In Brief: May 15, 2000

Anamaria Wilson

May 15, 2000 12:00 AM EDT

FLOWER POWER If sending flowers to dear old Mom for Mother’s Day isn’t satisfying enough, you can now make a charitable contribution at the same time. At iGive.com/cmn a partner of GreatFlowers.com you can order a $29.95-to-$39.95 Mother’s Day bouquet–and 10% will go to a children’s hospital affiliated with the nonprofit Children’s Miracle Network. In addition, the site kicks in a $10 donation with each Mother’s Day buy. This way, everyone benefits.

DON’T LOSE IT First Visa and now MasterCard have found a way to ease the pain of lost or stolen credit cards. MasterCard used to charge a $50 fee for failure to report a lost card within 24 hours. Visa had a similar rule. But under a new, “zero-dollar” liability limit, you no longer have to pony up such a fee–not even if someone charges up your card and you fail to catch the unauthorized spending in a timely manner.

COLLEGE-BOUND Ready to send your firstborn off to college but still with no idea how or where to look for financial aid? Student-loan provider Sallie Mae has just launched a site, wiredscholar.com that’s chockablock with information about aid–including loans you can apply for online. There is also a database that lists sources for more than $1 billion in scholarship funds. For students who may need a little help bumping up their SAT and ACT test scores, the site provides sample questions and tips. And all these resources are yours free. Too bad the school is not too.

–By Anamaria Wilson

ncG1vNJzZmismaKyb6%2FOpmaaqpOdtrexjm9ubWliZn9wtc1mmauhlZt6rq3YZmhuZWJlfXF5kWg%3D