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Friday, June 17, 2011

Today in Slate: Can Anyone Sue the President? Plus, Which Bank-Breaking Stroller Is Best?

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Today: June 17, 2011

I Love You, Dad (but $35 Less Than Mom)

I Love You, Dad (but $35 Less Than Mom)

Do Americans buy more expensive gifts for Father's Day or Mother's Day?

By Annie Lowrey

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Colored Judgment

Colored Judgment

Why does Herman Cain think about Muslims the way racists think about blacks?

By William Saletan

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Which Bank-Breaking Stroller Is Best?

Which Bank-Breaking Stroller Is Best?

The Orbit G2, the Bugaboo Donkey, and other ludicrously expensive strollers, reviewed.

By Farhad Manjoo

READ FULL STORY | More Life

Spitzer: It's Ridiculous To Say the GOP Candidates Are "Moderate."

Spitzer: It's Ridiculous To Say the GOP Candidates Are "Moderate."

Dennis Kucinich Is Suing President Obama. Can Just Anyone Do That?

Dennis Kucinich Is Suing President Obama. Can Just Anyone Do That?

Shafer: Who I Follow on Twitter and Why

Shafer: Who I Follow on Twitter and Why

The Incredibly Charming Reality Show About Ice-T and His Buxom Wife

The Incredibly Charming Reality Show About Ice-T and His Buxom Wife

Advertisement
Help! My Dad Is Trashing the House I Bought for Him.

Help! My Dad Is Trashing the House I Bought for Him.

 

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Drag Your Bank Into 2011 With PayPal

By Matthew Rogers

Drag Your Bank Into 2011 With PayPal

Drag Your Bank Into 2011 With PayPalTechnology allows us to do tons of cool and convenient things with our money, but big banks are notoriously slow to add new features. If you're not ready to ditch your current bank for a more tech-savvy alternative, you can augment your existing bank account—and get great features-of-the-future like check-deposits-by-smartphone pics and easy payments between friends—with one of the oldest online money services, PayPal. Here's how.

This guide isn't about replacing your current bank account with PayPal (which you really can't do anyway, since PayPal doesn't have a routing number). Instead, it's specifically about how to add some really great features to your money management process without completely uprooting your financial life.

Below, we'll highlight features you can get by incorporating PayPal into your banking—across your deposits, withdrawals, and payments—along with steps you'll need to follow to set it up.

The Biggest Benefits PayPal Will Add to Your Current Bank Account

Deposits

Most traditional bank accounts are limited in how you can get money into them—you deposit money into the account with cash or a check. Since money going into an account is usually a payment, that's what PayPal is geared for. Here's how you can take payments, and put money into your PayPal account:

  • Take a picture of a check with PayPal's mobile app on your Android or iPhone.
  • Bump phones with other PayPal users for instant payment with the mobile app.
  • Anybody can can send you money, either using their own PayPal account, or using a credit card, by just going to PayPal's web site.
  • You can send an invoice directly from your PayPal account to anyone with an email address. The person receiving it can pay you through PayPal or with a credit card, through PayPal's site.
  • If you have cash but can't get it to your bank, you can buy a MoneyPak prepaid card from a store like WalMart, and use it to deposit funds directly into your PayPal account.

Once the money's in your PayPal account, it's up to you whether you spend it straight from there, or if you want to transfer it back to your bank. Since PayPal accounts also come with debit cards, you can even pull it from an ATM as cash.

Making Payments and Withdrawals

Making purchases and sending money with PayPal is centered around the idea of being fast, easy, and secure.

  • Online retailers like iTunes and Etsy have a faster payment option for PayPal, with no credit card number needed, and pre-filled shipping info.
  • You can send money to anyone with an email address or phone number, or with the mobile app by bumping phones with other PayPal users.
  • All accounts come with a debit MasterCard with better daily spending and withdrawal limits than debit cards at most traditional banks ($3000 spending, $400 ATM withdrawal).

Managing Funds

PayPal's account management features are well-structured, and changing settings on the fly is extremely quick and easy.

  • If you use your PayPal account to buy things, you'll be happy to have a much cleaner web interface for your transaction history than what most banks use.
  • Android, iOS, and BlackBerry devices all have apps.

Extra Perks

There are some additional perks to having a PayPal account that don't necessarily apply to normal use alongside a bank account, but are nice nonetheless should you choose to use them, including:

  • Discounts from several online retailers.
  • If you qualify, you can get a no-fee credit card with cash back rewards.
  • If you're a parent, you can create a digital allowance account for teens that lets you control spending, and comes with a debit MasterCard.
  • Whether you plan on keeping $100 or $100,000 in your PayPal account, you can enroll for free in a money market account and earn some interest. Most banks require a pretty high balance to be maintained for this.

How to Link PayPal to Your Bank Account

PayPal's always existed on the internet, so they've done a pretty great job allowing users to get money both into and out of their bank accounts. So, along with all the methods available for taking payments, you can also transfer funds back and forth between your bank and PayPal at any time. You just need to add your bank account as a funding source, and verify it.

The verification process is quick and easy:

  1. You add a bank account by clicking "Add or edit bank account" in the Profile menu at the top of your PayPal account center.
  2. Click "Add Bank"
  3. Add your routing and account number and hit Continue. That's it—now PayPal will verify your account.

For verification, PayPal wires two tiny payments of just a few cents each into your account, and asks you for the amounts. After that, your account is considered verified and linked to your bank. That's all there is to it.

Moving money to PayPal: Click "Add funds from bank account" in the Add Funds menu at the top of your PayPal account center, then just enter how much you want to transfer.

How to Use PayPal to Supplement Your Banking

Your regular bank account is important because it gives you local checks and a routing number for things like Direct Deposit. The catch is that most banks want to charge for every little convenience, and they don't generally like to give any special perks just for using your debit card.

So, use your PayPal account for making purchases. If you keep the bulk of your money in your regular bank account, and transfer some to your PayPal account to use for purchases (either online or out in the world), you can get some cash back on your normal purchases without even trying.

PayPal's standard debit card is also a MasterCard, and it comes with 1% cash back when used as credit. That means every tank of gas you fill up, and every load of groceries you buy, can all be earning you back a little bit of money. You don't even have to sign up for a credit card to get it.

You can also keep much better tabs on how your money's spent—purchases are reflected in PayPal's transaction history almost instantly. When you buy something using your PayPal account, it usually takes less than a minute to receive an email letting you know a purchase was just made. Plus, every purchase made through PayPal also has really strong anti-fraud protection—it doesn't matter if the purchase was made with a PayPal ID at an online store, or using the card.

Combining the cash back with buyer protection, PayPal turns into a very solid tool for making purchases, while your regular bank can sit back and relax a bit, keeping your money safe, and earning you interest. Photo by Gravityx9.

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Tips for Your Post-Wall Street Life

By Hamilton Nolan

Tips for Your Post-Wall Street Life

Tips for Your Post-Wall Street LifeUnemployment is falling in half the country, but not the most important half: Wall Street. There, the beleaguered derivative-shufflers are facing a third straight month of rising unemployment. Literally thousands of former bankers are now wandering our city's streets, driftless. How will they adjust to life in the post-banker world?

Poorly, in all likelihood. The very least we can do is to offer them some quick advice on their transition from Wall Street to Main Street.

  • Don't just walk to the nearest idling black car and get in any more. It's not safe.
  • Don't smoke cigars any more. You look ridiculous.
  • Golf is for assholes.
  • Instead of telling women that you "work in finance," you can tell them about "jerks in finance." Make sure they're drunk first.
  • Day trading is a good way to relive the drudgery of your old job, but without making any money.
  • Hang your head in shame at all times.
  • Look at this as an opportunity: now you can do something different than all those banker drones, by living your dream of becoming a personal trainer. This kind of thinking outside-the-box and marching to your own drummer and moving in the opposite direction of the crowd is a surefire recipe for... oh, wait.
  • Copious steroids will ensure that you're still a real man.
  • Pawn everything. Just pawn it all.
  • Don't hang out in the Financial District. It sucks.
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The Afternoon Scoop - Weiner's Fabulous Retirement Perks


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The Daily Beast
The Morning Scoop JUNE 17, 2011
Cheet Sheet Latest Articles Entertainment Books
POLITICS
1. Weiner's Fabulous Retirement Perks

Anthony Weiner may be resigning, but he's entitled—for the rest of his life—to a pension, quality health care, and a parking space on Capitol Hill.

Read it at The Daily Beast

BREAKING
2. Pentagon Suspect a Marine Reservist

The 22-year-old man detained this morning after a suspicious-looking vehicle was found outside the Pentagon is a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. Reserve. Lance Cpl. Yonathan Melaku told authorities that he was carrying explosive materials, but there seems to be some disagreement on whether he was telling the truth. An FBI agent told reporters that a non-explosive material was found in a backpack Melaku was carrying, while an anonymous law enforcement official said they found ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound used in fertilizers. Another law enforcement source said Melaku was carrying a notebook containing the phrases, "al Qaeda," "Taliban rules," and "Mujahid defeated croation forces." Nevertheless, officials say Melaku does not seem to have been involved in a terrorist act. He has not been charged for this morning's event, but he was arrested for a spree of car vandalism in the Northern Virginia town of Leesburg.

Read it at CBS

MIDDLE EAST
Nineteen Killed in Syria Protests
Amidst renewed crackdown.

VOTE
U.N. Passes Gay Rights Resolution
Commissions report on challenges facing LGBT community.

BULLY PULPIT
Obama Comments on Weiner Marriage
Says couple will "bounce back."

SCIENCE
Implant Improves Rats' Memory
May help people with dementia.

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