I used to have a card with Wells Fargo when I lived in Texas. I started traveling to NYC to look at apartments and things and before I took my first trip up here I called all of my credit card companies to let them know I would be using the card in another state for a few days. Discover noted my account and thanked me for calling them to let them know ahead of time. BoA did the exact same thing. Wells Fargo, however, did not.
me: Hi, I am going to be out of state from April 6th-9th. I will be in New York. I just wanted to let you know so that it doesn’t show up as potential fraudulent activity.
WF: We hope you enjoy your trip, however we cannot note your trip on your account.
me: What? If you can’t note this on my account how am I supposed to use my card?
WF: It is very simple, really. When your card gets rejected for fraud you call the number on the back and verify that you are the legitimate user and they will reactiviate your account.
me: But I am calling you now so that my card doesn’t get shut down at all.
WF: I can’t note that here, ma’am. When your card is rejected then we can help you.
On the other hand, if you have actual fraudulent charges on a debit card, you’ve got about a snowball’s chance in Hell of ever getting your money back.
As this is the pit I would like to point out your ignorance on this issue is exceptional. You appear to have little clue how credit cards work and only know some of the negatives.
I am glad you posted so you can learn that many people pay no annual fees and never pay interest. Many make a little money by various perks like cash back or airline miles and of course get to keep money in interest earning accounts for a bit longer.
Additionally Credit Cards are quicker to use then checks, take up less room and generally are safer than walking into to a store to buy an expensive item in cash. Carrying large amounts of cash around seems like the crazy thing to me.
Final bonus, credit cards are generally the easiest way to purchase stuff on the Internet and I generally get my best bargains on the Internet. MEBuckner, great rant. What a crazy policy your Credit Card Company uses. Mine has called me when something suspicious showed up. Thankfully it was only truly a problem once and they handled that very well.
Heck, I actually just got a credit card from the Royal Bank of Canada in December after seven years without. No annual fees, semi-high credit limit… so far I’ve had no problem paying it off every month even though I’ve been doing things like putting courses and dentistry and Christmas presents on it. The only reason I’ve paid fees is because I made some cash advances, and those attract a $2.50 fee.
I pay an annual fee for my USAirways card, but I also get good miles and two $99 companion tickets every year. Even with the $75 annual fee, I have saved hundreds in airplane tickets.
Discover is good with calling about fraudulent charges - almost too good. When my now-husband bought my engagment ring, they called to make sure it was a legit charge. I picked up the phone, and, even though I wasn’t on the account, they told me the problem and the amount of the charge and asked me to give him the message…
We were inconvenienced a couple of years ago when we went on our first road trip in a long time. Discover suddenly saw a bunch of gas and motel charges in New York and Connecticut, flagged the account, and called our home. Unfortunately, we were in New York and Connecticut.
Yeah, this thread reminded me that I needed to call Capital One. I am going to Turkey in April, and as Turkish Airlines charges something like $400 - $600 (depending on how you schedule it) roundtrip for the one-hour flight from Istanbul to Izmir, I did some research and found out who the non-scary cheapo domestic Turkish airlines are. Yay - Pegasus Air wanted only $90 round-trip for two people!
Except my credit card kept being declined. I eventually gave up and booked the tickets with my Visa debit card, no problem.
When I called Capital One just now, the first question they asked was “have you gotten a call from the anti-fraud unit yet?” (I haven’t, unless they have called me at home this morning.) After much back-and-forth, I assured them that the charge attempts were all actually mine, and although they tell me it’s too early to give them advance notice of an April trip, I am more than a bit aggravated that apparently they automatically assume that any international transaction is fraudulent.
On the bright side, Capital One apparently doesn’t charge for currency conversion, etc., so that’s good. If the card actually works in-country, that is.
I had a similar problem once. A few weeks after an incident where we thought someone else had our Discover Card number (which turned out to be not true, but it resulted in me setting up a code word for any phone conversations with Discover) we went on a weekend trip to Ohio. After charging our hotel, some meals, and a few other items we had our card refused at a restaurant on the way home. When we got home there were several messages from Discover Security about the out-of-state purchases. We were also told that the restaurant that refused our card had not been told that the card was invalid, but that they should connect us with Discover Security so I could verify that I was me. They just couldn’t be bothered, so they just refused the charge. Fortunately, I had another card with me.
Capital One likes to pull this stunt with me every few years. The worst was when they red-flagged an $18 charge for my Yahoo webpage (which I had been charging every month on this card for at least four years). They blocked the card and didn’t bother to call and notify me.
Several days later, I went to the veterinarian to pick up my cat, which had just had surgery to remove 12 rotten teeth. I tried to use my card to pay, and of course it was declined. The vet would not accept a check, and this was the only credit card I had. My poor drugged and toothless cat was pretty much held hostage for nearly an hour while I tried to sort out the problem with the credit card. The whole thing was very embarrassing.
I’ve since signed up for a second credit card that I use only as a backup.
Over the past several years my sister has worked for a year or more in three different countries other than the US. EACH TIME she has notified her credit card company (I forget which one) that she is MOVING out of the country and to expect international charges. EACH TIME my parents (her “official” contact number in the US) have gotten a call from the company a few days after she’s left because OMG FOREIGN CHARGES ON HER CARD OMG! Yes, we know. That’s why she TOLD YOU. Did somebody forget to flag her account with that info yet again? I don’t think it’s actually been shut off and inconvenienced her so it’s more amusing than annoying but really, why ask customers to notify, if you’re just going to disregard it?
Simple…when I travel in Europe, although I can usually withdraw cash from a machine, my UK and Canadian debit card are often not accepted in stores and restaurants…chip and pin only arrived in the UK 5 years ago…so sometimes credit cards are the only way to go. Plus there’s the airmiles.
As others have stated, it is possible to use a credit card without paying any additional fees. I have many credit cards, none of which have annual fees, and pay them off in full every month (sometimes, even three or four times in the month since I don’t like outstanding debt, even if it costs me nothing). I have never paid a penny in annual fees or interest charges.
Here are the benefits over a debit card:
[LIST=3][li]My credit cards offer far more generous points. I have received hundreds of dollars worth of Amazon gift cards from my MasterCard, and my Discover card account has over $500 worth of points that I could use for anything.[/li][li]It is a level of abstraction away from my actual money. Sure, if I had a debit card and it was compromised and someone stole $5000 from my bank account, I would probably be reimbursed. But my money is gone until I figure out it is gone, which might cause problems. If someone steals $5000 from my credit card account, it is not my money that has been stolen, and I will not have to pay that part of the bill. It is the difference between it being my problem, which I have to ask the bank to assist me to deal with, and the credit card companies problem.[/li][li]I haven’t personally taken advantage of them, but I believe some of my credit cards have free additional warranty protection or insurance features for large purchases or travel.[/li][/LIST]
Based on the above, I do not even carry a debit card for my bank accounts. I carry an ATM card, that only works with a PIN, and I only use that in my bank’s ATMs. My money has very limited interaction with the outside world, which is how I like it.
I believe the main difference is that an ATM card has more restrictions on where it can be used. For example, I do not believe you can ever use an ATM card without a PIN, whereas a debit card will typically be branded (for example, Visa or MasterCard) and can be used wherever those are accepted (for both PIN based or signature based transactions).
:mad: I’d like to cancel my card, please.