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What's worse than being poor?

Discussion in 'Banking - Investing - Finances' started by Rye83, Oct 25, 2016.

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  1. nwlivewire

    nwlivewire DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer Blood Donor Veteran Army Navy

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    I have found USAA to be really good about my traveling outside of my 200 mile radius WHEN I notify them ahead of time of my travel.

    One thing about USAA, they WILL lock up your card use if you don't tell them you're outside your area. Fraud prevention thing.

    You can do most of your banking with them as soon as you set up your on-line account access.

    You can also set-up transfers of money from an outside bank to them - and vice versa.

    USAA uses a VISA logo and they offer AMEX credit card.

    Fidelity uses VISA, and they also provide internet banking, 24/7 help, and it's easy to set up interbank transfers with them, too.

    I have Fidelity and USAA talking to each other in case I need to transfer funds from one to the other.

    If it wasn't for the fact that Wells Fargo talks to Philippine National Bank (which has locations outside the Philippines), I'd let them slide off my table, too. But W/F didn't harm me with the crap they pulled on so many others, so I'll be staying put for now - until I find another US bank that can do what W/F does in SE Asia and Europe.

    nwlivewire
     
    • Like Like x 1
    nwlivewire, Oct 25, 2016
    #11
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    Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I guess not telling my bank of my travel could have been part of the problem but I hate the idea of telling anyone my travel plans before they happen, especially over electronic means (or over public WiFi)...and even more so when the travel is for government/military operations. It's just bad OPSEC.
     
    Rye83, Oct 26, 2016
    #12
  3. AlwaysRt

    AlwaysRt DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster Blood Donor Veteran Air Force Marines

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    Not sure how to overcome the OPSEC issue as financial institutions won't want to be responsible for the liability of fraudulent charges all over the world, hoping it is you traveling.

    I have used my Schwab account from Canada to Central America to Asia. The one time my ATM was denied was my first time here in the Philippines (higher than average fraud alert I suppose). However, a call to 24/7 customer service was answered on the 2nd ring by an American! He was friendly, courteous, understanding, apologetic, and my card was active in less than a minute. All other contacts I have had with customer service, mostly questions before and during opening my account were also answered quickly, by Americans, who did their job well, no complaints at all. To open a checking account you also have to open a brokerage account but there is no minimum deposit or balance requirements. Using the checking account ATM card, all ATM withdrawl fees are reimbused monthly, and I have alway gotten a better exchange rate than xe.com shows.
     
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    AlwaysRt, Oct 26, 2016
    #13
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    Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I wouldn't have as big of a problem with my bank's anti-fraud nonsense if they had 24 hour customer support for it. It REALLY sucks to have your card locked up with no way to reactivate it for 12+ hours out of the day and no chance on Sundays. If I wasn't with family last night at the restaurant I would have been up sh*t creek. I wouldn't even know how to handle a situation like that...sit in jail for the night until I could call my bank the next day to sort it all out? Offer to wash the dishes?

    I opened a second bank today (its actually a 3rd but I don't have access to one of my existing accounts due to an expired debit card) account today and will open a few more in the next couple weeks as a backup plan. I plan on having around 4 accounts with 1k USD in each of them in case of emergency. I also have a Philippine bank account but I don't plan on keeping more than 1k potatoes in that account at any given time because of the political nonsense going on right now.
     
    Rye83, Oct 26, 2016
    #14
  5. ShawnM

    ShawnM Living the dream, Plan B ★ No Ads ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Blood Donor Veteran Air Force

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    I opened a Navy Federal acct a few months ago and plan to eventually move everything to them as my primary bank; you can set things up on-line as a military vet. I have not really dealt with them afterwards as I am only having my retired pay deposited into that acct and have no reason to use it right now. They have a great reputation and a guy I work with here uses the local ATMs to pull money with no issues. Another guy I work with is an old crusty Sea Bee and has used Navy Federal for over 30 years to include his house mortgage and was the one to actually recommend them to me when I was having issues with DoD Community bank.

    Shawn
     
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    ShawnM, Oct 28, 2016
    #15
  6. cabb

    cabb DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster ✤Forum Sponsor✤

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    Referring to the title of the post. Lots of stuff:
    Being dead
    Being in a prison in the Philippines
    Being captured by ISIS
    Being a quadriplegic
    lots of other things........

    Count your blessings, something we fail to do all too often. :thumbsup:
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
    cabb, Oct 29, 2016
    #16
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    Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Context, I know there are many things worse than not having access to my money. :thumbsup:
    Thanks for the info. This is a bank i will certainly look at.

    I already have 4 checking accounts (my previous bank i complained about, a small town bank that i previously had but is currently locked for an unknown reasons, a Wells Fargo account because i needed to exchange some currency and wanted to save on the $8 non-customer fee and a Bank of America account because it was walking distance from my hotel in Savannah) and one credit card to use as backup at this point but I'm looking to add another card to my wallet and possibly make my main bank.
     
    • Informative Informative x 1
    Rye83, Oct 29, 2016
    #17
  8. cabb

    cabb DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster ✤Forum Sponsor✤

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    Just reading money magazine and they said Capital One 360 Checking is best for foreign travelers. There is no maintenance fee, no foreign transaction fee, no non-us ATM fee. It's an online only account.
     
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    cabb, Nov 1, 2016
    #18
  9. ChMacQueen

    ChMacQueen DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    I use US Bank and have for over a decade and never had a single problem. As a veteran I get a free platinum account which refunds atm fee's from non bank atm's and other things plus they have a solid 24h hotline for any issue. Other banks I have used in the past were always problematic and when complained made me feel like a customer they really don't care about. Friends who have been with Wells Fargo and Chase have both been pretty pissed at times with their banks. As far as my US Bank account I told them years ago I am mostly working in the Philippines and SE Asia so to have my cards approved for use in SE Asia transactions and never an issue.
     
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    ChMacQueen, Nov 1, 2016
    #19
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