Banking And Financial Services

BANKING

• Currently researching good credit unions. Apparently, some of them offer online banking for all US residents and anyone can open one. Lookin' into it.
• 9/3/24 Ok after doing some extra research for a decent bank, Sierra Club Bank Report and This Reddit thread and Fossil Banks No Thanks (which isn't having their old list of banks show up on my computer for some reason, hope you have better luck), and due to personal experiences with credit unions in my area as well as other banking um, experiences, I've concluded that US Bank is probably the least worst but still evil. It beats Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citi by a mile in terms of not screwing up the environment nearly as bad. If you can find a better bank or credit union in your area that hardworking people you trust - and lots of them - can vouch for after at least 15 years of experience working with that credit union or bank, and you know which things that bank invests in and that those investments are eco friendly (mutual funds, groupings of stocks without each investment actually listed, and "indexes" could mean anything and are probably not), that's probably the most ethical and eco friendly option for you. However bear in mind that credit unions and smaller banks are every bit as subject to corruption as the larger banks and potentially less reliable and professional. Do your homework on what's in your area and talk to people about it in person; making up great reviews on the internet for a crap business is quite easy.
• 9/3/24 For young adults and teens and people without experience: I recommend online banking for the simple reason of cashing paychecks and dealing with rent, etc. can have the hidden fees and ATM fees adding up damn fast. Or, do a bank with an in-person branch that you can do your business at so you don't need to spend a bunch on all those fees at paycheck cashing places, ATMs, and so on. A smartphone is good stuff for sending in pictures of paychecks to a bank online so that's a good investment, and you can get refurbished ones pretty cheap from Walmart. Debit cards and using only debit cards for everything means all your financial stuff gets tracked and you don't have to waste time writing stuff down or worse forgetting it. However if you need cash for something, I've found that getting cash back at a grocery store is usually a lot cheaper than trying to use an ATM, and less of a hassle than trying to go through a bank yourself.
• 7/14/22 Results: it appears every single state in the US has different Credit Unions, each with pretty good terms and conditions for their clients. More importantly, it now seems to be more common to be able to open an account in your state online, entirely from the comfort of your home computer. And if your local credit union doesn't allow that yet , you can certainly ask them to offer such a thing pronto. However, check their reviews thoroughly first, as there is no guarantee that yours will be any good. On the one hand, local Credit Unions can potentially offer good APY on savings and checking accounts, meaning that you actually get paid (a very small amount) for putting your money there, as opposed to the pittance conventional large-scale banks will pay you. On the other hand, they can be unprofessional in the extreme. Which sounds like something you can just deal with... but not on payday it's not, if you're living paycheck to paycheck, or if you're dealing with a lot of business all at once and your bank refuses to help you do your job right.
• Cooperativa Latino Credit Union is the most promising one I found so far. Here are the rates, which are 0.15% APY for their Savings, which is about 1/4 the APY of the Santander savings account, but should be (in theory) cheaper to open, although I don't know by how much. Anyone in the country over 18 (and apparently, even outside of it in some cases) can open an account. Microbusinesses and nonprofits can open an account. All online, without needing to walk into the bank, give the surly teller your best smile, and hope for the best. Am I the only one who gets nervous when having to walk into a bank branch?
• Cooperativa Latino Credit Union immigration assistance loan If you've got immigrant family, then you too will have your eyes bug out as you read this.
• Santander No longer recommending it due to suspicion of how successful this Brazilian company has been while under Bolsonaro, and rumors of installing solar panels where Amazon rainforest once was. Hmmmm
• 2/13/24 To my extreme surprise, US Bank seems to be the least worst option nationwide. Here's my reasoning: It is (in my experience; I have banked with them) predictably infuriating, and not "steal from you" infuriating aside from the overdraft fees it has on some accounts and other usual really annoying banking practices like $35 transfer fees from bank to bank and puny interest rates. It's big, steady, and doesn't have horror story reviews like a lot of credit unions and small town banks do. It isn't trying to make a quick buck by being a greenwashed bank like Ando or Aspiration that upon closer inspection isn't actually green at all. It doesn't make the list on the 60 worst fossil fuel promoting banks, Fossil Banks. They are apparently trying to be more environmentally friendly. Here are the links for that: Investor Relations Report 2022, CDP Report, USBank Environmental Stuff Web Page. It doesn't have physical locations in a lot of areas or even states, but it does have name-brand withdrawal fee-free ATMs in many places; you can see if there are some near you using their search tool. Has Online banking. However, on the off chance that this was written by someone high up in their organization, I am just petty enough to avoid banking there forever, and would rather go broke. 2/16/24 Did some more research. Have come to the conclusion that there are no ethical professional eco-friendly banks or credit unions accessible to everyone in the US - period. At all.

BROKERAGES

• Fidelity I use this. Probably the least worst, although (sigh) this brokerage itself also funded Trump's bullshit and therefore taking down democracy. I hate it but there are no other better choices. Or are there? Let me know. Regardless, it's nice that there are no commission fees on the trades since I don't pay for a financial advisor (I am my own), meaning they don't really make that much money off me ;)
• WeFunder Don't do it. They are unprofessional. Sorry I recommended it.

CUTTING OUT THE MIDDLEMAN IF SELF-EMPLOYED

• If you have a business, please do yourself a favor, and don't sell your stuff on Amazon Handmade or Etsy! Don't do that to yourself. There are alternatives, such as setting up a website yourself or a non-predatory website like Ko-Fi or Buy Me A Coffee. Other options are listed here. And you might consider selling electronic goods only for the first few years at least, in order to avoid the hassle of whatever USPS is doing right now, since it's pretty much blowing a gasket. (And the other shipping services are worse). If you choose to sell at a farmer's market, or an indoor crafts fair, or any other venue, that might also be a good option. I also noticed that Walmart sells pretty decent affordable canopies and canopy weights for outdoor sales, plus folding tables. You should also know that there appears to be a lack of vendors at many large conventions, fairs, and festivals these days (I am talkin before the pandemic, actually, I imagine it got worse during). So you might see what's available for you in your state, and when throughout the year, and what the regulations for vendors each one are.

PAYMENT PROCESSING SERVICES

• 3/4/22 As of yet I have not found a reliable way to transfer money between countries. Horror stories abound of people having the money mysteriously lost in transit even though it was electronic. But I have found a workaround. Literally. If the person needing to receive funds actually sets up a small online business in their country, and sets it up so they can get customers from anywhere in the world with internet (this would require looking into the policies of whatever online marketplace the person is selling stuff on, be it ko-fi or etsy or amazon or shopify or what to ensure the payment would go through from specific country to their country), the person wanting to transfer funds to them can buy a whole bunch of their products online, thereby transferring the funds. I'm sure this is wildly illegal unless the person needing to receive funds actually is running a legitimate business, and can therefore receive payments from any and all customers. Thusly it's both legal and efficient. "But what about shipping the products?" someone might ask. Well, that's neatly avoided by selling electronic products. These now exist; people selling downloads of music, books, architectural blueprints, and legions of other e-things. And here's the best part. If anyone bitches about this you can gently remind them that there have been literal decades of pushback against all piracy of e-things, such as books, textbooks, research papers, music, videos, etc., and that if they want to get rid of people selling e-things, they also have to get rid of that fancy warning in front of all movies that "interpol will prosecute you and throw you in prison for pirating this" blah blah blah. And certain infamous metal bands will have to stop bitching about people pirating their music. Ahem. Anyway if Pink Guy can sell Pink Season as a download and Chuck Tingle can sell books as a download, then you, too, can sell things as a download. Just make sure they aren't crap, please.
• Bring the check back into vogue. Of course not for things like dining outside the home or groceries (yikes) but things like paying bills, transferring large payments to contractors or as gifts or commissions, and so on - banks like to deny large payments from going through these days even if it's perfectly lawful because they're trying to minimize risk for them, so use checks for the larger stuff. It turns out that getting extras from your bank or credit union is in most cases more affordable than using a money transfer service, getting cash from an ATM, or getting cash back from a store. And it is less of a hassle. Of course, since checks can bounce, this means the recipient has to trust you and you have to make damn certain check bouncing never happens.
• Shopify All-in-one service that sets up the web hosting and payment process for you even if you're not that tech savvy. Recommended if you want to break up with Etsy or Amazon Marketplace or some other crappy exploitative business and set up your own - and you have either not enough time or not enough computer wiz stats to set up a sell-your-stuff website yourself. Interestingly, it looks like they're muscling in on the point-of-sale market and are now competing with Square, which see (below). Dunno if they are better.
• Stripe So much better than Paypal. Admittedly a hassle for the people who are selling the product, but the most user-friendly and least bullshit-filled experience for the customer, and they do help you as much as they can on their end if you are a merchant.
• Square It's not great. Having to use this system to accept card payments is your typical POS (piece of shit) system, except even more clunky and slow. However if you are just starting out at a farmer's market or something, this is the fastest way to take card payments from customers when you'd otherwise have to ask them to Venmo you the payment or just pay in cash.
• CashApp The least hassle-y way to transfer funds from friend to friend or customer to vendor. Venmo is owned by Paypal, fuck 'em. I do recommend this over other services due to the lack of ridiculous "transfer fees." Incidentally, lots of banks give you transfer fees for direct bank-to-bank transfers. Which is bullshit. That said, using CashApp is still a hassle.
• Venmo and Paypal Added 12/2/22, thanks to some recent experience. The Skype of the money transfer world. It's been a royal headache dealing with this software ever since I started dealing with it. However it is ubiquitous, it is used for basically everything, and it is way cheaper than bank-to-bank transfers and money order, plus other money transfer companies. It's also more accepted than things like checks. No, it is not fun to use. Venmo is marginally better than Paypal in terms of the technology and ease of use and can also be used as a phone app. No, it is not secure. This company is infamous for its poor security. You're going to want to check your bank accounts and cards every month or so for suspicious activity, which you should probably be doing anyway. HOWEVER since their call center (obviously in India) had such kind people to talk to I am giving them another chance. Please do yourself a favor and if you ever are tempted to use some crap money transfer service like Western Union or Moneygram, use this instead. I'll later see if it's possible to transfer funds from country to country with this company.
• Zelle Everyone I know is now recommending that I try this for transferring funds from person to person. Will give it a try.

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