USAA Bank forcing customers to take a debit card (lawyer, to buy)

[Rustybolt]

Originally Posted by forest1492

USAA allows you to set the set daily limits for each of the following on debit cards:

*ATM withdrawals
*Purchases with a PIN
*Purchases without a PIN

Why don't you see if you can set the two daily purchase limits to 0 (or as close to 0 as possible if 0 isn't an option). Seems like that would be a lot simpler way to handle this issue if you are worried about your card being compromised.

I have no idea if they can be set to zero, but when I called they certainly didn't suggest that as a possibility.

[catriona]

The USAA website states that a PIN will be needed to w/d cash at an ATM for cash or credit cards. Is the OP saying that this is not true? I thought you could go online and customize your PIN/security question/etc. These new debit/credit cards also have the embedded chips for 'added security'.

An alternative might be to set up another account and only keep an amount in it that you deem necessary for cash withdrawals. The USAA website allows you to be creative with your accounts. Try looking into this or call and hopefully get someone that will help you set things up so you feel secure. I think it might be a case of you having to initiate the PIN option from your account settings.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Originally Posted by catriona

The USAA website states that a PIN will be needed to w/d cash at an ATM for cash or credit cards. Is the OP saying that this is not true? I thought you could go online and customize your PIN/security question/etc. These new debit/credit cards also have the embedded chips for 'added security'.

An alternative might be to set up another account and only keep an amount in it that you deem necessary for cash withdrawals. The USAA website allows you to be creative with your accounts. Try looking into this or call and hopefully get someone that will help you set things up so you feel secure. I think it might be a case of you having to initiate the PIN option from your account settings.

I think he was worried about purchases which would only need a signature.

I'm already using my new USAA debit card with the chip and it seems kind of random about when I need to sign or use a pin or nothing at all...for example used it at Walmart pharmacy yesterday for $5.98 and had to put in my pin, then used it at Walmart's regular checkout for $32.44 and did not have to sign or enter the pin.

[forest1492]

Originally Posted by Rustybolt

I have no idea if they can be set to zero, but when I called they certainly didn't suggest that as a possibility.

You can set the limits directly in the phone app, you don't even have to log on to USAA.com.

[Remington Steel]

Originally Posted by Rustybolt

No! That is a defeatist attitude. I choose to shape my environment to my liking. I'm not going through life just to survive. I may be retired from the military and moved onto a second career, but I'm still a warrior and have the warrior mentality. Guess not all folks that served were able to hang onto that...if they ever got it at all. Change can happen if enough of us care. If you don't care, then stop trying to drag down those of us who do.

Here is a quote to energize you:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat".
- Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne, 1910

Now who is with me? C'mon folks, pick up that phone and call! Register your disatisfaction!

When you get to a certain age in life, you learn to pick and choose your battles. Most of the things people ***** and complain about have to do with "change" which a lot of folks have a hard time dealing with. It has nothing to do with a defeatist attitude, it has to do with rejecting unnecessary stress in your life and adapt and overcoming hurdles.

[flashfearless]

Here's another suggestion. It requires you to be a little tech savvy, so it is not for everyone. I used to work for 10 years in what would become Bank of America's IT department for Credit Card. So, I know my way around these subjects.

The great thing about phone features such as Apple Pay is that your actual number is not stored on the phone. It is a number which is mapped to your actual number. During the point of sale transaction while using it, it generates another temporary number which is only valid for the transaction at hand. I use this all the time while at places that take Apple Pay. The problem is that not many do. If you want to investigate it, it first requires that the card you are using to support Apple Pay. I would also use the fingerprint technology on the phone. So, you store the debit card number in the Apple Wallet, which is not the actual number. You set up paying using your fingerprint. You literally hold your phone up to the device, give it your fingerprint and you are done.

People argue that this may not be as secure. They are wrong. It is more secure than a swipe of your card. The transaction is disposable. If intercepted, it is encrypted. Even if decrypted, it is useless information because the transaction is passed and can't be used again.

It's not for everyone. But when it comes to Walgreens, I also have my Walgreens card in my Apple wallet. I love to watch the tech savvy 20-somethings behind the counter mouths open pretty wide when they see my whole transaction be two finger print touches of the phone. Some have never even seen it done before. Kids...

[Azure110]

It doesn't take 10+ years of banking experience or to be tech savvy to learn how to use Apple Pay. Unlike a debit card, you can't just use it anywhere and that is why you don't see it being used often. Not all banks even allow you to merge their debit card with apple wallet. I know mine doesn't.

If I do use apple pay, it is tied in with my AMEX CC.

[pobre]

Originally Posted by Azure110

It doesn't take 10+ years of banking experience or to be tech savvy to learn how to use Apple Pay. Unlike a debit card, you can't just use it anywhere and that is why you don't see it being used often. Not all banks even allow you to merge their debit card with apple wallet. I know mine doesn't.

If I do use apple pay, it is tied in with my AMEX CC.

But USAA does.

[OaklandR]

Originally Posted by bspray

True, but, I have had two dedit cards 'hacked' over the 15+ years I've been with USAA. Both times, they immediately put the money back in my account and cancelled the debit cards. They do investigate the matter and that might actually take a couple of months but the money is returned immediately.

The biggest hassle is waiting a week or so to get a new debit card but I can't blame USAA for that.

I've had my USAA debit card hacked twice in the last year.

First time the made a dummy card and withdrew $1200 from an ATM in Dallas. They made me wait the 7-10 days before refunding any money.

Second time was just today. It was used to pay a layaway at a Kmart in Massachusetts. There were 2 charged totaling about $900. USAA told me since they are pending to wait and then file a fraud report. They told me again after that it would be 7-10 days to get my money back.

After 21 years I am really contemplating switching banks.

[CyVaquero]

Originally Posted by flashfearless

Here's another suggestion. It requires you to be a little tech savvy, so it is not for everyone. I used to work for 10 years in what would become Bank of America's IT department for Credit Card. So, I know my way around these subjects.

The great thing about phone features such as Apple Pay is that your actual number is not stored on the phone. It is a number which is mapped to your actual number. During the point of sale transaction while using it, it generates another temporary number which is only valid for the transaction at hand. I use this all the time while at places that take Apple Pay. The problem is that not many do. If you want to investigate it, it first requires that the card you are using to support Apple Pay. I would also use the fingerprint technology on the phone. So, you store the debit card number in the Apple Wallet, which is not the actual number. You set up paying using your fingerprint. You literally hold your phone up to the device, give it your fingerprint and you are done.

People argue that this may not be as secure. They are wrong. It is more secure than a swipe of your card. The transaction is disposable. If intercepted, it is encrypted. Even if decrypted, it is useless information because the transaction is passed and can't be used again.

It's not for everyone. But when it comes to Walgreens, I also have my Walgreens card in my Apple wallet. I love to watch the tech savvy 20-somethings behind the counter mouths open pretty wide when they see my whole transaction be two finger print touches of the phone. Some have never even seen it done before. Kids...

Chip and Pin operates on the same principle, the chip generates a one-time transaction code which even if intercepted can not be reused. The problem is that it is not universally accepted yet so we also have the extremely vulnerable printed information and clonable magnetic strip. One worldwide adoption has been made I expect that all that will be on cards is your name and the chip. The next iteration will probably some smaller slottable device like an SD Card so you can just insert and pay even when shopping online at home (along the lines of what Apple is trying to do with most recent release of MacOS).