June 18 (Reuters) – Comparison shopping for a bank or credit
union checking account often ends up turning into a major
research project. With disclosure forms that contain the nuts
and bolts of the accounts averaging 69 pages of tiny,
legalese-filled print, the most important details can be
difficult, if not impossible, to extract.

But that longstanding banking tradition is in the process of
change, as some of the biggest banks and credit unions in the
country are siding with a non-profit’s efforts to make checking
account terms easier to compare.

By Mitch Lipka

(Reuters) – If you’ve got a property with desirable attributes – a beautiful view, great location, big entertaining spaces, a manicured lawn – and you can spare it for a couple of days a month, you’ve got a chance to pocket some extra cash. Party planners are on the prowl for unique private properties where they can set up weddings, office parties and the like, and they say the demand for these non-traditional venues has increased.

“I rarely do hotels now,” says Patricia Ann Gibbons of The Wedding Studio, a party planner in San Antonio, Texas, who says unusual venues account for at least half of the weddings she plans. A decade ago, she says, she rarely got requests beyond the traditional church wedding or hotel reception.

June 13 (Reuters) – Vacationers planning to go abroad this
summer can save big on their foreign currency transactions if
they plan ahead.

The best strategy for international travelers is to use a
credit card that doesn’t charge extra fees for converting
currency, according to a study released today by Card Hub, a
web-based comparison site () where
consumers can apply for credit cards.