We just have to disagree. My debit card is disabled after X number of bad attempts. My CC has a $20,000 limit, and if lost, I could face major problems, including hours on the phone disputing the charges.
In comparison, my debit / checking account has just enough to cover my checks. I xfer funds from savings as needed, and I NEVER have overdraft enbabled.
Ok if you manage your checking account that closely, you won’t get into trouble. But wow that’s a lot of work. All of my consumer spend is on no-annual-fee rewards cards and I get 2% cash back, hundreds of Dollars per year. I have had some fraudulent charges over the last fourty years never really had a problem disputing them. I just don’t see the upside for debit cards.
I also get cash back from my CC’s and use them a lot. That’s why the bank keeps upping my limit. I’ve never asked for it. But my CC’s never leave the house. Only my debit card travels in my wallet,
I’m not sure why it would take hours. One call should do it, and in my experience, calls of this nature to my credit card companies take less than 15 minutes (and that’s assuming it can’t be done online). I currently have four cards in my wallet, so that would be an hour max. In the 2-3 days it takes fedex to deliver the replacement cards, I could grab a different card from the sock drawer, or grab my ATM card and get whatever cash I need from the bank.
That is my experience as well. Also to add to this, if somebody got one of my credit cards and started charging willy-nilly, the card company would most likely contact me to ask if the charges are mine, and maybe put a hold on the purchase until I confirmed so. That happened a few times with both legitimate charges and fraudulent ones.
At the end of the day I have never been held responsible for any fraudulent charges made on one of my credit cards. PenFed, however, did allow me to keep the rewards that I received as a result of about $1500 in fraudulent charges in fuel purchases that I did not make.
Good one!
Actually, it was several years ago. And, it was the only experience I had where the credit card company did not flag some purchase as possibly fraudulent when it should have screamed out red-flag! I noticed them when I happened to log-on to my PenFed account to check something else. Two charges for $550 each in Washington State, two for $150 each in Oregon and a few other minor ones. From what I could tell, they were purchases at major fuel depots for commercial drivers. Since all of my purchases were in California and in the ~$30s range and at regular gas stations, this was obviously out of the ordinary. They were fortunate that I saw that and called them.
And, PenFed made me complete an affidavit attesting that I did not make those charges, which I gladly did. They were all disallowed. Later, PenFed posted the 5% cash rebate for those charges. Just to be sure, I called them and asked if I had to pay them back or if they would be clawed back. The representative told me that neither would happen and that I got a windfall from that experience.
Is that the banks rules? Or is that policy recognized by the feds? I just don’t use my debit card for most purchases. I think the security it’s not the same as a standard credit card, with the protection part.
A number of years ago, I attempted to make 2 semi-large value purchases on a BA credit card a few minutes apart. I guess it triggered an alarm for the BA folks as they put a hold on the second purchase until I confirmed, by phone I think, that both were legit and made by me.
Had the same issue with both BOA and also Citi bank. Made 2 or 3 purchases within a short period of time[purchases were on the small side]. Like you said, triggers some kind of alarm.
Before any longer trip, go into your CC account and set up a “Travel alert”. You tell it what states or countries you will be traveling through. Works for me.