Good afternoon everyone. Between my wife and I, we have 12 Chase credit cards. Previously, I would need to go to the Chase Refer-A-Friend website (https://www.chase.com/referafriend/catch-all), and then type in my last name, zip code, and last 4 digits of the card number. If I only had 1 or 2 Chase credit cards, it wouldn’t be that bad, but looking up 12 different referral link one at a time is very tedious and time consuming. Thankfully, Chase has a better way…
Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well. I just downloaded my recent Chase checking account statement and saw this message regarding Zelle.
To help protect you from fraud and scams, you’ll no longer be able to send Zelle payments to recipients originating from social media such as social media marketplaces or messaging apps
Due to the significant rise in social media scams and to help protect your account, we’ll be updating our policies on March 23, 2025, limiting your ability to send Zelle payments identified as originating from contact through social media. As a result, we may:
Here is the full message:
Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday! I love free stuff as much as the next person, but there are a few miles and points tools and services that are so incredibly useful, they’re definitely worth paying for. Keep in mind, this isn’t a complete list, so there may be other fantastic tools out there that I haven’t discovered or used yet.
I can’t imagine a world without AwardWallet. They track all my credit card programs, airline programs, hotel programs, shopping portal balances, dining rewards, and much more. I love that they constantly check my accounts, display the current balances, and display expiration dates for all my rewards. The flight schedule change notifications (which sometimes come days / weeks / months before official airline notifications) and upcoming expiration alerts are well worth the cost to me. If you are interested in trying it out, here is my AwardWallet referral link.
Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. Doctor of Credit has a Best Bank Account Bonuses page that he keeps up to date with the best offers each month. In that master post, he links to individual bank account bonuses with helpful information regarding the bonus details, how to avoid monthly fees, when to close the account, how often you can open a new account, and much more. For the last 10 years, I have been opening new checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and cash management accounts for the new member bonuses. At the end of each year, I share my results on the blog.
Over the last 10 years, I have made $26,775 in bank account bonuses. You will receive 1099-INT / 1099-MISC tax forms every year, so you have to pay taxes on the bank account bonuses, but sometimes you can fund the opening deposit with a credit card and earn miles, points, or cash back. If you are lucky, you can meet a minimum spending requirement by funding a new checking account or reach a spending threshold / milestone to earn more rewards. Here are my results from the last 10 years with links to corresponding yearly summaries:
Drum roll please… Here are the 12 new accounts Laura and I opened in 2024 that paid out $2,755 in bonuses:
| Bank Account Name | Opened | Closed | Bonus | Notes |
| WeBull Brokerage (Laura) | 01/01/24 | 02/21/24 | $180 | 30 free stocks (worth $180) |
| Citi Access Checking | 01/01/24 | 04/26/24 | $200 | |
| PSECU Checking | 01/04/24 | 05/31/24 | $300 | $100 credit card funding |
| PenFed Credit Union Checking | 01/04/24 | 11/08/24 | $250 | |
| M1 Finance | 01/06/24 | 02/20/24 | $250 | |
| NASA Federal Credit Union Checking | 01/09/24 | 04/26/24 | $300 | $400 credit card funding |
| Redwood Credit Union Checking | 01/26/24 | 04/26/24 | $250 | $500 credit card funding |
| Raisin Account @ Grand Bank | 01/26/24 | 08/15/24 | $150 | Rakuten cash back: 10,000 AMEX MR Points ($150 value) |
| Upgrade Rewards Checking Plus | 03/05/24 | 05/11/24 | $150 | |
| Upgrade Premier Savings | 03/07/24 | 08/15/24 | $200 | |
| One Finance Savings | 11/08/24 | 12/28/24 | $225 | Rakuten cash back: 15,000 AMEX MR Points ($225 value) |
| Chase Total Checking (Laura) | 11/11/24 | Open | $300 | |
| $2,755 |
Good morning everyone, happy Sunday! Not to be deterred by my abysmal 2024 results (How Right (& Wrong) were my 2024 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions?), 2025 is a fresh year and the year all most some a few of my predictions will come true. Without further ado, here are my predictions for 2025: