All posts by Slava Money

About Slava Money

I like writing about credit and debit cards.

Capital One Dashboard screenshot

Screenshots of bank account balance

Answers to questions

Screenshots of bank account can help you decide whether you should open bank account or not. Since you are going to see user interface of your bank a lot it is worth spending some time checking if it is OK to you.

For example, screenshot of Bank Of America bank account, tells you that its designers must be earning very little money. How else can they keep this outdated user interface? Screenshots of bank account balance shouldn’t fit everything on the same page.

Seeing balance of checking account, credit cards, and loan is important, but other elements can be moved to some internal pages.

Screenshot Bank Of America account with high balance

Screenshot of Chase account with balance also looks crowded. It badly needs a good designer. Amount of information that is not needed at the moment just explodes my mind. Information about Total Checking account and how much money it has is important, but information about deposit and withdrawals are not needed. The same can be said about Chase credit accounts. Section on the right side is overcrowded with information that is rarely used if used at all.

Screenshot Chase Bank account with high balance

Screenshot of Wells Fargo bank account balance shows poor design choice. Placing so much not need information on the same screen is not needed. Seeing high balance of everyday checking account and active cash credit card makes sense. Right side bar makes no sense here.

Screenshot of Wells Fargo account balance

In contrast UX team of Capital One did a very good job. Space of dashboard is used effectively. They even found some space for CreditWise.

Screenshot of Capital One account

Screenshot of Discover Bank account looks not as good as Capital One’s, but definitely way better than screenshots offered by Bank Of America and Chase.

Web interface of Discover Bank

As you can see, accounts with the best user interface are offered by Capital One and Discover banks. Big banks like Chase, Bank Of America, Wells Fargo are pure disappointment.

Does Chase have Zelle?

Does Chase have Zelle?

Answers to questions

Chase bank, as one of the banks who founded Zelle, surely has integrated the payment system. In 2016 largest US banks like Bank Of America, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Chase introduced a new payment system called Zelle. The idea was to simplify sending small payments between customers. Zelle started competing with Venmo and a few other payment systems that allow users to send money to each other for a small fee.

Send Money with Zelle
Send money with Zelle

In contrast with wire transfers, which charge you a $30-$40 fee per transaction, Zelle is free and money becomes available within minutes. Read more about Zelle.

How to start using Zelle?

You can enroll in Zelle from the Chase Mobile app. All you need is a phone number or email that will be used to address payments. When you enroll, Chase should ask you to verify that you own the account by entering a verification code. Even if you already use Zelle with another bank, you can switch to Chase without any issues.

After you enroll, when someone sends you money via Zelle, it automatically adds the amount to your balance. However, if you haven’t enrolled in Zelle, money will wait until you enroll.

Zelle is relatively secure, because you don’t have to tell another person which bank you use. They can send money by email or phone. You can send money this same way.

What are Chase limits on Zelle transfers?

Chase checking account limits your outgoing transactions to $2,000 per day and $16,000 per month. Other banks, however, can set their own limits. For example, Wells Fargo can reject part of the Zelle transfer or the whole amount.

The bottom line is Chase allows you to send and receive Zelle payments.

What is Bank Of America Mobile Check Deposit?

Answers to questions

Bank Of America mobile app allows you to deposit paper checks by taking two pictures. The feature works very well if you compare it with Ingo money and similar services. Here is how mobile deposit works in other banks.

How much can you deposit using a mobile app?

There is a limit on how much you can deposit. The amount of the check you can deposit depends on the account where you make the deposit. Most popular is $15,000 per month. For checks that exceed $15,000 you have to mail the check to Bank Of America or visit your nearest branch.

How long does it take for a check to be deposited?

Usually mobile deposits of paper checks to Bank Of America take a day or two depending on the nature of the check. Pre-printed and government checks take less time, because there is no need to verify. Personal checks, however, take just a day more. Money should become available pretty soon. It works pretty much the same way in other banks. Check how long does a mobile deposit take in Wells Fargo.

Mobile check deposit or remote deposit is a relatively new feature. In 2004, when remote deposits became legal, big banks like Bank Of America started implementing it. The feature is intended to eliminate the need for customers to visit bank branches. The main purpose of deposits using mobile apps is to deposit smaller checks like $20, that may seem strange to deposit in person.

Deposit of large checks is not the most common use case for Bank Of America and other banks. $15,000 checks are rare occasion that is worth going to an ATM or even to visit a bank branch.

Are checks from Bank Of America easier to deposit?

From Bank Of America point of view all checks are the same. Checks that are issued by Wells Fargo, Chase, US Bank, Bank Of America and other banks look the same. Unlike transactions between customers of small online only banks, big banks have no special “pipe” for their own customers.

Citi ThankYou Points

What are Citi ThankYou Points?

Answers to questions

Using Citi credit cards comes with cashback in the form of ThankYou points. When you earn Citi ThankYou points you should be aware of how they work, what they are worth, and how to redeem the rewards.

How to earn Citi ThankYou points?

Some Citi credit cards earn ThankYou Points as cashback. The fastest way to earn a substantial amount of points is to get a signup bonus when you open a Citi card like Citi Custom Cash with an intro offer of $200 worth of points when you spend $750 within the first 3 months. The Citi Premier card offers 80,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 within 3 months. The 80,000 points are worth $800 when you redeem their gift cards. Other cards like the Citi Reward card earn you points as well.

Citi CardBonusHow much you have to spend?
Citi Custom Cash$200Spend $750 within the first 3 months
Citi Double Cashnot any moreSpend $1,500 within the first 6 months
Citi Rewards20,000 pointsSpend $1,500 within the first 3 months
Citi Premier80,000 pointsSpend $4,000 within the first 3 months

How much are Citibank ThankYou Points worth?

The value of these points depends on how you use them. The list of options is long. Gift cards Travel Rewards, you can use points for shopping at participating online partners, use them as a statement credit, or direct deposit, send yourself a paper check, transfer points to partners, and make charitable contributions. With these many possibilities, it is a challenge to choose.

How to Redeem Citi ThankYou Points?

To redeem the rewards you have to login into your Citibank account and find a section with ThankYou points and the amount of your accumulated points. Click on it brings you to a rewards center. There you can choose how you want to spend your points. Citibank offers ThankYou Points Catalog where you can make your final decision.

What are the best ways to use Citi ThankYou points?

I prefer to redeem it as a direct deposit or as a statement credit. Direct deposit as cold cash can be used to buy gift cards in the same way as using ThankYou points. The flexibility of cash beats all other options. The benefit is that cash doesn’t expire. Statement credit reduces your debt which is almost always a good option.

You can redeem the Citi ThankYou points as gift cards for a number of stores and restaurants. For example, you can take a Play Store gift card, Walmart gift card, Target gift card, and many others.

Using points to shop on Amazon is a fine choice as well. You have to link your rewards account to pay for purchases. If there are not enough points to make the purchase you can use your Citi credit card to pay for the difference.

As an alternative, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to its partners. For example, if you have an American Airlines membership, you can transfer Citi ThankYou Points to American Airlines. On the other hand, you can prefer to transfer Citi ThankYou points to Jetblue airlines. This option makes sense only if you convert it to more valuable points.

The last option is to donate Citi ThankYou points to a charitable organization. I believe it is a bad option as well. Why? When you donate points, you cannot deduct them from your income.

What are Citibank ThankYou points worth?

In the case of direct deposit or statement credit points are worth 1 cent. Gift cards may be worth a little bit more if you use them to buy gift cards on sale. In the gift cards section there are almost always cards that you can buy for less than they are worth. The offers are highlighted with a red label.

Sable Credit Card

Secured Sable ONE Credit Card

Credit Cards

The Sable ONE Credit Card is a secured credit card for building and rebuilding bad credit scores. What is a secured credit card? Most credit cards, even if they are secured, make a credit score check when you apply. The unusual feature of Sable ONE card is that there is no credit check when you apply.

The good thing about Sable Credit card is that it has a $0 annual fee. I believe it is a must for a secured credit card. Having an annual fee for a secured card defies the goal of a good credit score which is to earn or save you money.

Cashback of Secured Credit Card

Other benefits that are rarely offered by secured cards include 2% cash back on purchases made on Amazon, Uber and Whole Foods. There is only 1% cashback everywhere else. However, you get a match cashback at the end of first year. So you effectively double your cashback with Sable ONE Credit Card

Sable One Credit Card has Graduation

Graduation is a nice feature of Sable One Card. Graduation means your secured credit card is converted to unsecured and you receive your security deposit back. You can get your security deposit back as early as 4 months. However, often it happens much later.

Cell phone protection

Cell phone protection is one of the a misleading benefit of the Secured Sable ONE Credit Card. The coverage is $100 with $50 deductible. Sure it is better than nothing, but it sounds better than it actually is. If you pay your cell phone bill with the credit card you are covered for potential theft or other damages. I should mention that this benefit is provided by MasterCard.

Extended warranty

Extended warranty covers up to $10,000 in repairs of items that have a warranty less than 12 months. Which is quite rare in products that are sold in the US. There are also a number of items and conditions that are excluded from coverage. So having this benefit of Sable ONE card is good, but taking advantage of it is rather hard.

Price protection

Price protection of Sable card covers the difference in your purchase and advertised price. The minimum claim amount is $25 or $50 up to $250, $500 or $1,000. Plus you are limited to 4 claims per year.

Rental car insurance

Rental car insurance covers 15 days when you rent a car that has MSRP below $50,000. Also it is worth mentioning that Sable One Card provides secondary insurance. Which means it covers damages after your own insurance and insurance of rental agencies.

The Sable card one more benefits that is called purchase protection.

As all credit cards Sable reports how you use credit to the credit bureaus every month. If you use the card responsibly and make payments on time you will see improvements in your credit score. Keep in mind, that credit score takes time to build, so be patient.

To get this secured credit card you need a Sable bank account from which you can make the security deposit. Although there’s no minimum deposit required, your spending limit equals the amount of your deposit.

Overall secured Sable ONE Credit card sounds like a good deal to me.

How to find PayPal Account Number?

Answers to questions

Knowing your PayPal account number of your PayPal Cash plus account can help you in many ways. You set up a direct deposit and receive your salary. You can also make ACH transfers from other bank accounts like Wells Fargo and Bank Of America.

First you have to know if you have the account number. Having a PayPal Cash account means you have an account number and routing number. With a PayPal Cash Plus account you receive a PayPal debit card, that can be used to withdraw cash from a large network of ATMs.

To find PayPal account number and routing number you can use PayPal website or PayPal mobile app.

How to find a PayPal Account number on the PayPal website?

Using the PayPal website to find the account number of your PayPal is a no brainer. Open the PayPal website and login using your user name and password. Then on the main screen also known as Dashboard you can click on Settings in the top right corner. It will open an account details page. On the account details page you should find the “PayPal Direct Deposit” section and click on “Go to direct deposit”. On the direct deposit page you can find the routing number and account number of your PayPal account. 

There is an alternative way to find PayPal numbers. After you open the Dashboard, find the three dots button and click on it. In the drop down menu find “Setup direct deposit”. You should see the same page as in the first case.

How to find a PayPal Account number using the PayPal App?

On your smartphone open the PayPal mobile app. Login there and on the main screen tap on Profile icon at the top left corner. Then on the Profile screen tap on “Direct Deposit”. On the next screen you can find the Account number and routing number of your PayPal cash plus account.

Alternatively from the Dashboard you can tap on “Wallet” at the very bottom. On the Wallet screen tap on “Go to Direct Deposit”.

US Bank Secured Credit Card

(REVIEW) US Bank Secured Credit Card

Credit Cards

US Bank Secured Credit Card may come to your attention if you want to build your credit score. What is secured credit card? You can get the secured Visa card even with a bad credit score. Also you should keep in mind, that US Bank doesn’t use TransUnion to make lending decisions.

Unlike many other secured credit cards, this US Bank Secured Card has no annual fee. Maintenance fees and monthly fees are widespread among secured cards. In my opinion fees defy the purpose of building credit score.

Before you Apply for US Bank Secured Credit Card make sure to read my review. It can save you from costly mistakes.

Credit limit and security deposit

If you are approved you can get a credit limit between $300 and $5,000. But you will need to make a security deposit equal to your credit limit. The US Bank makes a savings account for security deposits and money earn a little interest. The security deposit is refundable when you close the credit card or after graduation.

US Bank Secured card increase limit is not guaranteed. If your debt to income ration changed, which means income increased or debt decreased, then after 6 months you can call customer support and ask to raise the limit. You may have to deposit more money as a security deposit.

Graduation from secured credit card

The important benefit of the US Bank card is so called graduation. It can happen as early as 6 months. However, to graduate you MUST pay your credit card bill in full every month and keep your credit utilization low. Graduation means the US Bank returns your security deposit and upgrades your secured credit card to unsecured. Graduation is not guaranteed and depends on many factors. To increase your chances of graduation make sure to set up auto payment, avoid late payment fees, and keep your credit utilization low.

Here is how you can setup autopay for US Bank credit card.

How to setup auto payment for US Bank Credit Card

Benefits

The purpose of a secured credit card is to build your credit score, so don’t expect many benefits. US Bank reports monthly your utilization and payments to all 3 major credit bureaus TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. US Bank Secured Card offers no rewards, no bonus, no intro APR and regular APR is 24%.

The secured credit card has an EMV chip for additional security and contactless payments. Visually the card has no any difference from a regular credit card.

You should avoid using the secured US Bank Credit Card abroad, because it has a foreign transaction fee of 3%. So the card is not good for travelers.

Overall this secured credit card is good if you want to build a relationship with US Bank. There are much worse credit cards and way better. As an alternative consider secured credit cards from Discover Bank or Capital One.

Merrick Bank Double your Line Credit Card Review

Credit Cards

When you receive an invitation to apply for a Merrick Bank Double Your Line credit card it maybe tempting to apply. The offer means you have high approval odds. The pre-approval doesn’t mean that the credit card is guaranteed. If your credit score changed since the offer was sent, you can get rejected.

After you are approved for the card it shouldn’t take too long to get it in mail. Read how long does it take to receive a credit card.

Merrick Bank Credit Card

You can use the Double your Line MasterCard to make purchases in stores and online.

You may have heard about Merrick Bank Classic Secured Credit Card. In contrast Double your Line Visa Card from Merrick bank is an unsecured card. The purpose, however, is the same. Build credit score and establish credit history. Merrick Bank reports how you use it to all 3 major credit bureaus. These are Transunion, Experian, and Equifax. After you receive the card and pay a couple of statements, credit score should go up at least a few points. Make sure to keep your utilization low, because it has a great impact on credit score.

You can track credit score and factors that contribute to it using Capital One CreditWise. It is an accurate tool that doesn’t require you having an account with Capital One.

Credit limit of Double your line Card

Initial credit limit of Merrick Bank Double your Line Platinum can range from $500 and up to $1,300. However, after a year of payments on time bank can double your credit limit. This is why card’s name is double your line. And the absolute maximum credit limit is $3,000.

Having no need for a security deposit costs you an arm and leg. There are number of fees. Setup fee just to open the card is $75 and there can be an annual fee of up to $80. You should pay all fees upfront. So the credit card has $150 balance right at the very beginning. These fees make Merrick Bank Double your Line card a bad choice.

The APR on this card is extremely high and can go up to 30%. Another big NO is that this card has no rewards and no benefits. Other cards often have some cashback.

I think Merrick Bank Double Your Line Credit Card is not worth your time and you should avoid it. After all good credit score should to save you money, not to cost you money.

How old do you have to be to get a debit card at Chase?

Answers to questions

Curious kids often ask their parents when they can have their own debit card. The best way to explain how banking works is through a hands on approach. Chase Bank has debit cards for adults and kids. While having a credit card requires having a good credit score and being at least 18 years old, you can get a Chase Debit Card way before 18 years old. 

Kids’ parents or guardians should open a Chase Checking account first and only then can they open an account for the child. Keep in mind that the child should have a social security number.

First Banking account

The account you are looking for is called First Banking account. Kids that are older than 6 years can get their own debit card at Chase. When a child is only 6 years old he can get own debit card. The child’s Debit Card has no annual or monthly fee which is great. The debit card can be used to make purchases at point of sale and online. The Chase debit card allows youngsters to withdraw money from 16,000 Chase ATMs. Also parents can set limits on spending and withdrawing cash. To fund a kiddie debit card, parents can simply transfer money from his own checking account.

Chase High School Checking

If a child is older than 13 years old, the parent can open Chase High School Checking and be a co-owner. The high schooler can even send money using Zelle. After a child turns 19 years old, the child’s checking account turns into Chase Total Checking.

Chase College Checking

When a child goes to college and becomes a student, it may be time to get a Chase College Checking account with a debit card. The debit card at Chase charges no fees for 5 years and until the student is 24 years old.

Chase isn’t the only bank that offers checking accounts for kids. Other banks have similar cards. For example, Capital One Teen Checking has combination of checking and savings account for school age kids.

Starbucks Credit Card Review

Credit Cards

Starbucks is a well known brand of coffee shops. So you may wonder if Starbucks has a credit card. Yes, it does and if you are a fan of Starbucks – you may want to apply for a Starbucks Credit Card issued by Chase Bank.

To get this Starbucks credit card you need a good to excellent credit score. It means people with credit scores above 700 points can apply. Having a high credit score is not the deciding factor. Your debt to income ratio, credit utilization, and number of recent credit inquiries can affect your approval odds. To check these parameters you can use credit score tracking tool called Chase Credit Journey.

Starbucks Rewards program

Starbucks has its Rewards program that uses stars instead of points or miles. For 50 stars you can get a coffee with a pastry. If you go to Starbucks often this may sound like a good deal. Is it?

Starbucks Credit card offers 4,500 stars after you spend $500 within the first 3 months. The stars are worth 90 lattes with croissants. By some measurements the value of one star is around 3 cents. So if you want to measure value of Starbucks stars in cash, the bonus is worth approximately $200 at a Starbucks store. However, stars cannot be converted to cash. Beside signup bonus you earn 1 star for every $2 spent with the credit card in grocery stores, ride-sharing, public transit expenses, internet, cell phone and cable. 3 stars for every $1 spent for Starbucks purchases and 1 star for $4 on everything else.

CategoryCashback
Grocery store0.5 stars
Transportation0.5 stars
Starbucks3 stars
Everything else0.25 stars
Starbucks Rewards Cashback Categories

You cannot cash the stars and cannot transfer the Starbucks Rewards anywhere else. Even though stars do not expire, don’t hoard them. Starbucks is known for devaluing its start from time to time.

Other benefits Starbucks Credit Card

Other benefits of the Starbucks Credit Card include purchase protection, extended warranty and trip cancellation insurance. These are valuable benefits, but Starbucks card is not the only card that offers such a perk.

The Starbucks Credit Card has no annual fee for the first year and $49 after that. It means that for the first year this credit card maybe a good one, but on the second year it becomes a burden to your budget.

For purchases in other currencies, credit card charges 3% foreign transaction fee. It means you should take some other card when you travel outside of the US.

The final conclusion is that a Starbucks credit card is fine for Starbucks fans and only for the first year. For everyone else it is not worth the annual fee.