothing to sneeze at.

If you live on the east coast and have HESS gas stations near your home or work, definitely check out this card. As always, read the fine print and make sure this credit card is the right fit for you - they all have their strengths and weaknesses.

After you receive your card, CHASE will provide you with a link to allow you online access to your account and rebate status.

Jeff Welcher is an employee benefits consultant at CompPayPlus, located in Rochester, NY and serving all 50 states. He is a Master’s graduate of the Annenberg School of Communication (USC) and is an avid golfer and mountain biker.

CompPayPlus can be found at http://comppayplus.com.

One of the first coins struck at the US Mint was the Large Cent. The large, somewhat clunky coin was minted from 1793 to 1857 with the exception of 1815, when the mint was razed by fire and forced to shut down. As a metal detector hobbyist the chances of finding these is best in New England. As a southern states treasure finder who has found every denomination of US coins except for the 20 cent piece, I have only found a handful (11) Large Cents while finding over 151,000 coins. This is a fascinating coin type and has a strong following among coin collectors in the US.

There were three design types in1793, each an attempt to improve on the quality of the coin. All three types are highly sought by collectors today but in 1793 the Chain and Wreath designs met with a lot of opposition. The Liberty Cap design fared better and was struck for the next three years.

In 1796, the Draped Bust design was introduced and lasted until 1807. The elusive 1799 and the very popular 1804 are the rare coins of this series. I have an 1800 and an 1803 that came out of the ground in poor shape, but they are still treasures to me.

The Classic Head Cent ran from 1808-1814. My oldest dated metal detector Large Cent find is of this variety, an 1812. While none of this series dates are rare, they are hard to find in nice condition. My 1812 was found at a wagon train watering-hole in what is now Palm Harbor, FL and could probably tell some great stories of travelers, soldiers and Seminoles stopping there from the 1840 to 1880 era.

The Matron Head design appeared in 1816 and was minted through 1839. There are many interesting varieties in this series and 1821 and 1823 are rare dates. I have found both a 1823 and 1824 metal detecting in central Florida. Some of the varieties of the Matron Head are rare enough to command several hundred thousand dollars in the marketplace.

The final design type for the Large Cents is the Braided Hair version that were struck from 1840 -1857. Six of my eleven finds are of this type and everyone came out of the ground looking very nice. The 1857 is both scarce as a date and popular as the last year of the denomination.

Larry Smith is an avid coin collector and metal detector enthusiast. He’s been collecting coins for over 50 years. Larry is giving away his ebook, “Coin Collecting With The Home TOwn Advantage” FREE for a limited time. You can get your copy and start building (or expanding) your own collection right now.

Get the ebook (and TONS of other great FREE content) by visiting his blog now:

http://MetalDetectorForCoinCollecting.com/free-report

For several reasons car insurers are more comfortable with female drivers than their male counterparts. And this has had implications, positively, on the premiums this category of car insurance policyholder pays when compared to the opposite gender.

In recent times, a number of studies have come to acknowledge the fact the women drivers are a lot more cautious when behind the wheel than men. They are, most importantly, less likely to have motoring convictions.

These findings have formed the basis on which car insurers judge women drivers and fix the premiums they pay when taking out the cover.

Complementing this position is a new study from moneysupermaket.com that found that women’s car insurance premiums are still cheaper than those of men. And that the worst hit in terms of expensive premiums are young male drivers. This is not unconnected to the fact that young men are more likely to show-off while driving and in the process either risk accidents or fall foul of the law and incur penalties that would mean costs for their insurer. Thus, the costs are often passed on to the members of this age category and gender.

It is interesting to know that the women pay nine per cent less than men in their 20s. While the former pays just an average of £320, the latter pays £50 more to get the same cover for a similar car.

Even among men, clearly, age difference is a determinant. This is because men in their 20s pay up to 41 per cent more than those in their 30s. Perhaps the realisation that as young men get older they acquire a greater sense of responsibility comes into play here. And in a positive way it helps in getting the premiums drop a little.

Another example of the role age plays in deciding the cost of the policy for men is that even at the teenage level there is a difference in premium between what a man of 18 pays to what he pays if he was a year older. While at 18 the average premium for a young man is £1,815, it drops by more than half when he clocks 19, to £874.

Yet a more amazing case is that as drivers get older their premiums on car insurance drop, with women paying an average of £203 a year as they reach their 50s, and men in their 50s even pay less than women - an average of £199. For the first time men are given the benefit of doubt and, perhaps, seen as less risky than women.

Commenting on the whole situation an expert in the industry, Peter Gerrard, who is also the head of insurance research at moneysupermarket.com noted that often insurers consider young men and newly qualified drivers as high risk. This, thus, affects their chances of getting competitive motor insurance.

The trouble for people in this situation is that in the absence of any competitive deals they end up with just any deal they could find and most likely the most expensive.

Although women are often at an advantage in terms of choices and even cheaper car insurance, the general advice experts usually give people looking to take out car insurance is they should take their time and shop around for the best deal.

To save costs, therefore, there is no better time for people to shop around for their deals before signing up to any insurance policy. Technology has simplified things for everyone and people can even search online.

Musa is an author of several articles pertaining to Car Insurance. He is known for his expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles.

The last decade has witnessed an unprecedented growth trend due to the development of organized retail and IT sector, expansion of large corporate houses to the upcoming metros and state capitals and the increased disposable income in the hands of Indian youth. Owning a home is no longer a after 40 affair. The increasing trend among the Indian youth is to own a home in the early thirties. The sky rocketing price of real estate is also fueling the scenario. Real estate is no longer associated with the mere residence purpose, rather treated as a smart investment option.

However with the rising interest rates and mounting inflation the home loan customers are little bit annoyed. To counter this ,banks are beginning to encourage them to partly prepay their loans without any penalty or a decreased penalty. Earlier all the banks in the home loan segment were doing with prepayment penalty. India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India is encouraging prepayment without penalty clauses even if the consumer has crossed banks’ annual prepayment limit. ICICI bank has followed the suit to insulate home loan customers from rising interest rates.

The redemption of early payment penalty has come up with the increased Repo rate of the RBI. Repo is the rate at which the central bank lends money to bank in the banking system. The central bank has also increased the cash reserve ratio or the CRR. The cash reserve ratio is the percentage of deposits banks must keep with the apex bank. as the CRR and the Repo rate has been increased, the banks were bound to increase the home loan rate and as a consequent result home loan EMI increased. Most of the Indian banks raised their lending rates 50 basis points to 100 basis points. The state bank of India has raised its rates by 50 basis points while private players like ICICI Bank and HDFC by 75 basis points. In such an expensive credit situation, in order to give respite to the customers the banks are looking at aggressively encouraging part-prepayment. The tight liquidity conditions and the high cost of funds will be some how countered by this facility.

The penalty free prepayment facility will help banks to access cheap funds from consumers and this fund can be redeployed to high interest earning segments like personal loan plans and corporate loan plans .The number one private bank, ICICI, allows its customers to prepay most of the home loan but made it mandatory for the last 12 months’ home loan EMI to continue. Simply, the customer can make repayment of 14 years if the loan plan is of 15 years.

The prepayment penalty of home loan was of 2-3 per cent on the amount paid (over and above the cap). the banks used to levy such penalty because the lose out on the interest income. Since the banks are encouraging the customers to prepay the loan amount due to the hike in interest rate, they are avoiding the penalty for any early payment. According to the Industry estimate, 15 -20 per cent that customers will repay without any penalty.

However the waiver of penalty is not followed by the banks without any discrimination. Some of the Public sector banks are considering the penalty waiver on a case-to-case basis when customers prepay to keep home loan EMI and tenure unchanged. When the customer has taken another loan to prepay the home loan, the banks charge him a fee and it is treated as a source of fund generation for the banks.

About The Author: For more information about home loans in India and personal loans. Please visit our website: http://www.paisawaisa.com/