So I had to get a new debit card. It works about half the time. Say declined the other half. Lots of money in the account. Credit union says nothing is wrong. I end up having to use my backup credit card instead. Any of you ever had this issue? [Reply]
There's also a chance the machine reading the card is bad. I shop at my local Wal-Mart for most of my groceries. There are two machines in the store that will not accept my card but the others will. Just yesterday I wasn't thinking and used one of the machines that won't accept it. The lady that helped me was astounded when I just switched to the machine next to mine and my card worked perfectly. [Reply]
My PSA advice, never ever use a debit card except to take cash from an ATM.
Our number got stolen in a Home Depot hack several years ago. Someone used that number to make about $1600 dollars worth of purchases. That's money right out of.your checking account. Fortunately for.us we had more than enough in the account to cover other bills. But if you don't it will create a whole other set of issues.
Sure the bank is required to replace your stolen funds but it is not instantaneous. With a credit card that's the card issuers money and it's their problem. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mr. Wizard:
So I had to get a new debit card. It works about half the time. Say declined the other half. Lots of money in the account. Credit union says nothing is wrong. I end up having to use my backup credit card instead. Any of you ever had this issue?
I still have a debit card but I've changed over to using a Delta American Express card. I've already have enough points to fly a round trip to Europe first class.
Of course the drawback is if you don't pay the balance every month, you'll pay 29.99% interest. As long as you have sufficient cash flow, its a great deal. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mr. Wizard:
So I had to get a new debit card. It works about half the time. Say declined the other half. Lots of money in the account. Credit union says nothing is wrong. I end up having to use my backup credit card instead. Any of you ever had this issue?
Your card is working fine for me. But I mostly make small purchases that you won't notice. [Reply]
Originally Posted by 2bikemike:
My PSA advice, never ever use a debit card except to take cash from an ATM.
Our number got stolen in a Home Depot hack several years ago. Someone used that number to make about $1600 dollars worth of purchases. That's money right out of.your checking account. Fortunately for.us we had more than enough in the account to cover other bills. But if you don't it will create a whole other set of issues.
Sure the bank is required to replace your stolen funds but it is not instantaneous. With a credit card that's the card issuers money and it's their problem.
Yeah, I've had a Chase credit card for several years and they're amazing... one morning got an alert about a big purchase at Best Buy that I didn't make, and they close the card and sent a new one, no questions asked. Hell, I put 50% down on a new HVAC and the damn company went out of business before the install... and I got my money back from Chase faster than the contractor's association. Even if I didn't get reward points, I'd use a credit card just for that convenience (and maybe one day they'll figure it the fuck out and go MFA or something).
I just wouldn't have the same faith in a bank, and like you said, the money is just gone at that moment.
I also have a separate money market account tied to my checking, so I only keep enough to pay the bills and smaller purchases in the checking account... and then I can transfer from money market instantly online if needed. That's at least one way to 'hide' money in case your debit info gets stolen. [Reply]