quote:

I figured everyone did it that way. Because honestly, steal my credit card and run it way up - Visa / Mastercard will figure it out and I'm not losing a fucking dime. The only inconvenience is waiting for a new card to arrive.

^^^^^^^^
The other inconvenience is if you have automatic charges to your credit card. It is a real pain to notify all those folks.

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:
The OP here feels so modern, not taking cash. His option. But when you exercise that option, there are costs. First, you've got to have the cash or money. Won't work if you live beyond your means. But then we don't have anyone hacking our cash. I guess I'm still a neanderthal.

I resemble that remark. Cash for everything and debit card for online purchases and my checkbook gets updated at time of purchase. I do not live beyond my means and I choke at the prices of everything these days. Not enough money in my checkbook? I don’t make the purchase. Simple neanderthal thinking.

Some responses here to various posts:

Cash: I just don’t like the idea of walking around with a lot of cash on me nor the idea of having to go get it periodically.

My credit: no I have several credit cards and my credit is excellent, it’s near the top of the scale last time I checked. I guess I just have an aversion to credit cards anymore as before I got married I was drowning in credit card debt to the tune of over $25,000 and getting killed on late fees trying to juggle payments. My wife took on managing our finances and got that wiped out pretty quick with simple spending discipline.

I do like the idea of that new Apple credit card that is tied to Apple Pay

Credit cards are just fine, as long as you spend within reason and pay it off every month.

Sure, you can get in over your head, if you don't live within your means. You don't have the safety net of spending willy-nilly until your card gets declined for insufficient funds, like you could do with a debit card.

But credit cards work great, with a little budgeting and self control. Especially nowadays, when you can look at all your purchases and overall spending with just a click of a button. Plus you can get various rewards on credit card purchases, which is basically just free money, provided you aren't carrying it over and paying interest.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

...I do like the idea of that new Apple credit card that is tied to Apple Pay

Apple credit card. Although it functions the same as any other credit card with magnetic strip and chip, the number is not on the card itself. If you need to give the actual number and security code, such as ordering something on-line, you access the card numbers from your phone app. If fraud would occur they contact you and the card number is shut off just like any other card, only instead of waiting for a new card, the card you have is instantly renumbered and you're good to go.

Debit Cards were introduced when I was still in my IT life. I foresaw the security issues with them then and vowed to NEVER own one. I have kept that promise.

To the OP, I would recommend the American Express Card. It does have an annual fee, but the green card's fee is pretty low, I believe. I have the gold card and I can guarantee I've saved waaaaaaaaaay more in interest charges (card is payed off every month) than what the annual fee is. Having to pay the card off every month also makes me watch how much I'm spending. I can't afford to charge thousands of dollars and consequently pay that off at the end of the month. So I look at it as a type of budgeting tool. YMMV...

For merchants that don't take AMEX, I have a MasterCard. The balance is up higher than I'd like right now, but I pound a pretty hefty payment on it every month. No annual fee on that one and my interest rate is reasonable. Coupled with the MC, I'm enrolled in their Rewards program. This past fall, I had accumulated enough points to "buy" $350 worth of Amazon cards. That was my Merry Christmas to me and I'm saving the balance for when I have to upgrade some hardware on my office computer.

I use the “Privacy” app for online orders, and pause the card number, when not needed.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Credit cards are just fine, as long as you spend within reason and pay it off every month.

Sure, you can get in over your head, if you don't live within your means. You don't have the safety net of spending willy-nilly until your card gets declined for insufficient funds, like you could do with a debit card.

But credit cards work great, with a little budgeting and self control. Especially nowadays, when you can look at all your purchases and overall spending with just a click of a button. Plus you can get various rewards on credit card purchases, which is basically just free money, provided you aren't carrying it over and paying interest.

That's exactly it. Use a credit card and have enough self discipline to stay within your monthly budget. People that get in trouble with cc's simply can't control themselves. They know they are not going to have the cash on hand to pay off the cc bill, but that shinny new object they just have to have blinds them.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

...I do like the idea of that new Apple credit card that is tied to Apple Pay

Apple credit card. Although it functions the same as any other credit card with magnetic strip and chip, the number is not on the card itself. If you need to give the actual number and security code, such as ordering something on-line, you access the card numbers from your phone app. If fraud would occur they contact you and the card number is shut off just like any other card, only instead of waiting for a new card, the card you have is instantly renumbered and you're good to go.

Been using the Apple Card/pay since it debuted. I don’t think there is a card or point of sale process that is more secure.

I use credit cards almost exclusively. Not debit.

I have one card that I have set to autopay all my utility bills. (Water, electric, gas, TV/internet/cell, etc.)

Another card for day to day swipes (lunch, gas, misc expenses)

A third card for online purchases and only.

This way I can narrow it down which is the likely source if it gets compromised, and shut it down easier.


I pay off each card each month.

The most secure way of using a credit card today is via Apple Pay or Google Pay. Unfortunately, we still aren't at the point where every business can/will accept this form of payment. I habitually use Google Pay everywhere I can and haven't run into any issues with it in the last few years.

quote:

Originally posted by midwest guy:
Been using the Apple Card/pay since it debuted. I don’t think there is a card or point of sale process that is more secure.

You are correct.

To add to the credit card strategy, set the limit to no more than what you would spend and pay off in a month. Having a card with an $18,000 credit limit is absolutely unnecessary.

I have yet to do it, but I need to get a card to use exclusively when I’m on a trip. I will set the limit on that card very low...$500 at most. That way if it gets stolen or hacked, at least the dirt bag can’t go out and buy a new 84” LED TV.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
To add to the credit card strategy, set the limit to no more than what you would spend and pay off in a month. Having a card with an $18,000 credit limit is absolutely unnecessary.

You really need a limit of about 1.5 times what you spend in a month for the expenditures that happen after the card's billing cycle ends but before you make the payment.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
The other inconvenience is if you have automatic charges to your credit card. It is a real pain to notify all those folks.

That's really the worst part and if you forget one, getting hit with late fees.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Yeah, I never use a debit card other than cash withdrawals from ATMs

Credit cards only online and out & about.

I figured everyone did it that way. Because honestly, steal my credit card and run it way up - Visa / Mastercard will figure it out and I'm not losing a fucking dime. The only inconvenience is waiting for a new card to arrive.

Same. I have never used my "ATM" card for debit purchases, just an easier way for thieves to have a more direct link to my accounts. 100% of the time I use a CC for electronic purchases as a stop gap payment system, I pay off the balance each month. I haven't paid interest on a card since the early 80s.

As far as cash, I use it occasionally, perhaps 30% of time. I always carry a certain amount of cash on me at all times. Going through earthquakes in CA and resulting power outages taught me that cash is king when things go south.

AMEX

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:
Same. I have never used my "ATM" card for debit purchases, just an easier way for thieves to have a more direct link to my accounts.

And often not protected against fraud like credit cards are. Your debit card gets 0wn3d and your checking account raided? Too bad, so sad. (Though this is beginning to change.)

I don't think I've used my debit card, save to draw money from an ATM, in years.

As for running up the tab on a CC: Another nice thing about the Apple Card is your Apple Wallet will mildly pester you to pay, to pay the amount due to avoid interest charges, and to pay it on time.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Debit Cards were introduced when I was still in my IT life. I foresaw the security issues with them then and vowed to NEVER own one. I have kept that promise.

Same here. I dated a bank branch manager a long time ago. She didn’t have a debit card and convinced me never to get one. She also told me never to link your checking account with your savings account.

OK then, what about Visa debit cards with a chip?

I've never had an issue btw.

Apprentice:
My Visa debit card with chip was hacked just last week. And my debit card is hacked regularly no matter how I use it. Or not use it.
Latest outrage:
I saw that someone managed to order online from Best Buy a 400 dollar gaming computer. I tried to stop the transaction but my bank let the charge go through. Then I get an e-mail from Best Buy saying "thanks for shopping with us, Jovon"! Needless to say, I am not Jovon. And I did not drive 400+ miles to the store to pickup the damn computer. Best Buy has a feature where you can order on line for store pickup but allow someone else to pick up the order. So... At this point, it appears that someone at the Best Buy where the pickup was made hacked my Best Buy rewards card account which I have not used or accessed on line. My debit card, email address and phone number are all on this "rewards" account.
Reported fraud to bank. Card cancelled and 400 bucks returned. No desire on their part to take any action to prevent this.
Reported fraud to Best Buy and told them how stupid it was that someone other than the person who ordered the item on line could actually pick up the order. No concern on their part.
Called the local cops to report Jovon to their financial crime detective. He could not even be bothered to return my call.
And there is the situation in a nutshell. Everyone involved in this event has (except me and maybe Jovon) has any interest in preventing this from occurring or getting anyone prosecuted for it. Until that changes, this will continue to go on.
I find it hard to believe that we can shoot a tiny robot to Mars and once there, the robot drives around and sends back live TV to Earth but we cant do anything about credit / debit card fraud.