Cash management accounts are really popular now – it’s when a company offers bank-like services on top of their existing offering.
Companies like doing this because it gives your cash balance some interest and it can make that relationship slightly closer.
But there are risks, especially if the company runs into some trouble:
Beam Financial vanishing act a cautionary tale for partners of fintechs [American Banker] – “In a report CNBC published Thursday, several Beam customers told of realizing the app was down temporarily and unsuccessfully trying to withdraw their money. The report jibes with the Better Business Bureau’s entry on Beam, which says the bureau has received “a pattern of complaints” from customers about delays in receiving funds when closing accounts and issues when contacting customer services. The Beam iOS App Store page contains dozens of complaints from users who couldn’t withdraw their funds.”
It’s hard to know what will happen with Beam but the money should still be FDIC insured. What’s tricky is the partner bank said that they don’t know the account information – which I was surprised to learn. If Beam has all the information and they “lose” it somehow, how do depositors prove how much they had?
I suspect that it will all eventually unravel itself but that may take a while.
Make Money Fleecing Casinos on Your Next Trip to Nevada [Trip of a Lifestyle] – “We normally don’t gamble much since it’s generally a losing proposition. On this drive though, we came up with an interesting strategy to beat the house and make a profit in every casino we stopped at — without risking any of our own money.”
Me and my wife used to do this too on our trips and you don’t come out rich (a $350 haul is pretty good!) but it was still fun!
Common Causes of Very Bad Decisions [Collaborative Fund] – “Italian psychologist Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini was once asked why people keep making the same mistakes. He said: ‘Inattention, distraction, lack of interest, poor preparation, genuine stupidity, timidity, braggadocio, emotional imbalance, ideological, racial, social or chauvinistic prejudices, and aggressive or prevaricatory instincts.’ Let me add some more:”
Have a good day!