Used Amex bluebird card for litterally a decade and it was for the most part great. But Amex is discontinuing all of their prepaid cards next month so I need a alternative. My complication is that I would strongly prefer not to have a Visa or Mastercard, as I strongly oppose those companies for a number of reasons mainly to due with their long history of censorship. I have checked with all banks within driving distance and they all only issue ether visa or mastercards for their checking debit cards with no exceptions. The best I could figure is starting a checking account at the bank, not getting a card issued by that bank, and instead getting a amex checking card online and linking it to that account. I couldn't figure out how to actually get a discover debit card, so they are basically out unless someone can explain better than their shitty website. Does anyone know about this stuff and have any useful or constructive comments?Not interested in getting a credit card.
>>62267694This is an extremely niche requests. I don't know of a single bank that doesn't use either.It sounds like you're fucked. Maybe you need to rethink this and go cash only, with an online payment processor like paypal (something other THAN paypal but like them) used for online purchases.You're also weird
>>62267694>strongly prefer not to have a Visa or Mastercard,i mean you pretty much ruled out then
>>62267700>You're also weird*Shrugs*I believe in free speech and want my money to align with my values if at all possible. What so weird about that?
>>62267781Visa mostly failed in their censorship campaign. Plus, they don't charge you specifically for transacting with them. They charge the business.
>>62267781Probably because you're generally inconsistent with that preference relative to the amount of money you spend on other shit with other companies that don't represent your values.Also being so diehard about Amex but then refusing just to get an Amex credit card.Also Amex is pretty woke DEI nonsense too
>>62267910Amex hasn't forced any companies or countries to censor legal speech like visa and mastercard has.Your accusations against OP are baseless. And not everyone needs or wants a credit card for everything and amex is the main alternative to the big two. The others are stuff like dinners club or discover.Just about everything else in the US is controlled by the duopoly. Just accusing OP of random nonsense isn't particularly productive. Why behave in such a way?
>>62267694American Express is mentioned less often, but they have indeed engaged in censorship. They were mentioned in the DLsite sabotage.
>>62267996Any card company that isn't involved in censorship?
>>62267694>explain better than their shitty website.To sign up for a Discover Debit Card, apply for a Discover Cashback Debit account online via the Discover Bank portal. The digital application takes less than 10 minutes, after which your physical card will be mailed to you. Required InformationHave the following details and documents ready before you begin:Personal details: Full name, date of birth, and physical U.S. residential address.Identification: Social Security Number (SSN) and a valid government-issued ID (e.g., driver's license or passport).Contact: A valid email address and phone number. Step-by-Step Signup ProcessNavigate to Discover: Go to the Discover Checking Accounts page.Start the Application: Click the Apply Now button to begin the application flow.Fill Out Your Info: Input your personal, contact, and employment information into the secure digital form.Fund Your Account: You may be prompted to make an initial deposit. You can typically transfer these funds from an existing external bank account.Review and Submit: Agree to the terms and submit your application. Discover will verify your identity, which usually happens instantly. After ApprovalOnce your application is approved, your new debit card will arrive by mail in 7 to 10 business days. Once it arrives, you will need to activate it—either online or by calling the number on the sticker attached to the card—and set up your personal identification number (PIN). tl;dr OP is retarded
>>62268113Fun fact, the discover bank portal stopped existing after their merger with capital one.Your ai is out of date by over a year.
>>62267694Use Paypal's debit card for gas. You get 5% back. If you have a wife, have her get one (if you refer her and have her use Paypal online for like 15 bucks you will get $20 for free between you). Have her use her card for groceries (you only get one category and have to choose each month). Only use credit cards if you will absolutely pay the balance at the end of the month. You can get a 4% card from Gemini or others which automatically pay you 4% back on all other spending that you can do with a card but none of these cards can be used for federally unregulated services or point gaming. Download the app Upside additionally for an additional 1% in gas. Use your account to refer the person between you and your wife who dedicated their Paypal debit card to gas and you will save an additional 5% on gas and 1% paid up to the person who referred, getting 11% total off gas, which is huge. Remember that at the beginning of every month, you need to reselect your categories in the app, which is very easy, or you won't get the rewards, which are redeemable near-instantly in cash. If you do this you are literally saving literally thousands of dollars a year more than paying with a traditional debit card like a retard for no points and nothing, just choosing to leave this money on the table. Additionally, you can keep your cash in either Paypal's savings account and earn 3.25% or (what I do) keep it in PYUSD on the app, which is purchasable without fee and fully redeemable for a dollar at par and yields 4% on passively held balances. To spend it all you will need to do is sell PYUSD and have that amount in your balance, all of which can be done instantly. The only drag to Paypal is MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE FREE BANK TRANSFER OPTION. It will default to immediate transfer for a fee. For deposits/withdrawals, make sure it is the option that takes 5 days or so and is free both ways. This is all VERY easy to manage and will increase your savings by thousands per year.
>>62268791Another option for holding is Uphold. They offer a yield product that is fully FDIC up to a few million dollars and gives you 3.75% as a savings rate with zero lockup. If you deposit your paycheck directly into their cash account, you get a 3% addition to it that is equivalent to getting a 3% raise. The best option is to have both you and your wife do this, then the money back to your traditional bank account and use it to pay the Gemini credit card balance and to transfer to Paypal to use for gas/groceries and to earn in PYUSD (or if wanting to keep a sizable savings FDIC, I would keep it in Uphold's yield product earning 3.75. They have a dollar account that is distinct from the yield account in your account so make sure you distinguish the right one. If you refer your wife also on Uphold you would get an additional $20 or so I think, I don't remember). PYUSD is fully capitalized and regulated as an onshore stablecoin that will have to meet GENIUS Act's standards but I would not keep my nest egg in a single stablecoin, though would feel safe keeping the month's gas/grocery balance in it, transfering to the cash balance as needed to spend and topping up as needed, yielding across accounts 3.75% on the Uphold balance with the bulk of cash, fully FDIC at Crossriver Bank, and 4% on the Paypal. People don't do this or something better, they are fucking retards choosing to lose money. Even if you just want to look at it as paying several months of your years' groceries or whatever in doing it, why would someone not do it to avoid 20 minutes of admin a month. It is incredibly easy to do once it is routine and at the outset is still very easy.
>>62267694> I strongly oppose those companies for a number of reasons mainly to due with their long history of censorship.If you don't want your credit frozen and $10k in ethics-violation fees, don't vote for the political right. It ain't complicated, chud.
>>62268113>>62268791>>62268793Thanks for raping this thread with low effort ai shit, faggot. I genuinely hope you get crushed flat by a steamroller, from your feet to your head.
>>62268801(You)
>>62268812I wrote it myself, copied from archives of a past post on the same topic. Nothing I wrote is even vaguely contestable or untrue, all of it is extremely good advice with virtually zero better alternative, and what I do personally with my own spending. You are a low IQ person whose most vivid experience in their day to day is watching reels on instagram. It is unfathomable to you that someone could actually be meaningfully knowledgable on something or have something worth saying in non-retard speak because you assume everyone is as cooked as you and that somehow you are still a high performer. Not everyone lives as an NPC just because you do. If you have a substantive complaint about the advice I gave, name it specifically (you can't and won't because you know nothing and are so cooked you lack the patience for latency to even register for a paypal account and have never been impressively knowing or acting on anything and never will be). Worth adding: Paypal is suspending the cash redemption in August, but I believe Future Card still offers 5% on groceries up to a reasonable amount of spending (Paypal will allow rewards still but will force redemption through channels that are not cash direct).
>>62267694just use cash. all card corpos are ran by conservatives and in bed with each other>>62268801both sides are the same thing with different coating
>>62268878Use the corps in a way that you get the incentive without them getting the squeeze. They run a business on you not getting the good end of the deal and settling up debts or expanding into services justifying the incentive given. Use their cash back with zero interest rolled. Fuck them for fucking everyone else.
>>62268793i wouldn't want to keep any money on shartpal. they will suspend the account and run with the money at some point
>>62268901I keep a small amount to use for groceries month to month. With the competition that is coming in the payments space I strongly doubt they will push chokepoint 3.0. If they do, I will leave the service, being no fan of theirs whatsoever. I will probably not even use them once they suspend cash redemption other than for gas which I use redemption of to pay for my Game Pass subscription or something. I will use Future Card for my groceries and power bill for 5% and X Pay when it launches for 3% elsewhere and for 6% on deposits. I hate corpos and technocrats, which is a cherry on the use of them in a way that milks the rewards and doesn't commit deeper in a way that makes it majorly profitable for them.
>>62268791You know the fun way I save on gas?I don't have a car and don't want a car. Thousands saved by not spending in the first place.
>>62268878>just use cashI would LOVE to but paying with cash for online goods and services is typically not a option.
>>62268925Lol>>62268930Why would you leave hundreds of dollars you could take from credit card companies and financial service corps a year on the table in cash back on a zero interest product just to spend cash?
>>62268858>i wrote it myself>i copied itI love when thirdies tell on themselves because they're retarded.
>>62268950>Why would you leave hundreds of dollars you could take from credit card companies and financial service corps a year on the table in cash back on a zero interest product just to spend cash?For one thing I don't have to worry about some corpo HR lady dictating what I can and can't spend my money on or some number-cruncher profiling me and sending my data to the government as a loophole for the 3 letter agencies to find new ways to restrict my freedom. Though if I am more honest it just seems like a huge pain in the ass for not that much gain. I am sure once everything is all set up and engraned as a habit then it's not so bad, but slapping down a crisp $100 bill and instantly getting exactly the good or service I want without any hassle is very nice.
>>62268791>>62268793>>62268858Based.
>>62267694You could just get an Amex checking account and use their debit card.
>>62268793I just dug into Uphold and how it works. If you have your money in the account that yields 3.75%, that isn’t FDIC insured. They use a lot of confusing language to make you think that that money is insured but it’s not. The high-yield account is technically a brokerage account and they point out that their brokerage accounts are not FDIC insured.
>>62267920>"Hey everyone I'm gay and faggoty for NO good reason. I NEED oddly specific solution to my convoluted problem. No I won't accept any normal ass solution that involves doing basic shit differently"OP needs to fuck off. Imagine not being a normal person and having only an Amex Debit card. It's like walking around as a vegan or tranny or whatever. What, you're going to go around with a fuckload of cash?
