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I actually have this, as well as being a zyncster.
I dare not add my DW as an AU on the normal card, so this bird is going to permit me to give her an "allowance," as well as my kiddo. I'm not a 1%. I shop where it's cheap, and don't care if it's tarche', or wallymart...LOL.
One of the big benefits of the Bluebird is that it can be used abroad with no foreign transaction fee AND has no monthly maintenance fee. That means you can use it on a trip, then sock drawer it for 10 months until your next trip without it costing you anything.
Chase Liquid is going to cost you $5 a month and charge you FTFs of 3%.
Plus, there's the nifty sub-accounts feature which makes it very easy to manage allowances and "mad money".
You don't have to be "low economical social status" (just say it - poor) to see this card has uses for a thoughtful spender at any income bracket.
The elitist paranoia in this thread is both mind-boggling and amusing.
Let's just say hypothetically that AmEx did close your other accounts just for using one of their own products. If that happened to me, it would be a clear sign that they were no longer a club I wanted to be a member of.
I've known CEOs who shop at Ross and take the municipal bus from the airport to their downtown hotel. The days when the rich shopped only at Needless Markup and the poor only at K-Mart and never the twain did meet...those days are over.
One little Bluebird card is not going to ruin your precious financial reputation.
@Jutz wrote:I just looked through the website for the first time. My initial reaction is that it looks like a very well put together product. Is the only thing that makes this an "alternative" product is that it doesn't actually provide check writing? Other than manual check writing this offers a million more features than my credit union, which "upgraded" its online system recently to one of the worst portals i've ever used.
What comes to my mind is that this could be a REAL first attempt at creating a true e-commerce platform, more than an alternative to allready existing AMEX products or customers.
Just think about it. a 100% electronic money sea of money managed by AMEX but directed to a Harbor named Walmart? Walmart has a customer base large enough to litterally create a new trade route where there is no more need for "check writing" or any other manual or traditional banking intervention. Government Checks, Direct Deposits and all other sorts of continuous payments go right in to this network and are accessible by "prepaid cards", but that are actually glorified (because of the AMEX logo) ATM cards. And by the way marketed to ensure that these cards are used heavily in one central SupoerDepot.
Perhaps I'm projecting, but I think this is exactly the strategy.
By the way, they have stated that check-writing will soon be added as a feature.
"American Express and Wal-Mart executives said they are planning to add check-writing capabilities and additional deposit options potentially in the first quarter of next year."
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/10/08/american-express-and-wal-mart-team-up-for-prepaid-card/#i...
I signed up for it just to try it...keep adding a small bit for savings purposes....I do use my Chase checking/savings accounts primarily and my 401k. This is worth a try....As for the walmart comments...Really? I know millionaires who shop at goodwill's and salvation army's....why? Because the are rich and want to stay rich. Just because you are frugal doesn't make you poor...My mother in-law worked as an hourly employee at walmart for over 30 years until she just retired and is sitting on a nice nest egg not to mention that walmart store managers make between 200k-400k a year. IGNORANCE
@beb86 wrote:I signed up for it just to try it...keep adding a small bit for savings purposes....I do use my Chase checking/savings accounts primarily and my 401k. This is worth a try....As for the walmart comments...Really? I know millionaires who shop at goodwill's and salvation army's....why? Because the are rich and want to stay rich. Just because you are frugal doesn't make you poor...My mother in-law worked as an hourly employee at walmart for over 30 years until she just retired and is sitting on a nice nest egg not to mention that walmart store managers make between 200k-400k a year. IGNORANCE
I think people are taking comments a bit too personally. Just because someone does not wish to shop at a place does not make them ignorant. So what if the manaers make that much, they still do not carry the brands I like to wear. There is actually not a walmart anywhere around here so I could not shop there even if I wanted to.
I know millionaires who shop an Neiman Marcus and are still rich. I would never buy second hand clothes because that is just not how I was raised and I have no need to buy it. I find it really saddening that any time people think that someone has money, they immediately see them as the enemy. I think the ignorance is not realising that everyone has different tastes. Maybe you think that Ralph Lauren or Macys is low class, but that would not stop me from buying things in their shops.
I am able to get shirts for around $25 by shopping in the boy's section at Macys. The same shirt in the men's section would cost 65-80. Just because I do not shop at walmart does not mean I just throw away money. There are other places with better prices than that place.
@Repo-ed wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I do not want to be associate with a low level economical social status as I am not.
We have a 1% here folks! Assume the normal positions
That has got to be some of the funniest stuff I've ever read - short of appbaars app spree post
Good one, haha. But seriously, does Walmart ask for your social security number in return for Bluebird?
It still bugs me that Bluebird customers get no FTF's while people that pay $100's a year for other Amex cards (aside from the Platinum) have FTF's.
I was thinking of getting this for my youngest daughter, right now I have her as an AU on my Zync, but I think this would be alot better for her, I can just setup an allotment each payday to go to this account, create a sub account for her and she would be free to do with it as she pleases, if nothing else she'll be able to order stuff online without having to use a CC..I would hope AMEX wouldn't look unfavorably at someone who signed up for a product that they're pushing...