4 Apps and a Whole Load of Freebies

Digital wallets and e-transactions have taken some time to materialise. But surely and certainly they have. There now seems to be a myriad of options. I finally succumbed to this form of electronics transaction.

In truth, I didn't have much of a motivation to do so. Most, if not all, credit cards already have this pay wave option, and most transactions below $100 don't even need to be signed anymore.

I finally got round to installing Android Pay, but only because POSB/DBS has some offers to link their credit cards to Android Pay with the first five transactions offering 25% rebates till 30 Sep 2016. So why not?  Anyway, the installation and linking to my credit card was quite seamless and went without a hitch.

Using it, however, was another thing altogether. Must say I'm a noob on this. Wifey told me McDonalds was offering a further $2 rebate with payments via Android Pay. More discounts! So I gave it a go at the McCafe when we went to one outlet for breakfast over the weekend.

Took a few tries before I got it to work though. Other than switching on the NFC function on my phone, and activating the app, I couldn't figure out where on the reader machine I was supposed to place my phone against. Sheesh. Pretty embarrassing. Felt like an old fogey who couldn't handle technology. The staff was not much help, so I guess I sought some consolation in that. After some trying, it eventually worked. Looks like need to place the phone over the right corner of the reader.

Have a cuppa and enjoy discounts over discounts ... at least, for the first few transactions anyway.

And in addition to that, since I was ordering McCafe coffee, might as well use the McCafe app to earn the rewards to lead to a free drink. 5 cups of McCafe coffee will get you that freebie. Speaking of which, here's a trick when ordering at McCafe - you can order the normal McDonalds menu items too. Skip the lengthy queues at the normal McDonalds queue!

And since the McDonalds was at a CapitaMall, there's also their CapitaStar loyalty points programme. Snap a picture of the bill above $20 and get points that can be redeemed for a cash voucher.

So there you have it - 4 apps and a whole load of freebies: Android Pay rebates, McDonalds discount, McCafe free coffee, CapitaStar cash voucher.

My US Team of Dividend Stocks 2015

Like my Singapore Team (of dividend stocks), Team USA has been giving good returns. Below figures are the annualised Internal Rates of Return (IRR) for my investments in these US stocks, inclusive dividends. IRRs would have been even better if not for the 30% withholding tax on the dividends.

GOALKEEPER

(1) Berkshire Hathaway-B (9.5%). Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger. Need to say more? Several of below companies are also held by Berkshire.

DEFENSE

(2) Johnson & Johnson (15.6%). Household products for healthcare and beauty.

  
(3) Proctor & Gamble (7.3%). Household products - toiletries, diapers, etc. We consume plenty of their products without realising it.

  
(4) Exxon Mobil (16.0%). Big oil. Almost everything that moves need it. 

  
(5) Anheuser Busch (20.6%). Beer and theme parks. But it's mostly beer. Addiction.

MIDFIELD

(6) Wells Fargo (26.0%). Big Bank USA. Essential function for a working economy.

  
(7) McDonalds (9.8%). Junk food USA. Kids just love it, dunno why. Struggling of late from menu complexity, and competition from more fashionable competitors.
  
(8) Walmart (-1.7%). Low cost supermarket and departmental store. Has mass market appeal for the price conscious.

  
(9) Union Pacific (12.5%). Railways and long haul cargo via land.

FORWARD

(10) IBM (4.5%). Information technology - Big Data and Data Analytics. Buzzwords of the decade. Still waiting for Dr Watson to make an impact.

(11) Philip Morris (15.0%). Cigarettes. Global addiction, big time.

RESERVE

(12) Chevron (0.6%). Another big oil, similar to but smaller than Exxon Mobil.

(13) Target (29.1%). Another departmental store, similar to Walmart. I prefer to shop at Target though.
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Interesting contrasts over the performance of Walmart compared to Target, and likewise between Exxon and Chevron. Big oil has of course suffered in recent months. But perhaps gradual recovery in sight. Sounds like an opportunity to continue buying more. Target has done better as I bought at its throes of poor performance over its Canadian fiasco which it subsequently exited.

Many of the companies derive much of their revenues from the global market and continue to thrive, in general. Don't think there will be any significant changes I need to make to this team.

I'm keenly watching a few players to bring on board. Maybe Disney and Visa?

Related:
A US team of dividend stocks

Disclaimer: 
By no means a suggestion to buy any of these stocks. I bought them at different times and have owned most of them for a few years as my approach is generally one of "buy and hold".