Category: Money Management
Money Management
Southwest Airlines Unveils Accelerated A-List Status Promotion
by Kyle Burbank
Southwest is bringing back a popular promotion to help passengers achieve coveted A-List status — including a new option. About the promotion: For a limited time, Southwest Rapid Rewards members can work their way up to A-List and A-List Preferred status more quickly via a few different options. First, Rapid Rewards customers who book qualifying flights and travel between now and November 30th can earn double tier qualifying points. What's...
Money Management
Recreational Vehicle Financing FinTech Octane Raises $50 Million
by Kyle Burbank
A FinTech that helps consumers get financing for a variety of major recreational purchases has raised a fresh round of funds. About the round: This week, Octane announced that it raised $50 million in new equity capital. The Series E was led by Valar Ventures with participation from Upper90. Notably, both firms are existing investors. To date, the company has now raised a total of $242 million, including a $52...
Money Management
The Spotify Car Thing and Super Planned Obsolescence
by Kyle Burbank
Have you noticed that the nature of consumption has been shifting? These days, questions such as "What is a product?" and "What does it mean to own something?" need to be asked as the answers are evolving. In the case of the first question, recent standalone AI offerings have revealed a growing trend of businesses basically treating paid customers like beta testers. Meanwhile, as far as the ownership question goes,...
Money Management
FinTech Fallout: Lessons From the Synapse/Evolve Bank Dispute
by Kyle Burbank
Over the past several years that I've been covering FinTech, I've seen my fair share of apps shut down. Yet, I've never seen anything quite like the situation that's playing out right now. As of this writing, several neobanking customers are unable to access their funds due to a dispute between Synapse and Evolve Bank. So, what is going on between these two and how does it impact some FinTech...
Money Management
How I Found My Tax "Sweet Spot" This Year
by Kyle Burbank
Well, I waited until the last minute, but I got my taxes done and paid before the deadline. At this point, while I wouldn't say I'm good at preparing my returns, I do at least have enough experience to troubleshoot mistakes. On top of that, I also have a decent idea of how the various factors of my somewhat complicated tax situation come together and affect my total bill. Despite...
Money Management
How to Activate a Virtual Card Number on Apple Cash
by Kyle Burbank
In 2017, Apple expanded its FinTech aspirations by introducing a peer-to-peer payment account called Apple Cash. With this account, users could easily send and receive payments via iMessage. What's more, while customers could elect to transfer received funds to a linked bank account, they could also be spent directly using Apple Pay. The only problem was that, for merchants that didn't accept Apple Pay, there wasn't a way to use...
Money Management
Money at 38: The Major Ways My Finances Have Changed
by Kyle Burbank
In 2016, I wrote a guest post for what was then called Dyer News (now Fioney) about my "financial awakening." What inspired that article was the fact I'd just checked my credit for the first time, leading me to take a greater interest not only in my money but in the topic of personal finance in general. Needing a title, I settled on calling it "Money at 30" — which was...