Credit cards vs Debt cards

[NWshooter]

Wife works in fraud at a major US Bank and I have been in banking for almost 30 years. We use a credit card for everything and pay it off every couple of days.

For many of the reasons stated by others above, use a Credit Card. Easier to dispute, cash in your accounts isn’t at risk when using the CC and you may have some benefits that are worthwhile.

If you need to buy a lotto ticket, use $2 in cash.

Just beware when you go to Hawaii, that if they have fraud and close the card, unless you have Bank of Hawaii, you aren’t getting your card replaced until you get back from the Island. Happened to me in Maui and it was annoying.

[RoyGBiv]

I just filled out an online app for a credit card and I'll be dropping that off at my bank tomorrow. I may keep my debit card until I see that my credit card is going to work for all my purchases and bills. If it does I'm probably going to cut up my debit card. We don't need the high credit score because we don't use loans for major purchases like vehicles and real estate but it seems more secure.

Thanks for the input.

When you're ready to cut up the Debit card, just call your bank and have them set the charge limit on the card to zero. The ATM and charge limits are separate. Keep the card in case you need cash from the ATM.... My kids don't carry cash... They Venmo or whatever... I use cash for anything regulated by BATFE, whenever possible. YMMV.

[RoyGBiv]

Just beware when you go to Hawaii, that if they have fraud and close the card, unless you have Bank of Hawaii, you aren’t getting your card replaced until you get back from the Island. Happened to me in Maui and it was annoying.

Not sure how security protocols operate now, but, when I was traveling for work 40+ weeks/year, if I had a problem with my card the issuer would overnight me a new one pretty much anywhere in the US. Never had a problem in Hawaii or overseas that I recall (other than having to call the fraud line and clear a lock a few times overseas before I got smart and started calling ahead to put in a overseas travel notice). Always had a personal card as backup regardless.

[TQP]

We do everything on credit cards. I have both issuer's apps on my phone, and I get alerts and texts every time one of the cards gets used. I started doing that after my wife got frauded twice in a year.

All of my routine bills ( utilities, subscriptions) are auto debit every month, and I keep enough in the account they pull from to cover it plus a cushion. Our health plan includes an HSA and those bills are paid online with the HSA card. That issuer doesn't have an app, and I need to keep a better eye on that account.

I write about 2 checks a year. One I hand directly to the coworker we buy beef from, and the other I take to the USPS branch and put it in the box inside the 24 hour lobby. The last time I pulled through there they had a regular mailbox chained down in the drive through, because someone had broken into one of the big boxes in the drive through. Keep in mind that this branch is at our main post office and is occupied 24/7, and presumably has postal inspectors or security watching the cameras.

I finally got my mother to stop using her debit card. She had a check not reach her issuer, and now my brother drives her to a branch twice a month to pay her balance. I'd try to get her to pay electronically but she enjoys the socialization, and refuses to get on the computer any more.

Finally, I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I did just listen to 2 hours on Primary and Secondary about financial crime. I highly recommend it [P&S Modcast 356

[whomever]

Just beware when you go to Hawaii, that if they have fraud and close the card, unless you have Bank of Hawaii, you aren’t getting your card replaced until you get back from the Island. Happened to me in Maui and it was annoying.

Our experience is also that it takes a week to get a replacement card, even when at home stateside. I expect that is bank dependent.

That's why we have three cards:

1)General use, best rewards we can find, gets hacked once a year
2)Used only for the annoying recurring bill pay things. These are on a separate card so we don't have to change numbers everywhere when #1 gets hacked.
3)Backup card, used once a month or so to keep it active, and general use while waiting for replacement for a hacked #1.

When on driving trips, I try to have enough cash for gas money home.

[VT1032]

If you have iPhone or Apple Watch Apple Pay with Credit Card would be best https://www.apple.com/apple-pay/

With Apple Pay every transaction uses a single use code instead of actual card number, so even if there is a card skimmer https://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/ on gas pump you can't lose more than one transaction.

You don't even need a SIM card in the Apple device to use Apple pay for transactions, so if your phone is Android you could get a cheap used phone or watch from Apple refurb store https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished they all come with new batteries is bought from Apple's refurb store

I'm not Apple Fanboy just a nerd, I have Pixel phone & iPhone, Chromebook and Macs, Windows & Linux.

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that google pay does the same thing, no? It definitely does not transmit your actual card number. As far as I understand it, it generates a random virtual card number for every transaction. Unless you are tied to the apple card itself, you could probably just use g-pay on android with your credit card of preference. Fellow pixel person and I've been using it for years with no issue.

[TQP]

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that google pay does the same thing, no? It definitely does not transmit your actual card number. As far as I understand it, it generates a random virtual card number for every transaction. Unless you are tied to the apple card itself, you could probably just use g-pay on android with your credit card of preference. Fellow pixel person and I've been using it for years with no issue.

They covered this on that podcast. You're correct.

Whichever of the guests that was talking about Google/Apple pay said that if it was available to you that it was more secure than running the card itself.

[mtnbkr]

Maybe I've been very fortunate, but in the last decade, I think my CC has been compromised maybe twice. Even that might be too high of an estimate as I can't recall the last time it happened.

Chris

[jh9]

IIRC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Credit_Billing_Act
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electr...d_Transfer_Act

are the relevant federal laws that codify the protections you have with credit and debit cards respectively. In theory the protection is more or less equal if you keep an eye on your statement. Reality may be different depending on your bank.

What hasn't been covered is that your bank also has a Consumer Privacy Notice that (somewhat) informs you of what they do with your transaction history. This covers both debit and credit cards. You spent $1000 at Gun-O-Rama. You spent $50 at the Hooch Hut. You spent $100 at Sex Toy City. Etc. Amounts, frequency of purchases, etc. Merchant codes and other transaction data are pretty granular and you can use your bank's CPN to determine whether or not they're using that data as a profit center at the expense of your privacy.

The short version is all retail banks do it; some credit unions share less but still more than you may be comfortable with. Here's Navy Fed vs Bank of America as examples. The different in one or two lines may look subtle but is large in scope.

Your bank(s), their associates and even the merchants you do business with are packaging and selling your transaction history because why wouldn't they? It's a product with value. You can juke the system to some small degree by leaving your phone in your car (or at home), driving a vehicle that doesn't have some form of DCM and paying cash... for now. Face recognition is getting cheaper, deployed more broadly and isn't exactly new to start with. It's certainly on a lot of roadmaps for integration into these data products for improving the accuracy of your consumer profile.

Congratulations, consumer! We've added your cash transactions to your customer profile to better serve you! You quit smoking? Good for you! How does the missus like that little nightie you bought her? Say, you're not putting on a couple pounds are you? Well we've got diet supplements on sale!

As a matter of pragmatism, living with some of this ridiculousness is unavoidable. Unless you work with this sort of thing for a living it's more or less transparent and as an end-user the tools that you use to combat it are sometimes glorified magic buttons that don't actually do anything or they're just giving your data to a different broker. Even so, it doesn't hurt to be informed about the legal protections you have (or don't) and what actions you take are still meaningful in some way vs glorified a no-op that makes you feel better.

tl;dr - use cash while it still matters. This has been Captain Ahab screaming incoherently at the Credit Whale. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[RoyGBiv]

All of my routine bills ( utilities, subscriptions) are auto debit every month, and I keep enough in the account they pull from to cover it plus a cushion. Our health plan includes an HSA and those bills are paid online with the HSA card. That issuer doesn't have an app, and I need to keep a better eye on that account.

I resisted allowing bank drafts until 6-7 years ago when it became a problem to send bill payments (via my bank online bill pay) to my kids university. For whatever unexplainable reason, the school was not set up for electronic transfers via bill pay, so, every payment was a paper check (those pull the edges kind) and about half of those got lost in whatever state bureaucracy ran the AR department.

I set up a separate account just for this and transfer funds to it as needed.

Now, there are even fees for bank drafts and ACH, which drive me bats. Let's turn a convenience into a profit center. My kids college rent has 2 payment options. 1. Bank Draft with $2.50 fee for each transaction or 2. Credit card with 2.50 fee plus 3% for each transaction. Checks not welcome.