Illinois Says It Can’t Pay Big Lottery Winners

Illinois Lottery Mega Millions lottery ticket.

Why you need to win small in the Prairie State

Without a state budget agreement two months into the new fiscal year, there’s no authority for the state comptroller to cut checks over $25,000. That means smaller winnings can be paid out, but not the larger lottery wins.(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — Big-time Illinois Lottery winners aren’t getting the largesse. They’re getting left out.

Susan Rick, who lives in Oglesby, Illinois, planned home fix-ups and a visit to her daughter after her boyfriend won $250,000 last month. But they were told to wait.

Rick tells the Chicago Tribune that if the situation were reversed, the state would “come take it, and they don’t care whether we have a roof over our head.”

Lottery spokesman Steve Rossi says state lottery, like every other state agency, is “affected by the budget situation.”

RadioShack Will Pay Cash for Your Unredeemed Gift Cards

But not all gift cards are created equal

RadioShack, which filed for bankruptcy in February, has tentatively settled with the Texas attorney general’s office concerning a case that was filed to protect the holders of nearly $46 million in unredeemed gift cardsto the folded outlet, according to CNBC.Still holding onto that RadioShack gift card you got for Christmas two years ago? Well, dig it out. It may be worth something again.

Attorneys put in place a new plan for some gift card holders to be repaid in full for any outstanding balances on RadioShack gift cards. The plan doesn’t apply to everyone though. Some gift card holders will only get pennies on the dollar, if anything.

Those who purchased cards for themselves or someone else, or reloaded an existing card, will get top refund priority, while those whose cards are from promotional giveaways or from a merchandise return will not be covered by the deal. Such gift card holders would be added to the list of general unsecured creditors.

The deal still has to be approved by the court and various attorney general, and once confirmed, RadioShack and the attorneys will need to put in place a system for claim submissions, the report said

Samsung Enters Mobile Payment Wars With Samsung Pay

          New system will work with old-school credit card readers

Samsung is taking on Apple and Google with its own mobile payment system. At a press event in New York Thursday, the company announced Samsung Pay, a new contactless payment system that lets people buy products in physical stores with their phones.

While Apple’s Apple Pay and Google’s Android Pay rely on Near Field Communication sensors to interact with point-of-sale systems at retailers, which are not yet widely distributed, Samsung is using a technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission that will allow Samsung Pay phones to communicate with the typical magnetic strip reader found in credit card terminals around the country (Samsung Pay also supports NFC). Like other mobile payment systems, customers use their fingerprint to confirm a purchase after they’ve placed their phone near a point-of-sale system at the register. “It is easy, safe, and most importantly, available virtually anywhere you can swipe a card, in most cases without new costs for merchants, from day one,” JK Shin, CEO of Samsung’s mobile division, said in a release.

Samsung Pay will come preloaded on the new Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5 and will be available as a free download on the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. The app launches in Korea on Aug. 20 and in the U.S. on Sept. 28, with later rollouts planned in the U.K., Spain, and China. Samsung is partnering with major credit card companies American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover, as well as banks such as Chase, Bank of America and U.S. Bank.