You can shop normally using US dollars, and it just pulls the exact amount straight from your USD account without any annoying conversion fees. In the app, you just select which one you want as your primary account—for me, it’s my USD account.
You can even add the card to Apple Pay, and if you're at a place like Walmart, for instance, it'll just charge your USD account directly.
You actually have two different routing numbers available for transfers in USD: one is private just for you, and the other is a shared account, so make sure to include your Visa Prepaid Card number in the description when using that one.
I actually initiated a USD transfer to my private routing number just yesterday, but it hasn't cleared yet.
That’s exactly how I interpreted it too—that they were planning to move everything over to iCard. In fact, I went ahead and opened an iCard account the second I heard the news about LeoPay shutting down, just so I’d be ready for them to "transfer" the funds. But honestly? I have my doubts about whether they can actually pull off such a smooth transition. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
I just went ahead and withdrew my funds, just to be safe. I actually left about a penny in my USD account and a few cents in my checking account just to see what happens to them 🤣
It’s already December 10th, and yet LeoPay is still up and running. They were supposed to have shut everything down by yesterday, the 9th, making all those cards visible within iCard. 🤷
SoFi is actually bumping their referral bonus from $15 up to a whopping $30 just for the December holidays! Does anyone want to jump on this? If you're looking to sign up, feel free to use my code: markob1359
You can easily set up a SoFi account using American documents, but there's a little catch: you'll need a physical address in one of the eligible countries where they can ship your card. If you happen to have a friend out there, you could just have it sent to their place, or even use a mail forwarding service that ships to the US. SoFi won't ever ask you to verify that specific location later on. In the app, it’s listed as your "card shipping address" rather than your permanent residential address. I've also noticed some people use a workaround where they select a different country but enter their US details—for instance, listing something like "John Doe, Broadway, New York, NY, USA"—and the card still arrives without any issues.
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK
What was the price during Black Friday? I noticed they’ve brought them back to that promotional rate of $5.99 a month in the app. They held that low price for the first few months, then bumped it back up to $9.99, and now they've dropped it to $5.99 again. Strangely, the website still shows $9.99. It feels like they're dragging their feet—is it possible something is stuck behind the scenes? At this point, I'm starting to wonder if this service will even see the light of day. 🤔
Has anyone else noticed their debit card offer suddenly vanishing from the app? Is it just me, or is everyone else seeing this too?
I was frantically swiping right, trying desperately to get my card to show up, when I accidentally tapped the "lock card" button. Of course, that meant I had to re-add everything to Apple Pay. And wouldn't you know it—when I opened my Wallet, the card design had completely changed!🤔
You can find a ton of info online regarding Ally and their loans, including copies of the actual paperwork they send out to customers. To put it bluntly: those figures you see advertised on their site—like borrowing $5,000 and paying back $5,097—only apply if you already have a co-signer. But let’s be real: most people turning to these types of lenders don't have one. In those cases, they redirect you to a separate insurance and guarantee firm (which, they claim, has absolutely nothing to do with them) that ends up charging you an average of 60-70% of your principal for their services. Naturally, the longer the repayment term you choose, the higher the interest rate climbs. So, a loan of, say, $667 over 6 months could end up costing you a total of roughly $1067. Out of that, only about 40-$17 (plus the principal, of course) actually goes to Ally Bank, while about $383 goes straight to that guarantee firm they try to distance themselves from.
Yes, it’s a massive amount of money. However, both parties—Ally and that guarantor—lay everything out in black and white in the contract before you ever sign. You get a full repayment schedule, just like when you take out a legitimate loan at a major institution like Chase or Wells Fargo. If someone goes through all of that and knowingly puts their signature on the contract, agreeing to every single condition listed, are they really being defrauded just because they opted for an incredibly expensive loan? I don't think so.
Even though this ends up being an exorbitant amount of cash, I believe it's actually a good thing that these offers exist in the market for people who have no other way to access credit and need it urgently. We can speculate all we want about whether a loan like this will dig an even deeper hole for them, but I truly believe it helps many people in the long run. The key is that the individual needs to be fully aware of what they are signing up for, rather than waking up to the reality only when the bill comes due.
Google Pay has really been stepping up its game lately. Don't get me wrong, Apple Pay used to be way faster when it came to adding new banks and cards—honestly, they’re still miles ahead of Google Pay in that department—but recently, Google Pay has really started picking up the pace! 😁
redbison8 said:Does anyone happen to know if this or any similar bank—or more accurately, any financial institution—actually goes after people to collect debts when clients can't or simply won't pay them back?
Ally Bank is part of the larger Ally Bank group, and honestly, the whole thing feels like straight-up criminal activity and a total scam. Just stay far away from them—seriously, clone yourselves so you don't end up stuck in debt to these people. I'm just hoping by posting this, I can help at least one person avoid the nightmare of becoming their debtor. Like all the usual suspects—criminals, casinos, sportsbooks, and other shady outfits that love operating on the fringes of the law—they have their headquarters based out of Malta.
Starting today, Chime is offering a $5 referral bonus for both parties once the new user signs up. After that, if the person you invited spends at least $500, the reward jumps up to $15 for both of you!
If you managed to register before November 18th, don't worry—you’re still covered under the old program, which gave both sides an initial $15.
electricbadger89 said:I added my Venmo card to Chime, and the description says it belongs to The Bank of Nova Scotia.
Honestly, I have no clue why there's any connection between Bugarin and Canada.
edit: Same exact thing happening with my iCard vis.
I know iCard acts as the issuer for Venmo too. By the way, does anyone know when Venmo will be fully integrated into iCard?
Dec 9
Venmo cards actually use a Bulgarian country BIN, so they aren't considered non-EEA and you don't get hit with fees. Usually, when it comes to topping up with non-EEA cards, the fine print says Chime MIGHT charge a fee rather than saying they definitely WILL—and in reality, they often don't end up charging anything at all (like with certain Mexican cards, for example).
You can check those details for free at one of their ATMs, or if you’re looking for specific codes for PayPal, Visa, or similar services, their customer support team can walk you through it. They won't—or rather, they can't—give you out your 3D Secure verification codes, so it’s definitely a smart move to link up with Visa ahead of time if you plan on doing any online shopping. Honestly, that's a massive drawback for anyone who isn't already a client of Wells Fargo. I’m actually planning to hand this card back once my six months of free online banking expires. It’s not even because I’m unhappy with the card itself; it’s just that I have no way to properly track my spending unless I start paying extra for online banking access. And yet, they market themselves so aggressively as being open to customers from other banks! At this point, trying to use a card without functional online banking is like being handed a car without a steering wheel...
ironcyclist58 said:Yeah. I'm thinking the old codes from the Coinbase Wallet should work the same way, though I can't say for sure...
There's this little Middle Eastern shop over at the Mall of America that has a sign right on the door saying they accept Coinbase Wallet. But every single time I ask if I can actually use it to pay, the guy behind the counter just shrugs and tells me he has no idea how to set that up.🤣 🙏
