Burgerwars

It looks for only the UK version/UK customers of the Apple Wallet. As for UK banking, I have it all at one bank, and view stuff from their app.

I looked at some of my Visa cards just now. The bird is now gone on a few. At least I can't find it. The bird is now at the unemployment office. As for the type of bird, I think it's a pigeon.

That's it. There's another company, Dave, that keeps sending me emails to open an account. Their card is all white with a teddy bear head popping out of a corner. Forget that. Not applying.

Yes, it's over that when including expired cards. For the open general purpose cards (credit and debit Visas, MasterCards, Amexs, Discovers, Union Pay), it's over 100, but I got to count them. 🤔

I do have a lot credit and debit cards, if you haven't figured that out. I would have to take them out of my safe and count them, because I don't know the number. 😕

Personally, I don't get wound up about the precise best time to pay a credit card. When I rotate through my sock-drawered cars (small purchases every three to four months) I pay them off immediately. To try to time it for things show a precise balance, it's not worth the bother. Any balance you're trying to show on your credit report will change next month (either to zero or something else). Not worth it to me. Making sure your credit cards are paid on time should be your number one goal.

My compulsive self got to me and I applied for a Varo Bank spending account. Easy enough. They sent me a debit card. For some reason, doing ACH pulls for me have been limited to $100, then I need to wait a few days before doing another, but no biggie. It's not like I needed the account. Maybe they'll eventually increase that. After about a week my compulsive self got to me again and I applied for their Varo Believe "credit card." Their webpage says I must have a direct deposit (like a payroll deposit) totaling $500 in the last 90 days. I never did that, but there was a link on their website, and app, saying I'm prequalified (maybe because my credit score very high). To open the bank account, they don't do a ChexSystems hard inquiry, and for the Believe Card, there is no credit hard inquiry. Since I haven't applied for any other credit card in a while, I went ahead. The deal with the credit card, it's designed for people who have issues getting a credit card (poor credit or no credit). It's a secured card. It's so secure, that when you make a purchase the amount in the secured savings account (that earns no interest) is no longer available until you pay the card (which gets deducted from the same account and can be done automatically). For all intents and purposes, it's a debit card, but reports to the credit bureaus. The amount of your limit is what you transferred into (or out of) the secured savings account from your bank account. Once I created the account, I transferred $100, that must be done from the app, not the website. My limit is $100, unless I add more. There are no fees for this card. The Believe card should be arriving within a week or two. Do I need the card? Nope, but it looks like a nice card in the picture. Vanity is everything.

NatWest to close 130+ branches: https://www.natwest.com/banking-with-natwest/other-ways-to-bank-with-natwest/natwest-branch-banking/branch-closures.html Barclays to close 180 branches: https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/barclays-bank-branch-closures-in-2023-akhJO3I4TLk1

I was in San Francisco earlier this year. The financial district has gotten a bit dead since the pandemic. People mostly work from home. Skyscrapers now with empty offices. I remember Great Western Bank's main office used to be in Beverly Hills in an oval building that after they left, had Flint Publications as the main tenant for Larry Flynt's empire. Great Western then moved their headquarters to a new office building near Plummer Street and Corbin Avenue (Northridge/Chatsworth CA). The building is about a dozen stories tall, which is the tallest building in the area. Great Western had a bunch of buildings around there. Lots of employees, which at one point included their credit card department. I applied for a job twice. I was interviewed by the credit card department (they didn't want me). Later I interviewed in another building for what I remember was for where customers had investments (they also didn't want me). I remember a large plant on Corbin that was always cut neatly with the "GW" logo. After the merger with Washington Mutual, the gardeners cut the bush into their "W" logo. I lost contact with any employees there, but after Washington Mutual collapsed, slowly the buildings got leased to other companies. Chase had a branch in there, but they closed it. There's still a Chase branch a couple blocks down Plummer across from Northridge Fashion Center. At that branch a couple years ago, I was eating at Corner Bakery next door. When I got out I saw $20 bills blowing around in the parking lot. I snatched up about 10 of them. I think someone who went to the branch dropped their money. My gain. In the big headquarters building, the main tenant is now The County of Los Angeles (at least that's the signage I see outside). What happened to everyone's jobs after the collapse, I don't know, but it was probably a mix of layoffs and transfers.

I ended up being a Chase customer by opening up a checking and credit card account with Great Western Bank (once known as Great Western Savings), they merged with WAMU, then when bust and then, of course, Chase took over. I remember Great Western having their headquarters in a whole bunch of buildings in Northridge/Chatsworth CA near Corbin Avenue. When I was younger I applied for a job there. I went for a couple interviews but they didn't want me. That's OK. I could have saved them. Their loss.

My first credit cards, from what I recall, were Bullock's, JC Penney, Montgomery Ward and a Crocker Bank Visa Card. I still have the Bullock's account (it's now a Macy's card) and the JC Penney account. Montgomery Ward bit the dust. I also still have the Crocker Bank Visa Card (it had the big Visa logo in the middle), but the account is now Wells Fargo Bank. I got the card when I was in college. The limit was $500. I think the limit now is about $9,000. I never asked for an increase, they just pushed it up a few times over the years.

With the Bank of America check guarantee card, I thought of that later after replying. Banks had those then, as checks obviously were common. Now if you go to Ralph's and write a check for your groceries, they'll probably think there is something wrong with you. 😕 I got a ton of old credit and debit cards in a safe in my house. If I have time, I'll take of few pictures of some.

A lot look from the 1980's. The Exxon card with the debit feature looks old. Bank of America in the upper-right in the last picture looks the oldest as I don't recognize it. The large Visa logo started in the 70's after it was BankAmericard, but continued well into the 80's. How did I do?

I agree with the above. I wouldn't keep a card open with an annual fee unless you're getting some sort of value from it. I do have tons of cards with no annual fee but aren't of much use. I do keep them open, but you got to use them or you risk them being closed for inactivity. I do small purchases every few months or load a small amount to my own Amazon gift card balance. No money wasted as it's something I would have purchased anyway and I do shop on Amazon. It's important to use cards with annual fees too. I've had one of those closed on me for inactivity.

I'm not that familiar with the area, but I'm going to guess you'll need to take an Uber to check on her due to lack of buses. From the pictures, I'm making a guess it's along the coast, just north of the City of Ventura, as one drives up the freeway. I recall people parking their motor homes to camp out near the beach. That's probably where she is. If you go further north you'll eventually reach Santa Barbara. Definitely nice areas to visit after your welfare check. https://nypost.com/2023/08/03/tori-spelling-seen-living-in-rv-park-with-5-kids-we-need-a-home https://www.gctd.org/getting-around/routes-schedules