Giving Tuesday 2020: Double Your Impact With Matching Donations

Posted on December 1, 2020 // Leave a Comment

givingtuesdayTuesday, December 1st is Giving Tuesday 2020, an international day about giving support through charities and nonprofits by donating money or volunteering your time. In case you aren’t inundated with mailings already, this time of year is a big deal for charities, with 40% of donations occurring in the last six weeks of the year. Here are some ways you can “double your impact” with a matching donation.

Facebook Match (good toward any charity that accepts donations via Facebook). Starting at 8am Eastern on 12/1, Facebook will match $7 million in donations to U.S. nonprofits – up to $100,000 per nonprofit and $20,000 per donor. Donations will be matched for the first $2M, 10% for the next $5M.

For example, give directly with the donate button on the The Humane Society Facebook Page. You can also start your own fundraiser here or simply post up a donate button to support your favorite charity.

Check for an employer match. Try this lookup tool from DoubleTheDonation. Most of these programs don’t require you to actually give on a specific day, but you may want to start the process today so you don’t forget in the holiday rush.

Individual charities. Many charities are organizing their own matching program for #GivingTuesday. Here are some large charities have organized their own matches in the past, but I would check to make sure.

Also check with your favorite local community nonprofit. GivingTuesday.org has some additional ideas.

Having trouble deciding where to give? Here are some charity comparison sites that will help you pick where to send your help.

  • CharityNavigator – Largest and well-publicized charity rating site, provides a 4-star rating based primarily on financial criteria.
  • GiveWell – Tries to identify the best charities, not rate them all. Focused primarily on charities working internationally
  • GreatNonProfits – Allows clients, volunteers, and funders to post personal reviews based on their experiences.
  • GuideStar – Tries to be a one-stop shop for both financial data and personal reviews of charities. Must register to see a lot of things, and pay a subscription fee for premium in-depth data.

Looking to volunteer your time? Check out FeedingAmerica.org and find a volunteer opportunity at a food bank near you.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Giving Back //

One Finance Review (3% APY Offer Expired)

Posted on November 18, 2020 // 3 Comments

Update September 2022: The ONE app feature set has been changed. They now offer only up to 1% APY on all balances and pockets. As such, this app no longer offers a competitive savings interest rate and I no longer use it. I will leave the original review up for context as to why I used to talk about it, but please consider it outdated.

Expired review:

One Finance is an app that USED TO offer up to 3% APY on select balances and replaces overdraft fees with a line-of-credit. Thanks to reader Matt for the tip. FDIC insurance is provided by their partner bank, Coastal Community Bank.

Let’s cut straight to what earns the 3% APY in their “Auto-Save Pocket”:

  • Paycheck Auto-Save. Add your paycheck direct deposit and contribute up to 10% of each paycheck. Up to $1,000/month.
  • Debit card automated round-ups. Round up every One card purchase to the next dollar and deposit the difference.

If you have any sort of Direct Deposit, you can earn 1% APY on up to another $25,000 (“Save Pocket”). If you don’t have Direct Deposit, you earn 1% APY on up to $5,000.

This structure is rather clever, as it directly incentives real-world savings while inherently limiting the balance on which they pay 3% APY. Even if you made 100 debit card purchases a month, you’d only average $50 a month in savings via roundups. Most people would also have to move over their entire direct deposit to take full advantage of the paycheck deferral portion. It would take $10,000 in monthly direct deposits to max it out.

(There is also no cash back or round-up matching on those debit card purchases, so you’d be giving up potentially valuable cashback/points/miles rewards to get that 3% APY. I’d prefer the 2% cash back, personally.)

Another somewhat unique feature is the no-fee line-of-credit for overdraft protection (charges 12% APY). There is no interest at all if you repay any negative balance by the end of the same month. Even at 12% APY, this can be a lot less painful than a $35 flat fee if you only overdraft by a few dollars for a few days. For example, overdrafting by $500 for a week would cost nothing if you went back up by the end of the month, or about $1.15 if you didn’t. I’m guessing that most other big banks don’t do this because charging those $35 fees is much more profitable.

Additional features.

  • No monthly fees, no minimum balances.
  • Fee-free access to Allpoint ATM network.
  • Free debit Mastercard.
  • Person-to-person payment system.

Finally, they promise “World-Class Live Customer Service”. That is a bold claim coming from a crowd of startups trying to get by with the bare minimum of customer service *cough* Robinhood *cough*. It’s truly refreshing whenever I speak to a knowledgeable, caring customer service rep these days. I hope they pull it off, a la Zappos.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Citi Credit Cards: 5% Back on up to $500 of Online Purchases

Posted on November 16, 2020 // 10 Comments

If you have an existing Citi credit card, log into your account at Citi.com and see if you are targeted for 5% back on up to $500 of online purchases ($25 max per card). It appears to be widely available on a variety of Citi-branded consumer and small business credit cards including the popular Citi Double Cash and Citi Costco cards (but not all of them). The offer does not start until 11/24 and ends on 11/30. However, you must enroll to get the bonus, so it is important to activate first.

Here’s what it looks like for my Citi Double Cash card:

If you don’t see it upon login or accidentally click past it, try to look under “Rewards & Benefits” and then “Offers for You”. You can also try this link. The wording suggests that this stacks on top of your normal earnings of cash back, miles, or points, so you could really be getting for example 7% cash back total (2% + 5%). Remember that you can enroll multiple cards as well, but you must activate each one individually.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Best Interest Rates on Cash – November 2020

Posted on November 11, 2020 // 3 Comments

Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash for November 2020, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. I track these rates because I keep 12 months of expenses as a cash cushion and also invest in longer-term CDs (often at lesser-known credit unions) when they yield more than bonds. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you’d earn by moving money between accounts. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 11/9/2020.

High-yield savings accounts
While the huge megabanks pay essentially no interest, it’s easy to open a new “piggy-back” savings account and simply move some funds over from your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

  • Chime has the top rate at the moment at 1.00% APY with no minimum balance requirements. You can also get a $75 cash bonus if you open their checking account and make a payroll direct deposit of $200+ within the first 45 days of new account opening. There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at closer to 0.50% APY for now.
  • I opened an account with HM Bradley last quarter, shifted over part of my direct deposit, didn’t withdraw it, and am now earning 3% APY on up to $100,000 of my liquid savings from October through December 2020. My long-term concerns still linger, but I am impressed that they kept their rates high for this quarter. You can still earn 1% APY for this quarter (and hopefully qualify for the higher tiers next quarter) if you can move over a direct deposit.
  • See my recent post on the frozen deposits at Beam for a cautionary tale and tips on avoiding shady banking practices.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

  • No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. Marcus has a 7-month No Penalty CD at 0.55% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. AARP members can get an 8-month CD at 0.65% APY. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.60% APY for all balance tiers. CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 0.30% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
  • CommunityWide Federal Credit Union has a 12-month CD at 0.90% APY ($1,000 min). Early withdrawal penalty depends on how early you withdraw. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($5 one-time fee).

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs
If you like to keep cash in a brokerage account, beware that many brokers pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). The following money market and ultra-short bond funds are NOT FDIC-insured and thus come with a possibility of principal loss, but may be a good option if you have idle cash and cheap/free commissions.

  • The default sweep option is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund which has an SEC yield of 0.03%. Vanguard Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Fund (formerly Prime Money Market) currently pays an 0.04% SEC yield.
  • Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 0.63% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 0.73% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so there is more interest rate risk.
  • The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 0.39% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 0.66% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months. Note that there was a sudden, temporary drop in net asset value during the March 2020 market stress.

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes. Right now, this section isn’t very interesting as T-Bills are yielding close to zero!

  • You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 11/6/2020, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.10% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 0.12% annualized interest.
  • The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) has a -0.01% SEC yield and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a -0.04% (!) SEC yield. GBIL appears to have a slightly longer average maturity than BIL.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov. You can also buy an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds using your tax refund with IRS Form 8888.

  • “I Bonds” bought between November 2020 and April 2020 will earn a 1.68% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More info here.
  • In mid-April 2021, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
  • See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Prepaid Cards with Attached Savings Accounts
A small subset of prepaid debit cards have an “attached” FDIC-insured savings account with exceptionally high interest rates. The negatives are that balances are capped, and there are many fees that you must be careful to avoid (lest they eat up your interest). Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others do. There is a long list of previous offers that have already disappeared with little notice. I don’t personally recommend nor use any of these anymore.

  • One of the few notable cards left in this category is Mango Money at 6% APY on up to $2,500, along with several hoops to jump through. Requirements include $1,500+ in “signature” purchases and a minimum balance of $25.00 at the end of the month.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops, and if you make a mistake you won’t earn any interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others do. Rates can also drop to near-zero quickly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling. If you want rates above 2% APY, this is close to the only game in town.

  • Consumers Credit Union Free Rewards Checking (my review) still offers up to 4.09% APY on balances up to $10,000 if you make $500+ in ACH deposits, 12 debit card “signature” purchases, and spend $1,000 on their credit card each month. The Bank of Denver has a Free Kasasa Cash Checking offering 2.50% APY on balances up to $25,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases and at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. If you meet those qualifications, you can also link a savings account that pays 1.50% APY on up to $50k. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info. Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

  • Hiway Federal Credit Union has a 5-year certificate at 1.35% APY ($25k minimum) and 1.25% APY with a $10,000 minimum. Early withdrawal penalty is 1 year of interest. 4-year at 1.20% APY, and 3-year at 1.10% APY ($25k minimum). Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
  • You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Vanguard has nothing special right now, I see a 5-year at 0.45% APY right now. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs listed by Fidelity.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

  • Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. At this writing, Vanguard has a 10-year at 0.75% APY. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs from Fidelity.
  • How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate which is quite low (currently 0.10%). I view this as a huge early withdrawal penalty. But if holding for 20 years isn’t an issue, it can also serve as a hedge against prolonged deflation during that time. Purchase limit is $10,000 each calendar year for each Social Security Number. As of 11/6/2020, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 1.37%.

All rates were checked as of 11/9/2020.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers, Investing //

Beam App Complaints: Frozen Bank Deposits and Lessons Learned

Posted on November 8, 2020 // 5 Comments

(Follow-up 11/27: CNBC reports that progress had been made towards customers getting their funds back, although not everything has been resolved.)

Beam Financial was yet another fintech app that promised a high interest rate along with (what they think are) clever hurdles to get it. They’ve had various hiccups since their delayed launch in 2019, but most recently many customers found themselves unable to withdraw their own funds. This certainly sounds like a nightmare! As more news has slowly trickled out, important details of the story have emerged – see CNBC, American Banker #1 (paywall?), American Banker #2 (paywall?), Google app complaints, and BBB complaints.

To be blunt, it seems that Beam simply didn’t know how to run a bank properly. Here are the highlights:

  • Beam opened some sort of commercial custody account with Huntington Bank (a real FDIC-insured bank), but that account didn’t allow withdrawals (!). Beam apparently didn’t know that before they opened the account (!!).
  • Beam then added Dwolla as their ACH provider (to provide transfers, not to hold any money), but Dwolla terminated their agreement as of October 1st, 2020 with a (disputed) one month of notice for violating their agreement.
  • Dwolla was supposed to manage transfers between Huntington and another deposit network provider R&T (which also provides FDIC insurance). R&T also terminated their relationship with Beam at the end of October 2020 for violating their agreement.
  • Beam used to list Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and US Bank as examples of banks they work with on their website. When contacted, none of those banks stated they had a relationship with Beam. Those names are now gone.
  • Beam lost up to $300,000 due to a deposit chargeback scam that seemed easily avoidable (details below).
  • BBB complaints about account access started as early as December 2019. They were officially investigated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the second time by May 2020.
  • Beam says the money is all just stuck somewhere now, with no way to get it back to their rightful owners. They have given no date as to when this will be fixed.

Within its first 3 months of existence, Beam was apparently defrauded out of about $300,000 by the modern version of check kiting. A malicious customer would initiate an ACH transfer of funds to Beam, and then Beam would let them withdraw it to another account before it fully cleared. Meanwhile, the malicious customer would cancel their initial ACH transfer. Net result: No money in, just money out! I guess they never saw the movie Catch Me If You Can. This is why most banks have clear funds availability policies to protect themselves.

Why didn’t I open an account with Beam? After searching my emails, I found that I did submit my email for the Beam waitlist in August 2017. They invited me to their private beta in April 2018. I declined. I didn’t know any of this would happen, but I do remember that they were vague about the name of their partner bank that would provide FDIC-insurance, despite so many loud emails with emojis and a very aggressive referral program. So much hype, but so many delays. I thought they’d be “vaporware” forever. When it did finallly arrive, I didn’t like their confusing model of offering 7% interest for a single day if I jumped through their hoops. How was I supposed to track that? I usually only like to share offers that I’d take advantage of myself, so I never mentioned it here (thankfully).

I would have found more red flags if I did open an account…

What are some quick checks to perform before depositing substantial amount of money? Here are some steps that I take when dealing with a new financial account. My most recent account opening was HM Bradley, so let’s run through them as an example.

If they are a banking app, what financial institution is providing the FDIC insurance? What is the certificate number and what is the name on it? These days, many banks have multiple names or they offer deposit services to other financial companies.

The HMBradley website claims says that “All deposit accounts are provided by Hatch Bank, Member FDIC.” The FDIC BankFind website shows certificate #25803 for Hatch Bank in San Marcos, CA. There is one location, which per Google Maps is a strip mall with the name “Rancho Santa Fe Thrift & Loan” as of April 2019. According to this announcement:

Rancho Santa Fe Thrift & Loan Association changed its name to Hatch Bank, effective April 12, according to the California Department of Business Oversight’s monthly bulletin.

The San Marcos, Calif.-based bank is a subsidiary of Conshohocken, Pa.-based Firstrust Savings Bank, and Semperverde Holding Co. is the ultimate parent of both.

Fun fact: Firstrust Bank was started in 1934 and is the largest family-owned bank in the Philadelphia region and the official bank of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Beam would not provide an FDIC certificate and just stated that they use a “network” of banks including US Bank, Citibank and Wells Fargo (all of which denied any relationship with Beam when contacted).

Does that named financial institution actually acknowledge the named fintech app somewhere? Either verify via phone call, website link, press release, something to confirm this claim from both directions.

On the Hatch Bank website, HM Bradley is clearly mentioned and linked to on the front page.

After signing up for the account, does the routing number match up with the promised bank?

The routing number provided was 322286188. According to the official site of ABA routing numbers, ABA.com, this matches up with Hatch Bank.

Based on my research, Beam would NOT provide a routing number, ostensibly so they could maintain their overall $15,000 deposit limit and $5,000 maximum deposit per day.

If I link the account to another savings account (ex. Ally Bank), can I push/pull funds without issue?

Ally Bank allows a high number of linked banks, and it is free to simply push and pull $1 to/from an external account. HMBradley lets me push and pull from Ally and other external banks with no issue.

Beam would NOT give you a routing number and account number, so you couldn’t link it other accounts and push/pull. You can only initiate transfers within the Beam app itself. This is a HUGE red flag and instant deal-breaker in my opinion.

Does the bank have a working customer service phone number? If not, how responsive are they to email or Live Chat?

If they have a phone number, just call it and ask for something mundane, like verifying your account balance. Phone customer service is expensive, but it’s still very nice to have. HM Bradley does not have a phone number that I can find, but it does have Live Chat from 9-5pm Pacific, Monday through Friday. I have contacted them via both Live Chat and e-mail support (support@hmbradley.com) multiple times and have gotten satisfactory support. Mostly, I bug them to mark my direct deposit as such to qualify for the higher savings tiers.

Beam had no phone number or live chat, only an e-mail address.

How much venture capital have they received? When? From whom?

These banks may have various business models with fancy projections, but honestly, in the beginning your interest is being paid out of venture capital. HM Bradley apparently got $3.5 million from 6 VC firms in a seed round in November 2019. PayPal founder Max Levchin is an investor through his HVF Labs.

I could not find any evidence that Beam Financial received any substantial venture capital at all. Note that there is a startup called Beam Solutions that raised $9M of venture capital before recently being acquired, but that is not Beam Financial.

A high interest rate doesn’t automatically mean danger. There are definitely many different sources of revenue in the banking world, and I have (and continue to) receive much higher interest in my bank accounts than if I just kept it in Bank of America or Chase, earning nothing. ING Direct was a young start-up once, and it changed the entire industry. Banks have paid me over ten thousand dollars to switch to them. Rewards checking accounts come and go, oftentimes with very high rates. Prepaid debit cards gave me 5% to 6% APY for a long time. Credit unions offered me long-term CDs at interest rates double or triple the national average, all because they have unique funding needs. I have literally earned tens of thousands of dollars in extra interest by taking advantage of offers that are only available to individuals (not huge institutions) and for a limited-time. This is not a highly “efficient” market, not least because most people hate changing banks.

There is always some risk involved. Doing all of the above doesn’t mean that HM Bradley or any financial institution won’t have problems in the future. In the end, there is always some risk of bad actors at least delaying access to your money. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. While the “smell” test is important, I focus on making sure that my funds are landing in an FDIC-insured account. It remains to be seen if Beam will make all of their customers whole without government intervention. I certainly hope so. I hope this added publicity brings more attention to their plight.

* Beam’s website at MeetBeam(dot)com still says nothing about their issues. They are still gathering e-mail addresses for new sign-ups. That is not right, and so I’m not linking to their site.

** I have no financial interest in Beam or HMBradley, in terms of you opening an account. My only “skin in the game” is that I have my own cash at HMBradley. Please do your own due diligence.

Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

Amazon App: $10 Off $20+ Purchase (Targeted)

Posted on November 2, 2020 // 1 Comment

Amazon is offering targeted customers $10 off your next $20+ purchase when you activate the promo and make a purchase via Amazon app. Note: I was only able to activate this promo by clicking the promo link on my smartphone browser. Items must be sold and shipped by Amazon. Qualifying purchase must be completed before 11:59 p.m. (PT) December 31, 2020.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

TopCashBack: 6% Cash Back on Sam’s Club Gift Cards ($10 New Member Bonus)

Posted on October 28, 2020 // 2 Comments

The TopCashBack shopping portal is currently offering 6% cash back on gift cards and 5% cash back on all other items at SamsClub.com for a limited-time. Rakuten ($30 new user bonus) is also offering 3% cash back at Sam’s Club “with no exclusions”. You can buy either Sam’s Club gift cards at face value or their discounted gift cards from restaurants and other retailers (up to 25% off) at SamsClub.com. This also stacks with your credit card rewards, making it a potentially good opportunity to knock out some holiday gifts.

TopCashBack is offering a $10 new user bonus for those that sign up by referral link (that’s mine). The $10 bonus is released when you reach a minimum of $10 cashback at Payable status. This Sam’s Club promo may be a good opportunity to trigger that bonus. The $10 bonus isn’t indicated on the referral link landing page, but it does show up on the next page after you enter your e-mail and chosen password, before making any purchases. You should see this:

tcb10_2

The Groupon deal for a $25 Sam’s Club membership including a free $9.99 pizza is still available.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Chase Sapphire Cards Add $60/$120 Peloton Membership Credits

Posted on October 27, 2020 // Leave a Comment

Chase has announced a new Peloton membership benefits for Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred cardholders:

  • Chase Sapphire Reserve card now includes up to $120 in statement credits on Peloton Digital and All-Access Memberships through December 31, 2021.
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred card now includes up to $60 in statement credits on Peloton Digital and All-Access Memberships through December 31, 2021.

Cardmembers can activate their Peloton membership benefit simply by visiting Onepeloton.com/ChaseSapphire and enrolling in an eligible Peloton Membership using their Sapphire card. The statement credits will be applied automatically until reaching the full value offered on that card. Sapphire cardmembers are also invited to join the #SapphireSquad Tag within Peloton to connect to others in the community and find and motivate each other on the Leaderboard.

Peloton Digital membership is $12.99 per month and includes live and on-demand workouts streamed to your smartphone, tablets, and computers across 10 exercise categories including strength, yoga, meditation, cardio, stretching, and others like cycling and running. There is also a free 30-trial for new members that you should taken advantage of first. No Peloton hardware is required.

Peloton All-Access Membership is $39 per month and is their original service that works with the Peloton bike and treadmill.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Free Uber Eats Pass with American Express Gold, Green, and Platinum Cards

Posted on October 26, 2020 // 4 Comments

American Express has announced new Uber perks for US holders of the American Express Gold Card, the American Express Green Card, or The Platinum Card from American Express. First, consumer Platinum, Gold and Green cardholders can enroll now for a complimentary Eats Pass Membership for up to 12 months. Uber Eats Pass usually costs $9.99 a month ($119 a year) and includes:

  • $0 delivery fee + 5% off restaurant orders of $15+.
  • $0 delivery fee on grocery delivers of $30+
  • Unlike Doordash Dasspass and Grubhub+, these benefits apply to every restaurant available on Uber Eats, not just select participating restaurants.

Note the fine print:

Offer valid thru 12/31/2021 on U.S. subscription. Pass will auto-bill starting 12 months from initial enrollment in this offer, at then-current monthly rate.

If you haven’t signed up for Uber Eats yet, you can first use my referral link to get $20 off your first order of $25+. Or simply apply this promo code at checkout: eats-ubermymoneyblog. Thanks if you use it!

In early 2021, the American Express Gold Card will also be getting $10 a month ($120 annually) in Uber Cash, which works both on Uber Eats orders and Uber rides in the US. For 2021, there will still be the $100 incidental airline credit (baggage fees, etc) but it has been announced as going away in 2022. This is in addition to the other $10 a month ($120 annually) dining credit which works on Grubhub, Seamless, and other select restaurants.

So in 2021, Gold cardholders can get all three credits: $120 Uber Cash, $120 Grubhub/Seamless/dining credit, and $100 Incidental Airline Fee credits. Right now the American Express Gold is also running a 60,000 point limited-time offer (the highest I’ve seen), making this is the best opportunity in a while to apply as a new cardholder.

It certainly looks like American Express is working hard to make their Gold card a better competitor against the Chase Sapphire line-up. This follows closely on the heels of the Chase Sapphire Reserve including Lyft Pink and Grubhub+ memberships, in addition to Dashpass and Doordash credits.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve: New Benefits November 2020

Posted on October 20, 2020 // 4 Comments

Newly added and extended benefits as of November 2020. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Chase Sapphire Reserve card have been very popular for their generous travel and dining perks, but right now travel and dining aren’t really happening. Chase has adjusted their rewards program for this new environment, including the following:

Chase Sapphire Preferred new changes:

  • New: 2X points at Grocery Stores. 2x total points on up to $1,000 in grocery store purchases per month from November 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021, including pickup and eligible grocery store delivery services. It’s automatic—no activation required.
  • Extended through April 2021: Redeem Ultimate Rewards points at 1.25 cents per points towards grocery store, dining, and home improvement stores. (Previously only travel through their portal.) Through April 30, 2021, your points are worth 25% more when you redeem them for statement credits after using your card at grocery stores and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery services), home improvement stores and select charitable organizations. Footnote1(Opens Overlay) Just choose an eligible purchase made with your Sapphire Preferred card from the past 90 days. Then, apply the points for all or part of the purchase and receive a statement credit.
  • 12+ months of included DashPass membership. For a minimum of one year, enjoy a complimentary DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service that provides unlimited restaurant deliveries with $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on eligible orders over $12 on DoorDash and Caviar. Activate by December 31, 2021.

If you earn 2x points on a grocery store purchase, and can use those points at 1.25 cents per point towards grocery store purchases using the Pay Yourself Back tool, that works out to 2.5% cashback towards grocery store purchases.

Chase Sapphire Reserve new changes:

  • New: 3X points at Grocery Stores. 2x total points on up to $1,000 in grocery store purchases per month from November 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021, including pickup and eligible grocery store delivery services. It’s automatic—no activation required.
  • Extended through April 2021: Redeem Ultimate Rewards points at 1.50 cents per points towards grocery store, dining, and home improvement stores. (Previously only travel through their portal.) Through April 30, 2021, your points are worth 50% more when you redeem them for statement credits after using your card at grocery stores and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery services), home improvement stores and select charitable organizations. Footnote1(Opens Overlay) Just choose an eligible purchase made with your Sapphire Reserve card from the past 90 days. Then, apply the points for all or part of the purchase and receive a statement credit.
  • Extended through June 2021: $300 annual travel credit works on gas station and grocery store purchases. There are more ways to earn your annual $300 Travel Credit. Through June 30, 2021, gas station and grocery store purchases will count toward earning your Travel Credit. You’ll also earn points on these purchases. And, as always, after your first $300 in travel purchases, you’ll immediately start earning 3x points on travel.
  • 12+ months of Dashpass Membership plus $60 in Doordash food credit per calendar year. For a minimum of one year, enjoy a complimentary DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service that provides unlimited restaurant deliveries with $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on eligible orders over $12 on DoorDash and Caviar. Activate by December 31, 2021. Plus, earn up to $120 in statement credits on DoorDash purchases through 2021—that’s $60 in statement credits through 2020 and another $60 in statement credits through 2021.
  • Annual fee renewal $100 discount. Sapphire Reserve annual fee renewals through the end of 2020 will be $450 instead of the normal $550. This is only for renewals, not new cardmembers.

If you earn 3x points on a grocery store purchase, and can use those points at 1.5 cents per point towards grocery store purchases, that works out to 4.5% cashback towards grocery store purchases.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

$45 of Free Grubhub Food: Rakuten $30 + Grubhub 11% Cash Back / $10 Off

Posted on October 19, 2020 // Leave a Comment

There are three separate deals going on right now that are stackable. Altogether, if you sign up for new accounts for Grubhub and Rakuten, you can effectively get about $45 of food for free!

  • $30 Rakuten bonus. Rakuten (formerly eBates) is a cashback shopping portal. Right now, they have an limited-time $30 new user bonus via referral when you make your first purchase of $30+ through any participating Rakuten retailer within 90 days of joining. The standard non-referral bonus is only $10.
  • $10 off first order of $15+ from Grubhub. New users of Grubhub food delivery can get $10 off your first Grubhub order of $15+ and free delivery if you join via my referral link. This comes from Grubhub itself.
  • 11% Cash Back on first Grubhub order via Rakuten app. Rakuten actually gives cash back on Grubhub purchases, which makes it an easy way to trigger the $30 bonus above. In addition, you can get 11% cash back on your first order and also 2% cash back on future orders. You must order via their app.

Here is a detailed step-by-step breakdown:

  • First, sign up for Grubhub here.
  • Next, sign up for Rakuten here.
  • Download the Rakuten app and sign in.
  • Using Rakuten app, search for Grubhub and order within the app.
  • You should be able to apply your $10 off code and also get free delivery on your first order. Be sure that the net order amount after discounts and before tax and tip is a least $30. So order about $45 of food.
  • This will trigger the $30 Rakuten bonus, and then you’ll also see the 11% cash back afterward in your Rakuten balance.

Let’s say you order $45.45 of food. $10 off from Gruhbub + $30 off from Rakuten + 11% cash back = $45 of free food! These are all my referral links and I will get the referrer credit when you use them. Thanks if you use them!

For future orders, you can still get 2% cash back on Grubhub through Rakuten app, on top of any credit card rewards. In addition, you can also get free Gruhhub+ membership with Lyft Pink membership (included with the Chase Sapphire Reserve card).

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Amazon Prime Day 2020: Big List of Deals and Discounts (Updated)

Posted on October 14, 2020 // Leave a Comment

Amazon Prime Day is over, don’t forget to spend your free credits. Here are their current Holiday Dash Deals of the Day.

Amazon Prime Day 2020 is October 13th and 14th. I’ll try to keep this post updated with the most recent offers. There are usually many opportunities to save some money without buying stuff you don’t need (and thus offset a chunk of that membership fee). I bought a discounted Eero WiFi system last year and it was definitely a worthwhile upgrade.

As the name suggests, most deals require a Prime membership. New members can sign up for a 30-day free trial. If you’ve already done the trial, you can simply buy a month of Prime for $12.99 ($5.99 with EBT or Medicaid card).

Newest Deals

General Deals

Amazon Device Deals

Amazon Partner Deals

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //
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