That day I woke up at home hungry. I was not starving, but food was a priority. My car was broken, and I was not in a right mood to go to a restaurant. Then a light bulb appeared over my head. “I can order food using a food delivery app!” I said to myself. I had few options to choose from. Most popular food delivery apps were DoorDash, GrubHub, or Uber Eats and they deliver food from many restaurants.
I added a burger and Coca-Cola in my card. When I was ready to pay for my order, I realized that yesterday my dog ate my wallet with all my credit and debit cards. That was a bummer. But I had some cash on hands so I asked myself, “Can I pay for the order using cash?”
Can I pay for the order using cash?
I tried every app, but none of them had the option to pay using paper money. Their website claimed they accept cash, but there was no such option. That is not fair! Should I gave up and starve to death?
When people are hungry, their creativity levels are much higher than when they are well-fed. Probably that is why I got an idea. At a retail store I could buy a gift card and pay with cash. Once I had the gift card then I could pay for the order using this gift card. Smart!
So I did it and it worked!
Where can I buy a gift card for food delivery service?
Gift cards for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and GrubHub are sold at almost every retail store. CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Target, and Walmart sell food delivery apps gift cards for sure. The list of stores is long and can vary from state to state.
I went to a nearby store and purchased a gift card using cash. I had many options since there was CVS Pharmacy nearby and Target down the street.
An hour after, I submitted my order. An hour later, my burger and Coca-Cola were on my table. Mission accomplished!
The bottom line is that I can pay with cash on food delivery apps, but I should first convert cash to
Secured credit card offered by Bank of the West should help you establish credit score. It doesn’t require a high credit score and reports how you use it to credit bureaus. The bank is also known as BNP Paribas, but very few people call it like this.
It is a MasterCard that has EMV chip for additional security and contactless payments feature. As all other credit cards it offers Zero liability for unauthorized transactions, identity theft resolution, and emergency card replacement.
Bank of the West secured credit card doesn’t have any cashback.
You can apply for the card in branch only. You can then activate it online and on Bank of the West mobile app. The card can be used to pay your bills, online purchases etc. You can also download statements from its website.
I believe you should avoid this secured credit card and here is why. You can find lots of better credit cards on the market and there is no reason to go with a bad one. Annual fee and no gradation should be enough to turn you away. In addition you cannot apply for the card online. You must visit bank’s branch and file application in person.
If you already have a checking account at Bank of the West it may seem reasonable to open credit card in the same bank. I believe you should close the checking account and open it in some other bank.
Fees
Fee
Amount
Annual Fee
$25
Balance transfer
$10 or 4%
Cash Advance
$10 or 4%
Foreign Transaction
3%
Late Payment
up to $41
Returned Payment
up to $41
Does Bank of the West credit card have annual fee?
Yes, this secured credit card charges you $25 fee annually. It is a bad sign for a credit card that you are supposed to keep for a long time to build your credit score.
What credit score do you need for the credit card?
You don’t need any credit history or you can be approved even with a very low credit score. Bank reports how you use the card to major credit bureaus. It mean that it should help you to build credit score.
What credit limit does the card give?
Your credit limit can range from $300 and up to $12,000. All you have to do is put the desired amount as a security deposit. Then you can payoff the card and close the account. Bank of the West should return you security deposit.
Bottom line
I don’t like this secured credit card at all. You can get better secured credit cards from Discover Bank or Capital One.
Points Credit Card that is a Visa card offered by PNC Bank. You can earn rewards in form of points that can be redeemed for gift cards, merchandise, and transfer points to other rewards programs. Should you apply for the PNC points Card? Lets find out.
What credit score do I need for PNC Points Card?
The minimum credit score for the credit card is 700 points. However, your application can be denied even if you have 750 points. The reason can vary from too many recent inquiries, high balances on other cards, or not enough disposable income.
Earn points
When you use the credit card to make purchases it earns you 4 points per dollar. In addition you can get a boost of 25% when you have PNC checking account that is called Virtual Wallet.
Boost
Requirements
25%
Have Virtual Wallet account
50%
Virtual Wallet account with monthly balance of $2,000 or $2,000 direct deposit or $15,000 in connected account
75%
Virtual Wallet account with monthly balance of $5,000 or $5,000 direct deposit or $25,000 in connected account
Boost for earning PNC points
With the bonus points you can earn
Boost
Earn when you spend $1,200 per year
0
4,800 points
25%
6,000 points
50%
7,200 points
75%
9,400 points
Spend $1,200 per year
Does PNC points credit card have Cell phone protection?
Cell phone protection is a valuable benefit that PNC points card offers. To be eligible you must pay your monthly cell phone bill using the credit card. The benefit is handled by Visa and covers up to $800 in cell phone damage. However, it has $50 deductible.
If you have a cell phone worth $1,000 and it was stolen, then you can file claim and receive $750 in reimbursement.
0% Intro APR
Some people can find it valuable to leverage PNC introductory APR for the first 12 months (1 year). When you make purchases or transfer balance to the credit card you don’t have to pay any interest, but you still must make minimum payments. After the introductory period APR will go up to current variable rate that ranges from 18% and up to 30%.
Purchase offer and balance transfer offer are valuable it you have a clear plan to payoff the balance at the end of 12 billing cycles. Otherwise you shouldn’t carry the balance to avoid getting trapped in credit card debt.
The minimum amount of balance transfer is $200. Before you attempt balance transfer make sure you are aware of 3% balance transfer fee with $5 minimum. The fee is valid for the first 3 months, but then it goes up to 4%. In this light 0% balance transfer offer doesn’t looks so nice. I would call it 3% intro APR.
Cash Advance
Cash advance of PNC points credit card is not something you wan’t to try. It cost 5% (with $10 minimum) of the cash advance amount. In addition to the cash advance fee you should keep in mind, that APR on the amount of cash advance starts accumulating on the very first day.
Foreign transaction fee
PNC points card is not something you want to take for a trip. Each foreign transaction fee will cost you 3% of the amount. Any purchase in currency that is not US dollars is going to cost you 3%.
For example, when you buy something in Euro for an equivalent of $100, PNC charges you $3. In addition to the fee PNC Bank decides which currency conversion course it is going to use. I assure you it is not going to be the most favorable.
Hotel credit cards are popular among travelers. If you are a fan of IHG hotels like Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, etc., then IHG Rewards Credit Card is worth considering. It is a co-branded credit card offered by Chase bank. There are two consumer-oriented kinds and one business card.
IHG stands for InterContinental Hotels Group. It owns wells known hotel brands like Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, and Holiday Inn Club Vacations. In total, IHG has 18 brands.
IHG Rewards Premier credit card
IHG Rewards Premier credit card has a $99 annual fee. It is the right choice for travelers who like the hotel brand. The 175,000 points signup offer makes it very attractive. It is worth just over $1,000. To get the bonus, you must spend $3,000 within the first three months of account opening.
It gives you automatic Platinum Elite status. Although it sounds cool, the actual value of the status is questionable.
I have first-hand experience, and as a hotel perk, the Platinum status is worth less than a kick in your butt. Most of the Platinum perks are “Subject to availability.” Finding Early Check-In, Late Check-Out, Complimentary Upgrades, and Guaranteed Room Availability is almost impossible.
IHG claims that there are no blackout dates for Reward nights. However, it has many hotels where you cannot use those nights.
IHG Rewards Traveler credit card
IHG Rewards Traveler credit card that has no annual fee. It gives you 120,000 bonus points after you spend $2,000 within the first three months. The points are worth just above $800.
How you count the points’ value can change depending on how you use them. The average value of one point is less than 1 cent.
IHG Hotels
The IHG portfolio has more than 18 brands and almost 6,000 hotels. Hotels with IHG labels can range from old, dirty, moldy, and filthy motels to luxury resorts. What you may find even more surprising is that the same Holiday Inn Express can vary from a clean and pleasant one to a hotel with bed bugs.
Bottom line
The credit card has little value for an everyday traveler. Most people can stay at IHG hotels a couple of times a year. Sticking to the network makes no sense primarily because even in the same brand quality of hotels can vary dramatically, and is no guarantee of quality.
Citi Bank has a wide range of credit cards with various benefits and cash back. Citi Double Cash Credit Card has some benefits that are worth looking at. It is better than secured Citi Secured Mastercard, but worse than credit cards like Citi Rewards+ with a $200 signup bonus and no annual fee.
What credit score do I need for Citi Double Cash?
The minimum credit score for the card is 700 points. But to increase the chance of being approved your credit score should go above 720. At the same time, there are other factors that can impact approval odds. For example, the number of recent inquiries and your credit card debt.
Does Citi Double Cash has Cash Back?
One of the key benefits of a credit card is cash back. This credit card has flat 2% cash back. You earn 1% back when you make purchase and another 1% when you payoff the balance. Citi gives ThankYou Points that you can later redeem. Each point is worth 1 cent.
You can redeem ThankYou points as cashback in the form of a Direct Deposit so that money will go straight to your checking or saving account. Additionally, cashback can be used as a statement credit that reduces the balance of the credit card. The third way is to receive a paper check in the mail. The minimum amount is $5. Later you can deposit it into any bank account.
The minimum ThankYou points you can withdraw is 2,500 that is equal to $25.
Intro APR on balance transfer
Citi Double Cash has intro APR on balance transfers for the first 18 months. It means you don’t have to pay any interest on your balance for the first 1 and a half years.
If you are late with minimum payment then Citi charges a $41 late fee. When you miss even a single payment Citi terminates the intro APR. Then you’ll have to pay interest anywhere between 19% and 29%. This is why you must set up auto-payment as soon as you activate the credit card.
0% intro APR on balance transfer may look great at first sight. However, there is a balance transfer fee. If you make the transfer within the first 4 months of opening a credit card it is 3% and after that 5%. The minimum fee is $5. This way intro APR hides the 5% fee.
Foreign Transactions
If you travel and use Citi Double Cash to pay in other currencies bank can charge an international transaction fee. Citi Double Cash has a 3% foreign transaction fee.
Cash Advance
As with many other credit cards Citi Double Cash allows you to take cash out of your available credit limit. Cash advances cost a 5% fee and the minimum is $10. Taking money this way is very expensive. Not only do you pay the fee, but also interest on the amount starts accumulating immediately. There is no grace period.
Overall the Citi Double Cash credit card doesn’t have exciting benefits. Its intro APR is a questionable benefit. Other cards have much better benefits and sign-up bonuses.
When you send money using a wire transfer or any bank transfer you must understand how long it takes to clear. Wire transfer is supposed to complete on the same business day if it was submitted before the end of the day. Otherwise, it should clear on the next business day. However, it can take longer.
Some banks like Ally bank put large wire transfers on hold to verify the transaction. Customer service calls you and asks questions about the transfer to make sure that you are aware of the operation and whether you initiated it.
Long holidays and weekends can slow down the process. If you submit a wire transfer after business hours it is going to clear only on the next business day.
When should I use wire transfer?
Domestic wire transfers are used to move large sums of money. For example, when you buy a house or a car. You can use it instead of writing a check because paper checks on a large amount take a week to clear.
For large payments suite cases cash is not an option. In many cases, it is good to have a paper trail for money. This way it is easy to prove the legitimacy of money and its origins. Otherwise, the bank can suspect you of money laundering.
The fact that wire transfers can clear in a matter of one business day makes them very useful. No one wants to wait days to receive money.
Fees
Banks usually charge a fee when you send money via wire. The price of the transfer depends on the bank and sometimes you can be charged even for incoming transfers. For example, Bank of America takes $30 per outgoing transfer. PNC Bank charges customers $15 for an incoming wire transfer. So there can be fees on both ends.
Alternatives to wire transfers
One of the alternatives to wire transfer is Zelle. It can bring money in a matter of minutes, which is a faster alternative. However, Zelle has a low limit on the amount of transfer. Any transfer below $2,000 should be fine.
Another alternative is a paper check. In many big banks, this type of payment has a very high upper limit. Mobile check deposit of a large paper check can be limited in many banks (see mobile check deposit limits), but deposit in a bank’s branch shouldn’t be an issue.
Most other ways have a limit on the amount of transfer or have an intermediate bank, which imposes some limits as well.
The bottom line is, a wire transfer can clear as soon as the same business day, but under certain conditions can drag for a few calendar days.
Getting Disney Plus for free with American Express is a great perk. In my opinion, Disney Plus has a much better collection for kids than any other platform. If you plan to apply for an American Express credit card you may want to choose the one with Disney+ credit. It can greatly offset the annual fee. That is why users want to know if Amex offers a subscription as a benefit. Two American Express credit cards offer Digital Entertainment Credit which you can get after you pay for Disney+ using your credit card. It comes as a statement credit.
American Express Platinum frees the Disney Plus
The Platinum card gives $20 per month or $240 Digital Entertainment Credit. Essentially American Express makes Disney+ free. It covers up to $20 of Disney+ purchases made directly through www.disneyplus.com
It also covers Audible, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The New York Times when you pay directly at one of the providers. It means there is no need to use some special promo code etc.
The benefit partially offsets the $695 annual fee, but you have to use other benefits to make paying the fee worth it.
American Express Blue Cash Preferred
American Express Blue Cash Preferred card doesn’t make Disney Plus free but gives a good discount. Unfortunately it is not as generous as Amex Platinum. It covers Disney Bundle $7 per month when you spend $12.99. In total the benefit is worth $84 annually. It makes it in the same way as Platinum. The benefit comes as a statement credit and reduces the balance.
American Express Blue Cash Preferred has an annual fee $95. But it often has into fee for the first year is $0. Anyway if you use Disney Bundle your effective annual fee is $11. Because $95 – $84 = is $11. With a little cashback the card is worth it.
Bottom line
Disney Plus is free with American Express Platinum, but with Blue Cash Preferred it has a good $7 discount.
Have you received an Avant personal loan offer in mail? Don’t rush to make a decision. When people need money for something urgent they often try to take a personal loan like Avant. The reasons include medical bills, home improvements, and other unexpected circumstances. Should you keep looking or is this good enough? What is the benefit of obtaining a personal loan?
Avant Personal Loans target people with bad credit. Therefore eligibility requirements are quite loose. You can qualify with FICO credit score as low as 550. If you don’t know your credit score, you can check it using tools like CreditWise from Capital One that shows TransUnion credit score. Other banks offer their own tools that supposed to help you understand which factors have most impact. For example Credit Journey from Chase that shows Experian version. In addition to the credit score to have chance to be approved you must earn at least $1,200 per month.
However, if you want to take the loan just to build your credit score, think again. It is a very expensive way to establish your credit history. But once you pay off the loan, the credit bureaus will remove the account from your report.
Avant allows you to prequalify for the personal loan by filing an electronic form on their website. After 2-3 business days they can send you an offer. The pre-qualification means they are not going to make a hard pull. Instead, they’ll tell you if you have a good chance to be approved. It is very useful if you consider many lenders. After approval it takes 1 business day for the money to deposit to your checking account.
The interest for Avant loans can range from 10% up to 36% none of which is good. The lowest 10% is reserved for people with good credit scores who have a high chance to be accepted by better lenders. Borrowing money at 30% APR is a bad idea. You should think twice before going with this personal loan.
The amount you can borrow ranges from $2,000 up to $35,000. This is fine, but if you need a larger amount like $50,000 you should look for other lenders. The term of the Avant personal loan is 2 or 5 years. It means you can pay it off in 24 payments or in 60. For example, if you borrow $10,000 for 2 years you’ll have to pay more than $500 every month.
One thing that should keep you from taking this option is the administration fee. You may have to pay as much as 5% of the loan amount as an administration fee. That is a lot of money!
Another thing to pay attention to is the late payment fee. Avant personal loans have a $25 late payment fee. It means you’d better setup auto-payment. Returned payment fee is $15. On the bright side you can pay it off early without penalties. So if you can find money earlier, then you should definitely pay it off early.
With the high APR of Avant personal loan I would strongly recommend you look for other options before you apply or reconsider your needs. Taking an expensive loan for a home improvement is definitely a bad idea.
In 2016 big banks including Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, created Zelle as a peer-to-peer payment system. Zelle has very specific rules on when and how users can cancel the transaction.
When you pay with Zelle you can use a phone number or an email to address the payment. This is made to simplify payments but at the same time made it easy to make a typo and send money to the wrong phone number or email. If you made this mistake you may want to cancel the Zelle payment.
Chase allows you to cancel Zelle payments online on its website and through its mobile application. All you have to do is log in to your account, find the pending payment, and click cancel. But if payment is already completed there is no simple way to stop it.
If you didn’t authorize the Zelle transfer and it was made by a hacker, then you can pursue a legal path, but it gets complicated and depends on many factors.
How to cancel Zelle payment Chase?
You can send Zelle payment from Chase mobile app, but you cannot stop payment using Chase mobile app. Chase allows you to cancel pending Zelle payments using Chase website.
On “Pay & transfer” page you can see Recipient list, account balance and most recent payments.
Find card with “Recent payments” with the list of payments. Some payments my still be with “Pending acceptance” label. This kind of payments can still be cancelled. It may happen because you typed the address incorrectly and Zelle hasn’t found the recipient. Click on View link to see more details.
On the following page you can see that payment has status “Pending acceptance”. There is also “Cancel” button that revokes payment. You have to click on it.
To confirm your intention to cancel the payment Chase prompts you to make the decision. You can click the gray button “Keep It” and let the payment wait till the recipient enrolls into Zelle. Otherwise, you can click the blue button “Cancel It” and the money should stay in your account.
This is how you can cancel Zelle payment from your Chase bank account.
How to stop Zelle transfer Bank of America?
It is easy to send Zelle payments from a Bank of America checking account, but how can you stop Zelle payments? If the payment is still pending then you can still cancel it. When you send money to someone who hasn’t enrolled in Zelle the payment waits till the recipient accepts the transfer. Here is how to cancel the transfer.
After you log in to your Bank of America account find the horizontal menu. In the menu click on Transfer Zelle. It will open a drop-down menu. Then select “Activity”.
On the Activity page, you can see all table with recent Zelle transactions. Every transaction has Date, Status, Description, where money should be taken and to whom the payment is going. Additionally you can see the amount of transaction. You cannot edit any of these parameters. Transactions that have “Pending” status are still eligible to Cancel. You can also see blue link “Cancel” that you can click. In the table find the transaction that you want to cancel and click on the “Cancel” button.
It shows popup prompt with title “Cancel Transfer”. It asks whether you want to cancel transfer or you just click on Cancel by a mistake. Keep in mind, that you cannot edit the amount of transaction. In the prompt your can click blue button “Cancel Transfer” or you can click on “Don’t Cancel Transfer” that should confirm that you want to cancel the transfer.
Unlike a credit card where you should wait till the transaction clears with Zelle, you should cancel unwanted transfers as soon as you can. Once the recipient accepted the transfer, it is impossible to get the money back.
How stop Zelle payment Wells Fargo?
Wells Fargo allows you can to cancel Zelle payments that are not accepted. Open the Wells Fargo website and after you logged in open the “Transfer & Pay” menu. Then click on “Send Money with Zelle”.
On Send Money with Zelle page you can see recipients, outgoing transfers, and incoming transfers. Take a closer look at outgoing transfers.
In the “Outgoing transfer” section you can see if you have any outgoing payments. It shows to whom the transfer is addressed, and the amount of the transfer. If a payment has the status “Pending” then you can view it and cancel. Click on “View / Delete” to proceed.
On the “Outgoing Transfer Details” prompt you can see the status of the transaction. If it is “Pending recipient action”, then you can still cancel it. You can also see to whom the transfer is addressed and from which of your accounts money is going to be withdrawn. The amount tells you how much money you are about to send. To cancel the Zelle transfer you have to click the grey button “Delete” to confirm your intent. But if you change your mind click on the cross button in the top right corner of the prompt. Then it leaves the transaction intact.
Bottom line
You can cancel Zelle payments if they are still pending and were not accepted by recipient. But if the recipient was already enrolled in Zelle, then payments are accepted automatically. You cannot reject Zelle payment as well as your recipient.
