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December App-O-Rama
22 Dec. 2019
December App-O-Rama
More Plastic Several months ago I did my largest round of credit card applications in many years, applying for 7 new rewards cards.  Fortunately I was approved for all 7, but they weren’t all instant, and it also created a near shutdown for me with one of my banks.  Until being banned by MoneyGram this
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MoneyGram Banned!
22 Dec. 2019
MoneyGram Banned!
Bannishment It was only a matter of time but the MoneyGram hammer has come.  On Friday while trying to process a $4k transaction at a local Walmart, I got MoneyGram’s generic message of death. …”Please inform the customer that the system is unable to process the transaction.” In other words, you’re screwed, see you lat...
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My $100k Challenge
19 Nov. 2019
My $100k Challenge
Slow Cooker The points and miles hobby/game/lifestyle is fun.  It’s been very rewarding to me, but also continuously changing.  To derive substantial rewards, it requires some effort to monitor the latest news and stay on top of things, but that work has, and does, pay off.  Point and miles, or loyalty based rewards, are also
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Simon GCMall Site Not Working
15 Nov. 2019
Simon GCMall Site Not Working
Another One Bites the Dust Having different sources to buy debit/gift cards for manufactured spend is always a plus, but it looks like one of them is toast.  It’s not a secret you can buy gift cards at Simon Malls, but Simon also has had two online sites to buy cards.  One of them is
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Walmageddon?
31 Oct. 2019
Walmageddon?
The Down->Low I’ve written a bit about some of the rumored changes coming to Walmart (WM) MoneyCenters via MoneyGram (MG), and it’s looking ominous.  As a quick recap of possible changes coming to a MoneyCenter near you: November 1 – this is the date that’s been bantered about for significant MoneyGram changes inside Walm...
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Navy Federal Nastygram For Manufactured Spend
30 Oct. 2019
Navy Federal Nastygram For Manufactured Spend
Hit List For a person that does higher manufactured spend volume, my list of bank shutdowns isn’t that bad.  I’ve been shutdown by Bank of America, Citibank, and Barclays.  To some that list of closures seems severe, but I’m actually quite fortunate it’s not much more inclusive.  I’m guessing that Barclays was inevitab...
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More Walmart Changes Ahead?
15 Oct. 2019
More Walmart Changes Ahead?
Going Down There are some rumored changes coming to Walmart.  Some of those have been written about, and today a Walmart worker added to that speculation.  Right now it’s rumored that Walmart will require ID verification for any money orders purchased over $100.  That ID capture will be inputted into the system and count against
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Chase Expanding Further Into to Minnesota
10 Oct. 2019
Chase Expanding Further Into to Minnesota
Market Share Finally Chase has decided to compete in Minnesota.  Even those with deep points and miles knowledge in my area don’t realize that Chase has already opened a branch in Minneapolis (on the University of Minnesota campus).  That is a small branch that caters mostly to college students and don’t have any Private Client
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