Burgerwars

I forgot when it was, but I had some old American Express $20 travelers checks collecting dust in my safe deposit box. I decided to just make them out to myself, endorse them, and stick them in an envelope in a Wells Fargo Bank ATM (when you needed envelopes, instead of the way checks are scanned at an ATM now). They were credited to my checking account. Easy-peasy. I don't know how it will work now. I have no travelers checks left to try.

He's still alive on YouTube reminding you to "ask for "American Express by name." If they're not American Express travelers checks, according to the commercials, and you lose your travelers checks while in Paris, or on the Orient Express, you're basically screwed.

I'm unsure about physical American Express offices anymore, but a lot of Amex travel agencies show up doing a Google search. Maybe these travel agencies have some sort of agreement with Amex if someone shows up who has lost everything. I remember a long time ago there used to be some American Express ATMs at LAX airport (and others) that were capable of dispensing travelers checks. They've gone the way of the dinosaur.

I've read that BBVA is planning on leaving the U.S. market by selling their retail operations to PNC. The card will probably be eventually transferred to PNC with their terms at some point in the future.

I use both, but I'm kicking myself for being so loyal to my Citibank American Airlines card. Travel is problematic, and miles/points can get devalued at any time. If you can swing it, and not ding your credit record by much, I would look into cash bonuses for opening a new account (but do it sparingly). As an example, if you see something like "$200 cash back after purchasing $1,000 in the first 90 days" at least you know what $200 is worth. I do get pissed-off with the site ThePointsGuy. They're not impartial and they state it right on their site: "The credit card offers tha

I got a letter in the mail yesterday about this conversion, due to Charles Schwab acquiring TD Ameritrade. New cards will be sent in October 2021. No biggie. Years ago I tried to apply for a TD Bank branded credit card but was denied because there is no TD Bank branches in the state I live in, even though I have a TD Bank checking account. Later on I applied for the TD Ameritrade credit card, which is also run by TD Bank. Anyway, I'm still in the TD Bank credit card fold. Charles Schwab has a credit card, that's issued by American Express. I recently opened that. I'm still working

You can always call and ask for the account to be reopened. The longer you wait, the less chance your low odds of getting the account reopened become. The next alternative is to reapply. If you qualified before, you should again unless there are new negatives in your financial history. https://wallethub.com/answers/cc/can-you-reopen-a-closed-credit-card-2140660611/

I still worry about you jumping out the window if the mortgage company zeroes out the balance and declares the mortgage paid in full. As I've mentioned, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage did that to me before I made the last payment. I did, though, get another installment loan trade line when I started a cat lease (Chase Bank). The car lease ends in about a year, when I'll have to decide what will be my next set of wheels.

It doesn't bother me. The last time I flew out of LAX Bradley Terminal (where their lounge is), I ate at KFC. That's fancy enough for me. There are rumblings Amex will be increasing the Platinum Card annual fee to $695. Is it really worth it?

Their first and only post. 😕

It's all confusing, and this has been going on for the longest time. I messaged HSBC about this, and they told me they don't comment on "media speculation." They've told me that twice. Then there's the media, like Reuters, saying HSBC is set to withdraw from the U.S., citing "a source familiar with the matter." If they don't comment on media speculation, who from HSBC told the media in the first place that they're pulling out? If HSBC told the media, then it's not speculation. If they didn't tell the media, it's then media speculation. Someone is talking out of both sides of their mouth

If HSBC is fleeing the U.S. market, why would they make announcements like this??? https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210401005046/en/HSBC-Bank-USA-Announces-Tara-Latini-as-Head-of-Wealth-and-Personal-Banking

Some banks are more sensitive to Chex/EWS inquiries than others. My rule of thumb is do not apply for more than one checking account every three months, although two may be OK. Years ago I was literally kicked out of a bank branch for inquiries that were much older than this. It was a learning experience.

My two cents: Find the best cash back card for medical expenses with no annual fee. If you're going to pay for the orthodontic care over a period of time, then maybe a card that offers 0% financing for certain expenses or a time frame, will be better. Then there are cards that give you a large cash bonus after spending XX amount of dollars during the first 90 days the account is open. When I had orthodontic care (decades ago) the office gave me a payment book. I paid them about $80 a month until the balance was paid off. All those monthly $80 payments from patients and parents probably ex

It depends. Once you have a bunch of cards reporting, that have aged, I don't think adding more to the pile will help with your score much, if at all. Personally, I have a ton of cards and a long credit history. A few open accounts don't report. One that comes to mind is Sinclair Oil. Who really cares if I can charge gas at one of their few stations in the Los Angeles area? I'm thinking if I screw up the account and start not paying, then they'll report, so no news is good news.

I'm thinking the same. I didn't feel like drilling in and asking this woman exactly what she did (that's not my job) but someone at PayPal had to have skipped a step.

I need to vent. I have two PayPal accounts associated with two different email addresses. A personal and business account, although I use both for personal stuff. The personal account I rarely use. It had a debit card linked to it from a bank, with no money in it. A few days ago I noticed an approximate $38 transaction in the account from a business in Florida because the charge showed on my debit card. The items shipped to a person in New Jersey that I do not know. I tried to login to the PayPal account but the password was changed. I reset the password by using two-factor authenticat

You're about six years late. 😕

I had to look up to see if they're still issued: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/travel/travelers-cheques/ They are. Anyone use them for anything? I remember at my first job at Taco Bell, that we accepted them. From what I recall, the customer filled one out and signed it, we asked to see their ID, we gave them their poison, I mean food, and change in cash. They were rarely used as payment, but we took them, and deposited them at the bank like a check.

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/mar/15/why-was-my-contactless-spending-on-an-amex-card-charged-to-mastercard

One thing that would be better is if Amex still backdated the account opening date to the member since date on your initial card. That was discontinued years ago. 😕

At this point I would be totally surprised if they are going to do a hard pull. I just ran my three-bureau credit report about 15 minutes ago, and no hard inquiry. The account now shows when I log onto American Express. They sent me an email that my credit card is on the way. I've already used the account number to add to my gift card balance on Amazon. There's no guarantees they do this all the time, but it worked out that way for me.

I'll check again tomorrow. They did generate an account number for me with a $10K limit. I have no doubt I was approved. If there's no hard inquiry by the end of the week, I think they just didn't hard pull. Of course, a new account does ding your credit a tiny bit, but I expect that.

One more thing I want to add. I do have two other Amex cards. When I applied online yesterday, I didn't get any notifications from my TransUnion(TrueCredit) credit monitoring, or anywhere else, of any hard inquiry. I just logged in and refreshed my three bureau credit report. There was no hard inquiry on Equifax, TransUnion or Experian. I looked very carefully in the inquiry section, and I'm sure of that. I'm unsure of a soft inquiry, or an inquiry elsewhere, because they don't show stuff like that. I hope they don't do a hard later, but so far, I'm not complaining. More i

My itchy finger got the best of me, so I applied for the Schwab Investor American Express Card/Deer Pee Card/Cow Chips Card/etc.. I had to log in through my Schwab account first, so you can't apply without one. Instant approval with $10K credit line. The site also generated an account number I can use for online purchases immediately, until the actual card comes in the mail. I probably won't apply for any more credit cards for the rest of the year. This is it.