persevering

If you want to try to dampen your anxiety, at a local health food store there are a few particular herbs that might be available in capsule or liquid extract form that have calming properties; I found these three to be helpful for me during some stressful occasions. And Perhaps taking a walk around your neighborhood before to calling might ease some of the anxiety. - passionflower http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00536/reduce-stress.html - valerian http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/REM00009 - chamomile [try a cup of chamomile tea]

Thank you for taking the time to share that. I hadn't heard about this. Just for fun I logged in and was shocked to see that my feature-less/rewards-less platinum card had this "Modify Your Features" option, too. Unfortunately for what my needs are, instead of being offered an option for adding a cash-rewards option all I saw was this: Venture 2x Miles $59 AMF Enroll in Venture and earn 2 Miles per dollar spent on all your net purchases. Your Annual Membership Fee will change to $59. VentureOne 1.25x Miles $0 AMF Enroll in VentureOne and earn 1.25 Miles per dollar spent on all your net purchases. Your Annual Membership Fee is $0. There is also an FAQ. Here are some important Q and A's: Q: How often can I modify my account features? A: If applicable, you can change your rewards features once every 3 months. Q: Can I use the Modify Your Features service to get a new Rewards card? A: No, the Modify Your Features service cannot be used to get a new Rewards card. However, if you do not have Rewards on your account, you may be able to add Rewards. If you do currently have Rewards on your credit card account, you may be able to change the type of Rewards you earn. In either case, Capital One does not need to send you a new credit card for these changes. Q: How do I learn more about my current Rewards program? A: While logged into your card account (you are currently logged in), go to the Rewards Summary tab, click the View and Redeem Rewards button, and then click the FAQ link in the upper right hand corner to see your Rewards program terms. If you are having trouble, you can contact one of our Rewards Specialists at 1-800-228-3001. Hours are Mon.—Fri., 8:00 a.m.—12:00 a.m. ET.; Sat. & Sun., 9:00 a.m.—10:00 p.m. ET.

Unless USAA's rules have been changed, my understanding is that there is NO ability as a USAA customer to use an ATM to deposit a check regardless of which network supports that ATM. I've been wanting this feature ever since I became a USAA customer. If you have already used an ATM to deposit a check for your USAA checking account, I think you may have cause to be worried as to whether it will be (ever) received by USAA. I think you should closely monitor this check, and it might not hurt to give USAA a call about this matter.

Another suggestion -- I closed my debit card and requested an ATM card in large part because a debit card can be used for online and over-the-phone purchases. It's one thing to have fraudulent credit card charges, but it's another matter to have fraudulent charges coming out of my checking account. But I since I am concerned about the possibility of having a hard time proving to the bank that I wasn't irresponsible with my PIN in the event that a crook somehow captures the PINs from a PIN pad, I also don't use my ATM card for anything other than for cash withdrawals from secure ATM locations and for purchases from Costco (since I don't have an Amex card). If you don't want to give up your debit card, there are at least two limits that you can lower -- the point of sale limit for signature-based transactions and the point of sale limit for PIN-based transactions. Then later on if you need to do a transaction greater than your new low limit, you can contact the bank and request a temporary authorization for this particular transaction.

After further reading, I guess I'll cross this off my list. FAQ from the website for Amex's prepaid card: (1) # How long does it take to load funds with a bank account? If the American Express Prepaid Card Purchaser uses a bank account to fund the American Express Prepaid Card it will take 3-5 business days to verify and load funds. (2) # Why am I asked to enter my Social Security Number when I order an American Express Prepaid Card online? American Express is required by law to obtain personal information, including Social Security Number or other government identification, to verify the identity of our customers. The American Express Prepaid Card adheres to the privacy standards of American Express. You can be assured that your personal information will be protected and secured. There is no credit check when ordering the American Express Prepaid Card and the use of the American Express Prepaid Card will have no impact on your or the American Express Prepaid Card User's credit history.

For certain people like myself, there could still be a big advantage to this American Express prepaid card. I've never liked the idea of applying for an American Express card (from Amex or a bank issuing Amex cards) for use at just one single merchant -- Costco. And I'm uncomfortable with paying at Costco with an ATM card -- if a crook ever captured the PINs and took money out of my account, I don't know if I'd have a high burden of proof to convince the bank that *I* wasn't somehow irresponsible with my PIN. As long as there's no fee at all for transferring money from the checking account into the Amex prepaid card and as long as Amex does not require too much information from me (like a Social Security Number) to sign up for the Amex prepaid card, then maybe this might be a good deal for someone like me.

This was posted by a reader in the comments section at consumerist.com:

Although the article (below) is a few months old, the Citi Card 2G comes across in the article as alive and well "Dynamics’ Card 2.0® Technology – Best of Innovations Winner at 2011 CES – To Power New Citi ThankYou(SM) Prestige 2G Card" http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110106005823/en/Dynamics%E2%80%99-Card-2.0%C2%AE-Technology-%E2%80%93-Innovations-Winner

I have a specific and also general question about the Visa Signature benefits. USAA attempted to convert my mastercard to the World Mastercard. Upon reviewing the literature for this product, I saw that either most or all the benefits were run by a 3rd party. I'm not paranoid; but my information being shared with this third party together was a big part of why I declined the conversion. Who runs the Visa Signature benefits for this NFCU product ? Does the administrator of the Visa Signature benefits vary from bank to bank ?

Here's the way things worked; I don't know if this is still the current arrangement. The frontline Capital One agents were pretty much powerless to offer you a CLI or an APR reduction. The higher tier agent was called something like an Account Specialist or an Account Manager. The "backdoor #" was a direct connection to this higher tier department. But even this agent's powers limited in the sense that the computer dictated what offer(s) was/were available that this specialist could offer. If I recall correctly, there might've been one anecdote where this specialist told a customer that if the customer were willing to incur a hard pull of his credit report that maybe the specialist could offer something better than what the computer said could be offered. I can't remember for sure, but the Account Specialist might have also been the agent who had the power to merge accounts and combine the credit limits of those accounts. It was possible to still reach this higher tier agent after dialing the frontline agents; but it was a huge pain in the neck to convince the frontline agent that you were calling about something important enough to merit being transferred to the Account Specialist. Here is what was one of the active threads about people's experiences after calling the backdoor #: http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234918

Here's what I think is either equally bad or worse than that. My understanding is that the limitations of your account are permanently set in stone the moment your account is opened. So whether you will ever be able to convert your account to some other type of account (like a cash back card) depends on the type of account they gave you. The only Capital One CLIs I've ever received are due to me calling the backdoor number and asking them. In nine years I've gone from 5,000 to 7,000.

Ah, what they really meant to say is they "upgraded" their profits. My guess is that this is the reason why USAA switched many of their customers' cards to the World Mastercard.

Two more comments about notarizing. In my state, banks and credit unions have employees who are also notaries. Two different credit unions allowed me as a non-member to get my letter notarized. The reason that I went to a credit union instead of my bank leads me to my second comment. The laws about you being required to give a fingerprint for notarizing might vary from state to state. In my state, Arizona's website lets the general public download the notary manual (link) which contains the rules for notarizing in AZ; it says that "A fingerprint is not required under Arizona law and you may not refuse a notarization on this point alone." My local bank Wells Fargo insisted on getting my fingerprint. So I started going to the local credit unions which were more informed about the notary rules in Arizona about fingerprints. I don't have a fear about giving out my fingerprint. But since I haven't found Wells Fargo to be competent enough in other areas, I don't want to entrust Wells Fargo with my fingerprint.

You could also have your letter notarized; I never had any problems from the CRAs doing that. http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49965&view=findpost&p=1569219