Things are changing in the United States of America so I want to make sure my financial affairs are under the control of myself and my husband as much as possible. Below is a little guide that I put together on Facebook today so I thought I’d share it here. Perhaps it will be helpful to someone else as well? If you share the entire blog or sections of it, please provide credit to Just Julie Writes at New Hope Beyond. Thanks Gentle Reader and Godspeed in the new year! JJ

$$$ GOOGLE TIP:

Awhile back I was shocked to find out that my Google and personal banking info were linked via PayPal. (Maybe from when I sent $ to a gal who wanted it delivered via Facebook and I sent it to her via Messenger from my PayPal account.) This could happen in a myriad of ways! Somehow Google was in the mix for me; could it be for you as well? I don’t want any of them linked. So today I checked Google and found a few links that I didn’t want in the Store and Settings. You very likely do have one if you have an android phone or YouTube account. Maybe iPhone or other programs too? Here’s how to delete them if you have a Google account.*

FIRST AREA TO CHECK

Go to home page of Google.

In upper left of screen, click on “Store.”

Click on Settings.

Click on Google payments.

Click on Edit payment methods.

Remove any items that you don’t want.

Hit the back button to go back to Settings.

Know that you may have another, non-gmail email address set up as a back-up account, in case you get locked out of your gmail account. Make sure none of these are linked either.

Click on Accounts.

Click on the other email address if listed by selecting Switch Accounts.

Click on Google payments.

Click on Edit payment methods.

Remove any items that you don’t want.

SECOND AREA TO CHECK

Go to home page of Google.

In upper right of screen, click on your picture or whatever icon you use to access your account.

Click on Google Account.

Click on Payments and Subscriptions.

Click on Payment Methods. Select Subscriptions and Services and delete any that you don’t want.

Hit Back button and go to Settings. Look around. Do you want to create a PIN before any $$$ can be sent from you? Do you want your info shared with outside companies?

$$$ FACEBOOK TIP:

Been kinda wondering which online accounts are linked to my financial accounts and thought I would check Facey Bookie. I didn’t realize that they had captured some of my info (PayPal) and that there would be a different method for undoing it than I have posted elsewhere.

Here’s the process.*

In the Search Facebook field, type in Facebook Pay.

Click on Payment Methods.

Click on the 3 dots.

Click on Edit Payment Method.

Check the entire page of info provided. I’ll call it the summary page.

Click on Remove account.

When you go back to the summary page, look for Manage Facebook Pay Info.

Do you want these accounts turned off as well?

$$$ PAYPAL TIP

I was checking some online links to my financial information and realized how many accounts are linked, even ones that are not financial institutions per se. Who knows over the course of time, how many online purchases have led to the linking of accounts. This may be true if you click on an ad on Facebook and make a purchase, use Google in the process and click the wrong button somewhere or who knows how this happens! Surely there are others. So I checked a few things as documented elsewhere today, including PayPal. I discovered that my PayPal, Google, and Facebook accounts were linked for signing in! I don’t want this since I don’t know if that opens up access to other information.

Here’s how to un-link them.*

Log in to your PayPal account.

Click on your name in the upper right corner.

Click on Account Settings.

Click on Log in with PayPal then click on the word “Change.”

Check Merchants and delete any that you don’t want linked in this way. (I think the lure is to simplify logging into multiple accounts.)

Go back to Account Settings and look around.

Even though I thought I had opted out, I found that I had been given a PayPal credit card with a $3,000 credit limit as one of my payment methods. I didn’t want this so deleted it. But be careful if you do this. The next screen asks you where you want your card sent! Say what? I backed out of this page and saw that the PayPal credit card was deleted on the Account Settings page.

Good!

Courtesy of Just Julie Writes at New Hope Beyond.

*Note that I am just a happy little web surfer here and not some techy guru. There may be other steps to take as well. Anything deleted may affect services that you DO want so think it through. Please follow-up with the respective platform for any info, questions, or problems beyond these little tips.