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...each month, some players actually end up spending more. Four years ago, Shanda Interactive Entertainment, China's biggest online-game developer, ditched subscriptions for the freemium model and turned around its sagging fortunes. Kristian Segerstrale, CEO of London-based social-gaming site Playfish, says micropayments work because online games aren't a product, they're an ongoing service. "It's nonsensical to pay up front for a service," says Segerstrale. "You don't pay up front for your gas or water...
...read to succeed, however, media companies will need a trustworthy, easy-to-use payment platform. Common online payment methods like credit cards aren't feasible because processing fees can exceed the value of such tiny transactions. In the gaming world, the typical micropayment system allows consumers to transfer money (usually via credit or debit cards) into electronic accounts, or e-wallets, where hard cash is converted into digital currency for online purchases. There are already several companies providing micropayment services to gaming websites; Santa Clara, Calif. - based PlaySpan offers its service in 80 countries. Micropayments are also migrating to mobile...
Adam Levin, co-founder of consumer-information website Credit.com predicts credit-line cutbacks will accelerate as card companies try to shore up their finances before the new regulations take effect early next year. "Credit-card companies are on a reign of terror," he says. "The new rules aren't going to change that anytime soon." Adds McBride: "Consumers will have to brace themselves for higher fees, higher rates and lower lines going forward." And that applies to those with good credit scores as well...
...more responsibly, how long can this attitude last? While retail analysts repeatedly claim that adults will never again consume like they did in prior years, they don't make the same claim about kids. Klinefelter says there's plenty of pent-up demand in the teen sector. Yes, teens aren't spending because of the recession, but that's also because retailers have failed to create a hot new trend. Denim has been the default teen look for the past few years, and nothing has knocked it off its perch. "Once the dominant new fashion trend emerges, teens will rush...
...those daunting stats aren't enough to get lawmakers thinking about EDs in the context of the debate over health-care reform, two others certainly are: after the state of Massachusetts mandated health insurance for all its citizens, visits to already overcrowded EDs jumped 7% in two years, and ED costs increased 17%, according to data obtained by the Boston Globe. In other words, if any health-reform package expands insurance to cover some or all of the nearly 50 million Americans without it now, EDs are likely to be one of the first places to feel the impact...