Credit card abuse

[Scy123]

Sure would feel better knowing I'm not paying 30% interest for a $30:00 dollar purchase.

I read online once that you can call them and tell them your friends have really low interest and they will lower your interest on the spot. Well it worked for me I had 28% and they lowered it to 13%.

 

[Teknix]

I use my debit card from Bank of America Mastercard for all my purchases and never had a problem with it. I've bought from Provape, Altsmoke, Vapor Room, mount baker, Aspire. Have yet to have a single issue.

 

[cbrite]

I use my debit card all the time to buy juice. But recently there were unauthorized charges on it twice, about a month apart and both for $49.95. I suspect they came from someplace that I bought juice being hacked, although no way of knowing for sure. My bank returned the $$ both times and then issued me a new debit card the 2nd time it happened. I don't like to use my credit cards, but am thinking I might get a pre-paid one to avoid any problems in the future.

 

[Jumpin' In...]

You really do not understand CC procedures do you.
Stores do Not give VISA/etc. Discounts. Stores are Charged a Percentage of each and every purchase plus a processing fee on every CC transaction they accept.
Stores would love nothing more than a way to close the transaction additional Fee Free - then they could reduce artificially high pricing without incurring loss.

As an ex-small business owner I assure you this is correct and the smaller the business the higher the fees.

Paypal Debit Master card - works like a CC or a DC, but is a DC and adds a layer of protection. Fast email notifications of all activity.
And YES, it can be used all day long to make e-cig purchases.

I believe I do understand credit cards. I wrote that on the fly and I admit I used the wrong word. That is why I used the quotation marks around the word "discount". Insert the term "transaction fee" for "discount" and everything else I wrote stands. My apologies. (You didn't have to get snarky about it, though. )

Assuming that a credit card balance is paid off every month, the only advantage in using a debit card rather than a credit card is to the business, not the consumer. When a debit card is used in place of a credit card, the business gains and the CC company loses the transaction fee. The consumer loses a layer of protection and grants immediate access to his/her bank account. The consumer also loses whatever perks the card might provide (travel miles, points, extended warranties, etc.) and the float (which, when interest rates were higher, admittedly meant more than it does today) .

Yes, in theory, using a debit card could reduce artificially high prices, but unless there is massive migration from credit cards to debit cards, that will not happen. The present reality is that the business just keeps the fee. That is why I indicated that using a debit card might be more attractive if the business gave me at least part of the fee as a discount.

I haven't given it much thought, but I guess using a debit card makes sense if you carry a balance - and therefore pay monthly interest - on your credit card. I don't carry a balance on my credit card, so using a debit card makes absolutely no sense to me.

 

[K_Tech]

I use my debit card all the time to buy juice. But recently there were unauthorized charges on it twice, about a month apart and both for $49.95. I suspect they came from someplace that I bought juice being hacked, although no way of knowing for sure. My bank returned the $$ both times and then issued me a new debit card the 2nd time it happened. I don't like to use my credit cards, but am thinking I might get a pre-paid one to avoid any problems in the future.

I think that prepaid is the way to go for online (and really most other) transactions.

Also, it may be worth checking to see if your CC company offers "virtual" credit card numbers. You log into your account, and you can generate a new credit card number at random that can be good for either one purchase, or one vendor. I know that at a minimum Discover and Citi offer this service.

 

[Jumpin' In...]

I think that prepaid is the way to go for online (and really most other) transactions.

Also, it may be worth checking to see if your CC company offers "virtual" credit card numbers. You log into your account, and you can generate a new credit card number at random that can be good for either one purchase, or one vendor. I know that at a minimum Discover and Citi offer this service.

Didn't know about this possibility. I need to check that out. Thanks for the info.

 

[yzer]

Credit cards charge zero interest if the monthly bill is fully paid on time. Plus, CCs offer various perks and fraud protection. Paying APR interest on CC purchases is a very bad idea. Don't buy more on a CC than you can pay off with the next bill.

 

[K_Tech]

Credit cards charge zero interest if the monthly bill is fully paid on time. Plus, CCs offer various perks and fraud protection. Paying APR interest on CC purchases is a very bad idea. Don't buy more on a CC than you can pay off with the next bill.

Absolutely. When you add up how much interest you pay by maintaining a balance on your card, it negates any of the perks and bonuses you get.

I have a card that pays cash back into my mortgage principle. If I don't pay off the balance every month, I actually "lose" money.

 

[ProjektMayhem]

I think that prepaid is the way to go for online (and really most other) transactions.

Also, it may be worth checking to see if your CC company offers "virtual" credit card numbers. You log into your account, and you can generate a new credit card number at random that can be good for either one purchase, or one vendor. I know that at a minimum Discover and Citi offer this service.

That seems pretty cool. I didn't know they had anything like that. Definitely a good idea so you don't have to put your real credit card number out there. Once you use the virtual credit card number it can't be used again and you can set the amount that the virtual card has on it. Good for protecting against credit card fraud!