Muslim MasterCard

An Islamic financial firm in Toronto is launching a new credit card for Muslims, called the iFreedom Plus Mastercard. It circumvents the Islamic religious proscription against paying interest.

holders load up their card with cash in advance, up to $6,000. Each purchase draws down on the account without accruing interest.

They make money on charging 95 cents per transaction, and from the membership fee of $50 for two years. Since it uses your own money in advance, there is no need for a credit check.

It may be targeted at Muslims, but it sounds like a pretty good idea that might appeal to a wider spectrum of people. It appears to be an improved version of a secured credit card. The fees are pretty low, and there's no interest. They should market it to everyone, not just Muslims. There are plenty of people out there with lousy credit that have trouble getting a regular card, and who  could probably benefit from this product.

Socialism & the Financial Industry

Many people sneer when conservatives call President Obama a socialist. And right-wing attacks on him often appear to be over the top. But then you see a New York Times story titled, "U.S. Considers Financial Pay Guidelines." According to the article, the government is

contemplating a major overhaul of the compensation practices in the financial services industry, moving beyond banks to include more loosely regulated hedge funds and private equity firms.

In other words, the administration wants to control what private corporations can pay their employees. But wait you say, isn't this just for firms who received bailouts? After all, even though I was against the bailouts, I agreed that it was reasonable to attach government strings to tax money handouts. But apparently that isn't the case.  

the new rules could apply to financial firms like hedge funds or private equity firms that never accepted money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. It would also mean greater oversight on compensation for banks that are seeking to return the TARP money in an effort to avoid the new strings attached to pay.

The Obama administration terms this "reform." It's sounds much more like a government power grab, and an attempt to institute a form of central planning for the financial industry.