American Express now has a pre-paid card that can be used for direct deposit. If you sign up online, it is free, and if you have at least one monthly direct deposit, there is no service charge. Lots of ATMs are also free for withdrawals and cash can be added for free at Walmart, CVS and other retailers. It's called American Express Serve.

I don't like my MSC money going to my personal bank account, so I've been doing DD with PayQuicker as I can't figure out how to do it with PayPal. But PayQuicker charges for ATM withdrawals, DD, and debit card purchases. Plus you can't use it at the pump, which irritates me to no end since I buy my gas at Costco. I'm not sure yet if the AMex card will work at Costco pumps but I will let you know once I get mine.

just get american express's bluebird....you can use atm's for
free at any walmart in the u.s.....refill it if you want at any
walmart for free....they even give you checks if you need to
write a paper check to a business that don't accept cards...
it's great if you travel for shops and your bank doesn't have
a bank in the state you are going to and don't want to pay
atm fees...and you get a discount when buying gas at
any murphy gas stations and pay at the pump(mostly in the south)

I absolutely will not mess with PayQuicker or a credit/debit card taking a direct deposit. In fact there are only 3 forms of payment I will accept: direct deposit, check or PayPal. It is super easy to open a separate account to handle your MS money, either at the same bank as your regular account or at another bank as part of a shop.

It is easy with PayPal to set up different accounts to withdraw money to, just as it is easy to set up multiple emails with PayPal. (My eBay stuff travels through my one PayPal account and proceeds head to account A while my shop moneys head for account B.) I can do mobile deposits to my various accounts so an eBay check mobile deposits to account A while my shop checks head for account B. My social security direct deposit goes to my personal account and money can be transferred to and from accounts A and B easily. I am not into making my life more difficult than it needs to be and/or having money hanging out there making no interest (which when rates rise will be important again) or costing me in fees. I rarely use cash so free ATM machine is not urgent. When I am near my bank I take a small amount out of the ATM and that handles my cash needs for usually 2-3 months. Everything else is credit card which I can pay on line after using 'somebody else's money' for 30 days and meanwhile earn 1% to 5% back as 'cash back'.

Cash back cards are like getting a bonus on shops. April-June I was getting 5% back on restaurants. During that time period I did about $1200 in restaurants that were reimbursed, so that was a cool $60 back. July-September it is 5% back on gas so our vehicles, mowers and emergency generator were empty or on fumes until July 1. In essence, the cash back reduces the price per gallon of gas by 17 or 18 cents. What is not to love?

Unfortunately for me, I live in the middle of nowhere. We have exactly one bank, which mostly operates like the 1960s. They still record deposits manually in your checkbook and passbook. Although they have a website, it can only be accessed from a laptop or standalone computer. It does not work on tablets or smart phones. They do have an ATM that I'm sure is an original from whenever ATMS were invented. And their website, if you can call it that, is good for looking up your balance but not much else. They have an online bill pay that is so convoluted, it is not funny.

Everytime I try to cash an MSC check at my bank, I get the third degree about MSing being a scam. Of course, they also question my county retirement check and my city IC check. As I have said to them many times, if the County of San Bernardino Retirement System writes a bad check, there are much bigger problems in this nation than the check bouncing. We are all in a lot of trouble as it is one of the most secure retirement systems in California. And the city check I cash for consulting work I do for them is from a very well run city written on a very large bank so, again, it would be a bad sign.

I tried to open a separate account for my MSing with them but they would have no part of it. They wanted forms from the Secretary of State's office along with a long list of other documents to prove my business is legit. In other words, they did not want my business as a business customer.

I used to have a business account at Wells Fargo but having to drive that far into town was a pain in the butt. Of course, now so much can be down with mobile apps but still it is just easier for me to have the debit cards and be done with it. I like plastic.

I love how banks and banking have changed. It's now very easy to bank with a bank physically located far from you. Even though there are banks on every corner in my city, and I have accounts at three different banks, it has actually been a couple of years since I have visited a bank .......... except when mystery shopping. I do all my banking online. Most of my MSCs pay me through direct deposit or PayPal (which I transfer to my bank account). My main bank, Chase, even has a mobile app so I can deposit a check long distance using my cell phone ........don't even have to go there. I pay all bills, check balances, transfer money. ....... well, everything .......online.

My bank is online only. Ally bank. I just switched at the end of last year. I get more interest, online banking, including being able to deposit checks with next day availability on my phone, free bill pay, free checks, and they even reimburse me my ATM fees from ANY ATM I use.

The other option I have is PayPal but they charge for everything.

Kathee70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My bank is online only. Ally bank. I just switched
> at the end of last year. I get more interest,
> online banking, including being able to deposit
> checks with next day availability on my phone,
> free bill pay, free checks, and they even
> reimburse me my ATM fees from ANY ATM I use.
>
> The other option I have is PayPal but they charge
> for everything.


how do you deposit cash?

I think bluebird is still the better value from american
express because you get access to american express's
many benefits and discounts on gas of 5 to 15 cents
a gallon depending on the state your in. How many debit cards
can you say offer amex benefits of roadside assistance,
purchase protection, global assistance, entertainment access?
While it's not officially labeled a checking
account by the fdic, it acts exactly like one...just no fees
and carries fdic insurance. You dont earn interest but
interest today on all bank accounts is negligible. whenever
I go on a road trip for shops I always transfer money
over to the account from my regular bank and use it for
anything i cant use a credit card for.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2014 03:58AM by techman01.

"They still record deposits manually in your checkbook and passbook. "

Do they keep a pet dinosaur in a tank in the corner? Are you sure your accounts are FDIC insured?

Open an online account, or go online and open one at Chase or one of the other big banks with many branches in your state, especially in any towns where you mystery shop regularly. Direct deposit into it, sweep your paypal money into it, pay your bills out of it. If you need cash, write a check to yourself and go to your dinosaur bank and cash it.

I go months without setting foot in my bank, and now that I have a phone that will do mobile deposits, even less often. If your grocery store takes debit cards, you don't even need an ATM, you can get cash back when you buy groceries.

I opened my main bank and my credit union accounts on mystery shops. All my MS money goes into the credit union savings account and is used only for certain purposes. I mystery shop my main bank's hundreds of branches so I don't dare run a MS check through that bank; I don't want any notes put on my account saying "mystery shopper." I make sure I never hand a MS check to my credit union tellers; if I'm doing a shop on them, I deposit something unrelated to mystery shopping on my teller shops.

There's no reason in this day and age to come face to face with a teller unless we have to deposit cash or do something unusual like get a money order or wire transfer.

Nice that they're trying to look out for you, but they need to mind their business after you explained that the check was payment for work you already did, not an advance you need to send them "change" from.

techman01 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
>
> how do you deposit cash?
>

Cash can be spent. Unlike a check, it doesn't have to be deposited in a bank to use it.

Significant other banks with ALLY. Aside from being reimbursed for something he picked up, he really has not had cash to deposit. Other than reimbursements for something picked up, I don't recall when I last had cash to be deposited.

I sure would hope that any AMEX debit has your money insured since they are playing 'bank' with you! I am just as happy to use credit cards and pay them off online from an FDIC insured bank account after I've used the money free for a month. And yes, every card gets paid off 100% every month so I don't need to be concerned about interest charges or other fees. And of course to make sure they get paid off 100% every month is why I encourage a 'shop kitty' since it will be a month to several months before all the reimbursements come in to cover the charges on the card this month.

I rarely go into a bank as I do not like the lines. I do direct deposit and put any checks thru the atm. Not that crazy about PayPal but only because it confused me a little and I have not really checked into it. Problem is many MSC's only use Paypal so I guess I am going to have to go that route. With all the online banking companies now you really do not have to go into a bank unless you have to sign paperwork — and sometimes that can be done online also. Your bank sounds really like it needs to come into the 21st century.

One thing to note about Bluebird. when using their mobile app to deposit checks it takes 6 business days to receive credit and it takes 2 weeks to receive credit from a mailed deposit.