5 New Financial Services You Should Not Be Living Without

Become radically smarter with these apps in your phone.

1. Bluebird Card - A checking account with branches everywhere

No credit checks, no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, and no minimum balance required. It's not a debit or credit card… what could it be? It's American Express' new Bluebird card. You can add funds to your card through direct deposit, transfer money from your savings or checking's account, or you can add cash at the checkout register at almost any Walmart. Another way users can add money to their card is through their mobile phone app that's available on both Android and iPhone devices. You can even use the card at any ATM that accepts American Express. Bluebird makes it easy for busy people to pay their bills online and on time through their app without a fee. Bluebird offers so many features and it's a great way to help people save money.

https://www.bluebird.com/

2. Square Cash - Sending money by e-mail

With the convenience of cards, a lot of people no longer carry cash. But what happens when you need to split a check and need some cash? Square Cash is a fast and easy way to send money to your friends and families. Square Inc., has come up with a way to send money to a person's debit card with just one email. There is no sign-up necessary to use this! All you have to do is send an email to whoever it is you want to send money too, add [e-mail] in the CC field of the email, and put the amount of money you want to send in the subject title. It’s as easy as that! Users are allowed to send up to $2,500 a week in as many transactions as needed. Square Cash is a great idea and definitely saves a lot of time with its simple method.

https://square.com/cash

3. Activehours - Lightning fast pay for your current job

Straight from their website, it says, “Get your paycheck anytime you want.” With this company, it is possible for you to access money from however many hours of work you want right away, rather than waiting 2 weeks for the whole paycheck. This company was started to help people to get access to the money they earned, not to take more money from them, which is why Activehours does not charge a fee, you pay what you believe is fair. All you need to use this service is to work at a place that uses an electronic time sheet and to provide bank information to Activehours, who promises to keep your entire information safe and secure. This service could be what many have been waiting for… a way to access their money so they could always pay all their bills on time.

https://www.activehours.com/

4. Lending Club - A smarter way to invest and borrow

Everyone always dreads taking out loans. Like other loan companies, Lending Club does not approve everyone who applies, which is probably their only downside, but the Lending Club does offer a faster and easier way to apply online. Approved individuals can borrow up to $35,000. What Lending Club does that is different from other companies is that they cut out the middleman; borrowers would be able to get their loan straight from the investor. This is a win-win situation for both parties because borrowers don’t need to pay any fees to banks, and investors get paid back in full. Borrowers can take comfort in knowing that they’ve have low fixed rates and payments, there are no hidden fees, and there are no prepayment penalties.

https://www.lendingclub.com/

5. Strike Debt - Squash your loans

What? A strike against debt? Yup! You read right! One of Strike Debt’s initiatives is the Rolling Jubilee. The Rolling Jubilee initiative is donation-based and has already eliminated over $1 million of citizen’s private medical debt in the U.S. How it works is that people donate money to the Strike Debt fund; Strike Debt then uses that money to buy “blocks” from creditors. By buying these “blocks,” they are getting rid of the debt for people within that “block”. Though individuals in need can’t ask them for help specifically, the help they give to these random people is a start to ending debt nation wide. The more donations they receive, the more help they’ll be able to provide… so let’s start donating!

http://strikedebt.org/