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I have been transitioning myself away from using a credit card. I have never "abused" using a credit card, and have always paid off the balance every single month. I've never believed in carrying credit card debt month-to-month.
That said, I don't like giving the big bank credit card companies business (in my case my Mastercard is issued by BoA). I also do admit it's silly to do it the way I am now, when I can just use my Visa debit card or pay cash, and not worry about paying off a monthly CC bill.
I do feel I may just keep the Mastercard CC for emergency situations, though. I don't have an annual fee on it. Maybe that's silly reasoning, but I'm not sure yet.
As someone who works in the VISA department (specifically dealing with "denials" at merchants) at my bank, I'm always astounded at the stories I hear from customers who never carry a spare card with them when they're out and about.
It's one thing to carry a spare card with you when you're grocery shopping and running errands, but when you're out of the country, I think it's ABSOLUTELY imperative you carry another card with you. What would you do if your card gets stolen or lost? What if fraud happens? You're pretty much stranded. I've heard it happen so many times--in fact, it happened to me!
I was traveling across states and stopped overnight in the middle of nowhere. In the morning, I got breakfast at a diner down the road, and when I went to go pay, my card was denied. The cashier tried it twice, but it wouldn't work. I know I had enough money in my bank account. Because I obsess over being prepared, I whipped out a credit card I always have on me and paid that way. Come to find out (once I was able to call because I had no cell service in that area), the bank had placed a fraud alert on my card because they saw that transactions were being done outside of my home state. Had I not had a spare card on me, I would have been royally screwed.
Do you carry a spare card with you? Why not?
Keep in mind, this poll and thread apply to credit AND debit card users.
I very rarely use a credit card and have just one. I have it in my desk drawer at home but I never carry it with me. If I don't have the cash, I don't buy (or don't travel for that matter). I take just my debit card with enough money in the account for any planned or unplanned expenses. I also notify my bank that I am planning to travel, the destinations, and the dates so as to avoid having a block placed on the card.
No ATM card and very little cash, if any at all; both are too dangerous for me to have in my purse, which has been stolen twice. I've also had a friend robbed at gunpoint at an ATM.
I carry one credit card and I keep the spare at home in case it gets stolen.
I carry a debit card and 2 credit cards (1 Mastercards for the fun stuff and 1 AMEX for the necessary stuff).
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