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I was listening to Frank Abagnale talk about his life. He has spent the past 40 years working for the FBI. He is an interesting person to listen to. Some years back a movie about him was made based on his book, Catch Me If You Can
In a question and answer segment he was asked about debit cards. He commented that he never uses them. That a debit card does nothing for you and can open you up to fraud. He says he uses credit cards for everything. When the bill comes he pays off the bill.
Frank mentions that with a credit card, if you suspect fraud, you call your credit card company and they will suspend the payments to the fraud. They will cancel your card and send you a new one right away.
With a debit card you might lose your money, wont have use of it until an investigation takes place. It might take weeks to get your money back.
While a credit card used wisely builds your credit, a debit card does nothing for you.
With a credit card you are using someone else's money during the month for free, as long as you pay off the balance when the statement comes. Your money stays in your bank and only comes out when you make that payment.
The idea sounds intriguing. Anyone else using a credit card to pay the bills and then paying it off each month and not using a debit card?
I've been doing this for about 25 years. For the last 10, I have been getting 2 % cash back from all purchases. I buy everything with my cashback credit card. I have bought 3 new cars and paid $3000 on one and $5000 on the other two with the card and got the 2%. I have never owned a debit card.
Credit cards, paid off each month. I like Dave Ramsey, and he likes debit cards, not credit cards, not sure why.
By the way, I understand (this may be a myth) that us folks who pay off our cards at the end of each month are considered "dead beats" by those in the credit card industry.
Credit cards, paid off each month. I like Dave Ramsey, and he likes debit cards, not credit cards, not sure why.
By the way, I understand (this may be a myth) that us folks who pay off our cards at the end of each month are considered "dead beats" by those in the credit card industry.
Rich
I doubt it.
They still get transaction fees, valuable spending/consumer data, and a revolving chance that you might pay interest eventually since credit is shown to increase spending of consumers despite everyone’s claim to the contrary.
The biggest threat of this technique is most people will spend more subconsciously using credit vs debit or cash. Many in here will argue and swear up and down their spending habits wouldn't change but data says the opposite.
There are a number of obligations that wouldn’t be impacted paying by cc, debit, check or ach. Electricity, water, natural gas, trash, gasoline, car/home owners insurance, cell phone, cable, internet. Possibly point of sale purchases in person are impacted for some at restaurants, gas stations or fast food but by and large a lot of expenses aren’t really impacted by method of payment
I was listening to Frank Abagnale talk about his life. He has spent the past 40 years working for the FBI. He is an interesting person to listen to. Some years back a movie about him was made based on his book, Catch Me If You Can
In a question and answer segment he was asked about debit cards. He commented that he never uses them. That a debit card does nothing for you and can open you up to fraud. He says he uses credit cards for everything. When the bill comes he pays off the bill.
Frank mentions that with a credit card, if you suspect fraud, you call your credit card company and they will suspend the payments to the fraud. They will cancel your card and send you a new one right away.
With a debit card you might lose your money, wont have use of it until an investigation takes place. It might take weeks to get your money back.
While a credit card used wisely builds your credit, a debit card does nothing for you.
With a credit card you are using someone else's money during the month for free, as long as you pay off the balance when the statement comes. Your money stays in your bank and only comes out when you make that payment.
The idea sounds intriguing. Anyone else using a credit card to pay the bills and then paying it off each month and not using a debit card?
I rarely use debit cards. Anything I buy other than small incidentals is with a credit card, and then I pay off the balance every month. Some people even put their bills on autopay charging to their credit cards. I haven't gone that far because I want to retain control over paying each bill. I don't like autopay for that reason.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 2 days ago)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup
The biggest threat of this technique is most people will spend more subconsciously using credit vs debit or cash. Many in here will argue and swear up and down their spending habits wouldn't change but data says the opposite.
Data might deal with people who can't easily pay their credit card balances every month.
For those who have reached a stage of life where they have no problem whatsoever paying off each month's credit card statement in full, they don't spend anymore with a credit card than they would with cash or a check or debit card.
I do agree with you, that people who struggle to pay off their credit card purchases in full every month (or, actually don't even really try to) might be at risk for overspending on credit.
I always used my Debit card because I don’t want any bills each month. The. Someone told me to use a credit card for the reward points, so I have even doing that for 5 years. I pay in full each month and every few months, I use my $100 of reward points toward my bill. Also, you have no protection using a debit card if you have a dispute of a purchase. With a credit card, they will fight for you.
My debit card has the Visa logo and has the same protections. I always thought this sufficient, until someone pointed out to me what OP's friend did: I'll get the money back in the end, yes... but if it takes weeks or months, I'm stuck without it if it came straight out of my bank account.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup
The biggest threat of this technique is most people will spend more subconsciously using credit vs debit or cash. Many in here will argue and swear up and down their spending habits wouldn't change but data says the opposite.
What is the difference? One still needs to make sure that at the end of the month, one hasn't spent more than one has in the bank. I merely switched from using one card for all of my purchases to another.
In a question and answer segment he was asked about debit cards. He commented that he never uses them. That a debit card does nothing for you and can open you up to fraud. He says he uses credit cards for everything. When the bill comes he pays off the bill. ?
I agree with him.
I don't use debit cards. They can be cloned very easily and I've had massive fraud occur, that was a nightmare to straighten out with my bank. I won't even use a debit card for the ATM. I just use credit cards and pay off the balance every month.
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