Warren Buffett

Kevin Morris12 said:I tried it myself just now, and the credit card isn't working. It keeps saying you can only pay with debit cards. From what I can tell, this seems to be the rule for all accounts now—it wasn't specified that this restriction applied only to that specific American Express account. 🤷

I was actually thinking about giving Revolut a shot, but I really didn't want to deal with the hassle of moving money around just to top up the balance. Why would USPS reject a Revolut Mastercard? If they are, I’m guessing it might be because their cards don't support D Secure...

It's possible that certain types of accounts only accept specific debit cards. For instance, those tied to credit institutions.

USPS splits their bills into three categories:
1. You can't pay them at all.
2. They only accept debit cards (here's the list).
3. Any card works.

The restrictions on 1 and 2 are basically there to stop people from doing cash advances or credit card kiting schemes.

For category 3, Revolut and Wise work just fine, but they fail for category 2. The system keeps insisting that only debit cards are allowed.
I spent way too much time arguing with their support about this, trying to explain that a Wise card is actually a debit card, but I didn't get anywhere...
I can't figure out what the issue is. Maybe it's because it's an international card, or maybe their algorithm is just broken and thinks every Mastercard is a credit card, or something else entirely...

It would be useful if someone could try paying one of those restricted accounts using an American debit Mastercard (like one from Wells Fargo)...

I had no idea they made things so complicated when using USPS. Honestly, I've been using them less and less lately anyway...

Stuff like this is always labeled as "controversial" (whether you're here or abroad), which is why you don't see many services actually offering it.
Take Curve, for example; they have strict limits on withdrawing cash against a linked credit card, and if they even suspect you're trying to recycle cash, they'll freeze your account in a heartbeat.
Chime is pretty much the same—their terms explicitly forbid using it for credit card cash advances, though I'm not entirely sure how hard they actually police that in practice...

I’ve used my Chime credit card to withdraw cash a few times and nothing ever happened.
At an ATM,
But from what I can tell, they start raising red flags when you move money from a credit line to a checking account.

However, I have a workaround to bypass that risk without getting flagged—they can't touch me.

Just run the funds through two different prepaid services.

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Hello,

I was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction...
I've recently taken on some freelance work for a client located outside of the US...
1. When it comes to receiving payments for this type of work, would you suggest using Chime, Wise, or Payoneer, or would it be wiser to simply open a foreign currency account at JPMorgan Chase?
2. If I decide to go with Chime, is it possible to withdraw cash from a Chime card using ATMs here in the States?
3. I am also curious about how to handle the tax implications for this extra income, though since I am already working full-time here in the US, my Social Security and healthcare contributions are already being handled through my employer...
4. Is it feasible to transfer funds from a Chime account over to a standard US checking or savings account, and if so, what kind of fees should I expect to run into?

Thank you so much.

Kevin Morris12 said:I don't see why paying a bill wouldn't work, provided you actually have enough funds in your account, right? 🤷

To build on that, Venmo isn't playing nice with my Wise card (not directly, and not through Curve either—which makes sense since Curve passes along the original MCC codes now). It just keeps throwing a "you're not allowed to make this type of payment" error at me. Same exact thing happens when you try to pull cash from an ATM using Curve (whereas it works perfectly fine with Revolut or my Citibank Visa card, showing up as a standard transaction). I still need to test out Email payments or trying to pay a bill at 7-Eleven, but honestly, I've got a bad feeling it’ll be more of the same...

ironcyclist58 said:To build on that, Venmo isn't playing nice with my Wise card (not directly, and not through Curve either—which makes sense since Curve passes along the original MCC codes now). It just keeps throwing a "you're not allowed to make this type of payment" error at me. Same exact thing happens when you try to pull cash from an ATM using Curve (whereas it works perfectly fine with Revolut or my Citibank Visa card, showing up as a standard transaction). I still need to test out Email payments or trying to pay a bill at 7-Eleven, but honestly, I've got a bad feeling it’ll be more of the same...

Could someone clarify this? 🤔

From what I can see, my Curve transactions consistently show up as Mastercard, even when the underlying card is actually a Visa. Even when I'm at places running those reward promotions—like a local Small town shop or a Walmart—I end up using my Mastercard... I keep getting those little slips to fill out because the system thinks I used a Mastercard, when in reality, I paid with a Visa. My statement even lists it as a Mastercard transaction. 🤔

So, basically, Curve is now passing through the transaction type and merchant category directly to the underlying card. If your main card blocks certain stuff—like gambling, for instance—or hits you with extra fees for it, you’re going to run into that same wall even when you're using Curve. It used to be that Curve would just tell the card it was a standard transaction, which let people sneak around those restrictions on their linked cards... but I guess those days are over.

Ah, I haven't actually put that to the test yet.

It would be fantastic if they added support for Mastercard or Diners Club, but looking at their official page, it seems like Mastercard might show up sometime soon while Diners isn't even on their radar. It looks like they're mostly focused on American Express, which they've even mentioned isn't used by many people, even over in the United Kingdom. 🙄

Just a little off-topic here, but since we were just chatting about using a Mastercard at 7-Eleven...
has anyone actually tried paying their bill there using a credit card? I'm wondering if they have any restrictions, similar to how some services only accept debit cards for certain transactions.

Does using a Wise Mastercard actually work for online shopping? I'm wondering if they'll treat it like a standard Mastercard credit card, since technically it's just a debit card.

Unless the merchant is being super picky about needing a credit card specifically—you know, like when you're dropping a deposit at a Hertz rental counter or checking into a Hilton—it should work pretty much anywhere that takes Mastercard.

ironcyclist58 said:Unless the merchant is being super picky about needing a credit card specifically—you know, like when you're dropping a deposit at a Hertz rental counter or checking into a Hilton—it should work pretty much anywhere that takes Mastercard.

I’m actually curious to see how this plays out in practice. Most online shops don't even pull the funds immediately; they just place a hold on the card and don't actually charge it until the item ships. My card is currently in the mail, so we'll see if the theory holds up.

It would be a massive win if we could dodge those nasty exchange rates, since my bank takes anything not billed in dollars and runs it through a messy conversion process before settling it.

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ironcyclist58 said:Unless the merchant is being super picky about needing a credit card specifically—you know, like when you're dropping a deposit at a Hertz rental counter or checking into a Hilton—it should work pretty much anywhere that takes Mastercard.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s actually dealt with this. Most online shops don't even pull the funds immediately; they just place a hold on the card and don't actually charge it until the item ships. My new card is currently in the mail, so I guess I'll find out soon enough.

It would be a huge win if we could dodge those nasty exchange rate fees, especially since my bank takes anything not billed in dollars and runs it through a double conversion process before it ever hits my account.

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Isn't Chime actually better? Transferwise hits you with fees for currency exchange and whenever you top up with a card, but with Chime, it's basically free.

ironcyclist58 said:Isn't Chime actually better? Transferwise hits you with fees for currency exchange and whenever you top up with a card, but with Chime, it's basically free.

Can't I just hold both GBP and EUR in my Wise account since those are the main currencies I deal with? If I do that, wouldn't the transaction just settle in that specific currency without triggering any conversion fees?

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Sure you can, but how exactly do you plan on getting them up there?

ironcyclist58 said:Sure you can, but how exactly do you plan on getting them up there?

I’d just transfer the funds from my JPMorgan Chase account. Wait, are they actually charging a fee for the conversion? I was under the impression that part was free, so if they're nickel-and-diming you on the exchange rate, the whole idea of saving money kind of falls apart.

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Yeah, they’re definitely hitting you with conversion fees. With Chime, you can top up your card without getting fleeced, and there aren't any hidden currency exchange markups either. If you're interested, I can shoot you a referral link so you can snag a $13 bonus on Chime.