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We use credit cards for everything (and I'm including charges for a buck and change). I monitor our account online almost daily.
The banks cannot hold you responsible if you report the fraudulent charges within a reasonable time (a month, maybe more). We rack up at least two free roundtrip tickets every year by using our credit card; why would I give that up????
If your credit card is used by someone else, after you notify the bank, they will 2-day deliver new cards (new account numbers) to wherever you are; your home, work or hotel/motel if on vacation. We once had cards delivered to our 2nd home in Mexico and they came overnight, all on the bank's dime.
Last time our card numbers were fraudulently used, it was for a train ticket purchased in Delhi, India. Funny conversation with the Citibank employee when I reported it. I guess they're required to ask, "Is it possible you bought these tickets and you've forgotten about them?" Nah, I think I'd remember buying train tickets in Delhi.
Sorry, that is ridiculous to use a credit card for minor charges.
Cash is KING. I am amazed at people that walk around with no money on them, don't keep some cash at home, and just assume that their debit/credit card will always work everywhere.
If there is some type of power outage, hurricane,etc, and they have no money on them.
Have been in two stores recently where there were glitches and they couldn't process any transactions other than cash. The man behind was annoyed as he had no money on him.
Why constantly have to worry about being hacked and having to check everyday?
Go to a secure ATM(like your bank) take out some cash, carry some of it on you, leave some at home, it also gives you a better idea budget wise as to what your spending. These people who go around swiping their cards for $2 purchases or a $4 and change at Starbucks usually end up spending more money.
Sorry, that is ridiculous to use a credit card for minor charges.
Cash is KING. I am amazed at people that walk around with no money on them, don't keep some cash at home, and just assume that their debit/credit card will always work everywhere.
If there is some type of power outage, hurricane,etc, and they have no money on them.
Have been in two stores recently where there were glitches and they couldn't process any transactions other than cash. The man behind was annoyed as he had no money on him.
Why constantly have to worry about being hacked and having to check everyday?
Go to a secure ATM(like your bank) take out some cash, carry some of it on you, leave some at home, it also gives you a better idea budget wise as to what your spending. These people who go around swiping their cards for $2 purchases or a $4 and change at Starbucks usually end up spending more money.
Why not swipe your card for $2 purchases if you're benefiting from it versus getting no benefit from cash? I carry about $600 in my wallet for these magical doom and gloom occasions you speak of, but only pay for something with cash perhaps once every few months. What's the point of wasting my time, and the server/bartender/cashier's time, exchanging dollar bills, breaking them, counting change on both sides, consolidating, depositing, etc. so on and so forth, when my rewards card gives me money and/or benefit back simply for using it on the same purchase I'd have made regardless?
It's true, I carry almost no cash normally. Keep a very small stash at home based on what I read re: storm prep (I'm a newbie to FL).
We have been cashless for years and frankly, we're the fastest ones through check-outs while 'cash' people are hunting for their nickels and dimes. And don't get me started on idiots who are still writing checks....I can't remember the last check I wrote!
And those 2 or more free RT flights from our penny ante charges, make for a nice bonus! And of course, we pay the balance monthly so never an interest charge. Can't beat that with a stick.
Why not swipe your card for $2 purchases if you're benefiting from it versus getting no benefit from cash? I carry about $600 in my wallet for these magical doom and gloom occasions you speak of, but only pay for something with cash perhaps once every few months. What's the point of wasting my time, and the server/bartender/cashier's time, exchanging dollar bills, breaking them, counting change on both sides, consolidating, depositing, etc. so on and so forth, when my rewards card gives me money and/or benefit back simply for using it on the same purchase I'd have made regardless?
The benefit of paying cash is you own it once you purchase it. Not waiting for a statement to come in telling you what you owe.
As far as wasting time, how much time do you have to spend online monitoring your activity? Or when you run into a problem with fraud?
How many times have there been stories of gas stations being hacked. I guess some people are too lazy to walk into the building and just pay cash.
Nothing wrong with using debit/credit cards, I just don't get not having any money on you and just assuming that you won't ever need cash. I also believe if you carry cash you can see how much you're spending, and can watch your budget better, it's very easy to run around swiping a card and lose track or look online later and say "geez I really went overboard".
Let's say you budget $400 for the week for gas, groceries, etc. You take it out of the ATM and you can see what your spending, if you find yourself running low that week you know you need to watch where you're spending, swiping a card you can easily lose track of what your spending.
I think they're are a lot of people who can get in over their heads rather quickly by constantly charging everything.
As I stated I have been at two places where due to glitches their systems couldn't take any EBT, debit, or credit cards. So while others stood around with frustrated looks on their faces, I had cash and got my items and left.
Funny how you bash me but at the same time keep cash on hand.
Same here...I even pay at MCD for a value menu with my cc since I love the rewards I get and gift cards they send me!
I would be stupid and thief of my own wallet if I wouldn't use my cc for everything and at the same time I increase my credit score by paying it off every week in full!
I love my credit score that is over 800 which helps me getting other stuff cheaper than many other do who may love to pay with cash.
Isn't it great to live in a free country where people can choose to pay the way they want to pay
Location: says MA on my license but can be found wandering the beaches of RI
1,432 posts, read 1,823,938 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spbbound
The solution is moving to a one time use number product. Your credit card displays a new number once per minute so stealing the info is useless. Vendors who need to charge you on an ongoing basis get a token instead of a real credit card number, one that you can revoke when you no longer want them to be able to charge you. It would cost the card issuers a few dollars per card instead of a few cents, but that's not a big deal.
Why do we not have this? Well that's because credit card companies and merchant account providers profit off of fraud, so they don't want to see it eliminated. Chargebacks, unauthorized transactions the cardholder misses, merchants who have to pay fees even after a chargeback, etc. all make them a huge amount of pure profit since they aren't the ones that lost money or merchandise, so they have no desire to stop fraud.
I agree 100% about having one time numbers. I've been thinking lately of purchasing gift visa cards but there is an activation fee and they're not reloadable. I posted a while back that my AAA car club has a reloadable Amex but I don't want to have it electronically connected to my bank account and the closest location is not convenient to keep going to add money (cash) to it.
As far as chargebacks, can you clarify about merchants profiting? Although I don't manage that specific area in my company, I'm well aware of the $ numbers as well as the fees not to mention there is a threshold with each major credit card (MC, Visa, Disc, Amex) that if you go over as a percentage of your sales, you can be placed on a warning list. If you don't work to bring down your percentage of monthly chargebacks, any one of those credit card brands can say they will no longer allow their brand to be accepted as payment. I'm not finding fault with what you said, just interested in understanding. Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by hokiepoke
They're all hacked, they just don't know it yet.
Yep! The saying goes, there are two types of companies, those who have been hacked and those who just don't know it yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by spbbound
Chip cards won't help until enough card readers in this country is replaced with chip & pin equipment that people demand chip-only cards. Until that happens, the cards will keep having mag stripes and the data will keep getting stolen by skimmers.
Right. There are many merchants, especially the larger chains, who you will not see go to chip & pin due to the cost. The ROI is simply not worth it for some not to mention if it's a franchised brand, franchisees might just say no.
The benefit of paying cash is you own it once you purchase it. Not waiting for a statement to come in telling you what you owe.
As far as wasting time, how much time do you have to spend online monitoring your activity? Or when you run into a problem with fraud?
Zero. I use two cards, and both are set up to text me after every transaction. If I get a text any other time, I immediately know there is an issue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by seain dublin
How many times have there been stories of gas stations being hacked. I guess some people are too lazy to walk into the building and just pay cash.
I don't consider it lazy, I consider it my time is more valuable than the ten minutes I'd waste walking in, standing in a line, walking back out, making sure no one's messed with my car, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by seain dublin
Nothing wrong with using debit/credit cards, I just don't get not having any money on you and just assuming that you won't ever need cash. I also believe if you carry cash you can see how much you're spending, and can watch your budget better, it's very easy to run around swiping a card and lose track or look online later and say "geez I really went overboard".
Let's say you budget $400 for the week for gas, groceries, etc. You take it out of the ATM and you can see what your spending, if you find yourself running low that week you know you need to watch where you're spending, swiping a card you can easily lose track of what your spending.
I think they're are a lot of people who can get in over their heads rather quickly by constantly charging everything.
People who are so poor at managing their finances that they have to give themselves a cash budget each week to make sure they don't spend more than they remembered spending are also the type to carry balances and to not likely have $400 in their checking account to withdraw, so chances are they're already using a credit card.
Quote:
Originally Posted by seain dublin
Funny how you bash me but at the same time keep cash on hand.
I keep cash on hand for emergencies, like what you described, but I use my credit card whenever possible, and I do not consider the practice 'ridiculous' since I benefit about $5k/year on Southwest airlines and Hyatt hotels as a result of my charging everything I purchase.
As far as chargebacks, can you clarify about merchants profiting? Although I don't manage that specific area in my company, I'm well aware of the $ numbers as well as the fees not to mention there is a threshold with each major credit card (MC, Visa, Disc, Amex) that if you go over as a percentage of your sales, you can be placed on a warning list. If you don't work to bring down your percentage of monthly chargebacks, any one of those credit card brands can say they will no longer allow their brand to be accepted as payment. I'm not finding fault with what you said, just interested in understanding. Thanks!
I was talking about merchant account providers and card issuers. The merchants (business owners, of which I am one) get screwed. So on the front end, the merchant has to pay typically transaction fees for authorizing the charge, address validation, etc. They also have to pay the discount rate, which is the percentage the merchant account provider charges them for processing the transaction. Then they give the customer whatever it is they purchased, render the service, etc.
With the exception of Amex, who screws all their merchants on the front end by charging 1/2 to 1 percent higher fees to take their cards, everyone else uses a guilty until proven innocent model for chargebacks. So fraud happens, legit card holder notices the weird charge, disputes it. If it's visa/mc/discover, they immediately take the money away from the merchant, so now the merchant is out the merchandise/service as well as the money they received. To add insult to injury, a few days later, a letter will show up advising them of the dispute, giving the reason, and letting them know they've been dinged for another $15 to $20 for the privilege of having a charge disputed. (This is where Amex differs, they don't charge the fee for a dispute) In most cases, if the merchant can now prove the charge was legit, the merchant account provider still keeps typically 80% to 100% of the chargeback fee. The merchant is also still going to be out the transaction fee, typically about 25 to 50 cents, and in many cases, they may even be out some of that original percentage fee as well if they're a very small business and don't have the volume, or knowledge, to negotiate better rates or to switch merchant accounts to a provider that doesn't ********* as bad.
So they love fraud, because whether it is actual fraud or even when the merchant can prove it wasn't fraud, they're going to make $15 to $20 on the dispute. Or, even better, if someone is in a higher risk business, they will get more than the normal number of chargebacks and the merchant provider will use that as an excuse to increase their rates, which of course makes no sense since the merchant account provider carries no liability regardless. For example, adult stores/websites, strip clubs, etc. get a lot of chargebacks because wives see the credit card statement and hubby says that wasn't me, dispute! Then the rates go up.
It's a big shady industry and only very large businesses can negotiate nice rates and fees, the rest get worked over. That's why I'm excited about things like crypto currencies (bitcoin), etc. Not necessarily because I want to use them, but because it puts pressure on merchant account providers to not be so greedy.
How many times do you see on the pin pad screen pop up coming up stating " hand your card to cashier" or something similar....how often does the cashier just click on the screen without looking at your card?
There is one of the issues! Lack of checking will cost the stores money.
Some store clerks/cashiers will ask for them but some of them are so annoying that they start asking after I have put my card away instead of asking right away.
Some stores will ask for ID with your card and that may be the stores where you are most safe but at the same time a lot tile annoying since paying and standing in line will be longer.
How many times do you see on the pin pad screen pop up coming up stating " hand your card to cashier" or something similar....how often does the cashier just click on the screen without looking at your card?
There is one of the issues! Lack of checking will cost the stores money.
Some store clerks/cashiers will ask for them but some of them are so annoying that they start asking after I have put my card away instead of asking right away.
Some stores will ask for ID with your card and that may be the stores where you are most safe but at the same time a lot tile annoying since paying and standing in line will be longer.
The funny thing is that asking for ID is a violation of the merchant account agreement. You are within your rights to refuse to provide ID to use your credit card, provided it is signed, and they are not allowed to refuse it without ID. If enough people complain about businesses that do that, they can lose their merchant account.
Of course, my credit card says "SEE LICENSE" on the signature area, which is also kind of funny because the card is not valid without signature, so technically merchants should refuse my purchase instead of asking for my ID like the card says. The only place I've encountered that actually does refuse to take it is the USF Post Office. I'd guess that people actually ask to see my license perhaps 10% of the time, so that tells you how often people even bother to look at the back or care about it.
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