I prefer a debit card to a credit card. I like seeing what I actually have in my accounts without having to worry about future payments for past purchases. I also like that the balance goes down instead of up when money is spent. The way credit cards display the balance feels like a physiological trick, and I’m sure it’s intentional.
I do still have one credit card to maintain my credit score, just because I ran into several annoying situations early in life when I didn’t have a credit history at all. I use it for stuff I have on auto-pay, and the bill gets auto-paid, so I never have to look at it or think about it, so I can avoid most of their attempted manipulation.
I used a debit card to pay for gas once, had it put a hold on my account that made other payments not go through. Haven’t used a debit card ever since. Paid my credit card bill in full almost every time except for maybe two or three emergencies where I had it paid up the next month.
The holds on gas are usually under $100 I think, maybe around $100 or so these days. I keep enough in reserve that I never notice an issues with that. I always like having healthy buffers.
I have always paid my credit card in full every month and never had a problem with debt biting me. I just don't like the games they play, and I prefer spending the money I have rather than borrowing for the sake of borrowing. The credit card creates some metal overhead that I don't find necessary.
I’ve been told it depends on your bank and that it was probably worse when it happened to me but it’s the kind of experience that will change your behavior permanently.
Ah, I haven’t looked in a while. I keep the buffer on the debit card I use daily at around $1k. When it hits that threshold I move another $1k over. It generally sits between $750 and $2k, so I wouldn’t notice a $200-300 hold here or there.
I don't like keeping much in debit but, I imagine the vast majority of the US does not have the financial capability to eat a $200-300 hold for multiple business days, excluding the typical HN demographic users...
I think in my case was a little worse than just that. If I remember right it was when I didn't own a car and I had rented a car to do a long drive so it wasn't like I just got a hold from buying gas once but I probably bought gas for or five times on a weekend so it was more than just one hold. At the time I lowballed my checking account to optimize getting interest in my savings account. I had enough money to cover it all in my savings but only had about $1k in my checking. I think my credit union was putting on $300 holds per gas filling event at that time, people tell me the amount and timing of the holds is variable based on your bank or credit union.
Even if you have and use a debit card, you should use it as a credit card, for better consumer protection. Run as a credit card, I believe some scams and bad purchases can be refunded. Run as a debit card, you are pretty much out of luck on a scam purchase.
The charge to the merchant is higher for credit card than debit card transactions: merchants prefer you to use a debit card as such.
Always skip entering your PIN if you can.
We wouldn't have these problems if we hadn't privatized our electronic money. The US government runs check clearing and that's either free or nearly free, which is why businesses want you to do ACH if they can get you to, especially for subscriptions.
In my economy (AU) the premise of debit cards were both "not credit" (and therefore at the time, able to be used to buy food because a local rule restricted credit card use in the supermarkets) and "break the monopoly" because a different EFT model was being promoted. Australia was a regulated banking market with 4 majors, under regulation over market dominance, and a larger number of credit unions and minor state banks. Most of this landscape has changed somewhat, but the registration burdens to "be" a bank remain a point of contention in the fintech sector. (Also, do not allow american experiences with credit unions and small town banks and "it's a wonderful life" to dominate your thinking, the cooperative bank movement is worldwide, and it isn't defined by the bizarre "you're not from round heeeer" cheque behaviours of US credit unions)
The banks of course responded, to preserve income. They all offer both. Debit cards now incur costs, just as credit cards do, distinct from the interest component. Mechanisms like frequent flyer points also are used to provide distinctions. You are bombarded with "which button to push" suggestions from merchants, from banks, from consumer advocacy groups.
All electronic cash movement methods incur questions about taxation (of money flows, and of income streams which in cash avoid the marker) and cost recovery and price (ie, banking system profit). It would be reasonably clear to anyone that even taking sunk costs and ongoings into account, there is no way a payment transaction as pure bytes demands any fee higher than 0.00000000 class digits. They are charged, as a profit line, not as hypothicated strict cost recovery. Please do not allow banking claims to the contrary to sway your mind on the dis-join between transaction price, and true cost of the network. -If it's not abundantly clear to you, ask a shopkeeper or market trader how much they pay for the terminal, and how it affects the price they charge you.
The same network delivers a videostream of GB duration to you bundled into your monthly. IP packets do not weigh more because they're about money. TLS does not cost more because it's protecting money, even if the Bank has PCI registration and compliance costs. The secure terminal the merchant uses is a commodity device no more expensive than a cell phone, which it often is.
Were this not true, 3rd party merchant companies like stripe would not exist. Stripe exists because of the HUGE margin between true cost of electronic funds movement, and the price we appear willing to pay as consumers.
"Credit Score" is a quite bizarre concept. Like Moodys, its not really what it looks like, and it should be more highly regulated too. Chosing not to have a CC should not reduce your credit score, any more than holding debt like student loans or a mortgage. Why does looking up your credit score negatively impact your credit score?
Are we heading back to a world where signatures on the back of a company debt instrument determine the yield?
I prefer a debit card to a credit card. I like seeing what I actually have in my accounts without having to worry about future payments for past purchases. I also like that the balance goes down instead of up when money is spent. The way credit cards display the balance feels like a physiological trick, and I’m sure it’s intentional.
I do still have one credit card to maintain my credit score, just because I ran into several annoying situations early in life when I didn’t have a credit history at all. I use it for stuff I have on auto-pay, and the bill gets auto-paid, so I never have to look at it or think about it, so I can avoid most of their attempted manipulation.
I used a debit card to pay for gas once, had it put a hold on my account that made other payments not go through. Haven’t used a debit card ever since. Paid my credit card bill in full almost every time except for maybe two or three emergencies where I had it paid up the next month.
The holds on gas are usually under $100 I think, maybe around $100 or so these days. I keep enough in reserve that I never notice an issues with that. I always like having healthy buffers.
I have always paid my credit card in full every month and never had a problem with debt biting me. I just don't like the games they play, and I prefer spending the money I have rather than borrowing for the sake of borrowing. The credit card creates some metal overhead that I don't find necessary.
I’ve been told it depends on your bank and that it was probably worse when it happened to me but it’s the kind of experience that will change your behavior permanently.
When I was travel in US, it was usually 200$ or 300$ exact amount (in credit card), and it took a week + to drop off.
Ah, I haven’t looked in a while. I keep the buffer on the debit card I use daily at around $1k. When it hits that threshold I move another $1k over. It generally sits between $750 and $2k, so I wouldn’t notice a $200-300 hold here or there.
I don't like keeping much in debit but, I imagine the vast majority of the US does not have the financial capability to eat a $200-300 hold for multiple business days, excluding the typical HN demographic users...
I think in my case was a little worse than just that. If I remember right it was when I didn't own a car and I had rented a car to do a long drive so it wasn't like I just got a hold from buying gas once but I probably bought gas for or five times on a weekend so it was more than just one hold. At the time I lowballed my checking account to optimize getting interest in my savings account. I had enough money to cover it all in my savings but only had about $1k in my checking. I think my credit union was putting on $300 holds per gas filling event at that time, people tell me the amount and timing of the holds is variable based on your bank or credit union.
Even if you have and use a debit card, you should use it as a credit card, for better consumer protection. Run as a credit card, I believe some scams and bad purchases can be refunded. Run as a debit card, you are pretty much out of luck on a scam purchase.
The charge to the merchant is higher for credit card than debit card transactions: merchants prefer you to use a debit card as such.
Always skip entering your PIN if you can.
We wouldn't have these problems if we hadn't privatized our electronic money. The US government runs check clearing and that's either free or nearly free, which is why businesses want you to do ACH if they can get you to, especially for subscriptions.
In my economy (AU) the premise of debit cards were both "not credit" (and therefore at the time, able to be used to buy food because a local rule restricted credit card use in the supermarkets) and "break the monopoly" because a different EFT model was being promoted. Australia was a regulated banking market with 4 majors, under regulation over market dominance, and a larger number of credit unions and minor state banks. Most of this landscape has changed somewhat, but the registration burdens to "be" a bank remain a point of contention in the fintech sector. (Also, do not allow american experiences with credit unions and small town banks and "it's a wonderful life" to dominate your thinking, the cooperative bank movement is worldwide, and it isn't defined by the bizarre "you're not from round heeeer" cheque behaviours of US credit unions)
The banks of course responded, to preserve income. They all offer both. Debit cards now incur costs, just as credit cards do, distinct from the interest component. Mechanisms like frequent flyer points also are used to provide distinctions. You are bombarded with "which button to push" suggestions from merchants, from banks, from consumer advocacy groups.
All electronic cash movement methods incur questions about taxation (of money flows, and of income streams which in cash avoid the marker) and cost recovery and price (ie, banking system profit). It would be reasonably clear to anyone that even taking sunk costs and ongoings into account, there is no way a payment transaction as pure bytes demands any fee higher than 0.00000000 class digits. They are charged, as a profit line, not as hypothicated strict cost recovery. Please do not allow banking claims to the contrary to sway your mind on the dis-join between transaction price, and true cost of the network. -If it's not abundantly clear to you, ask a shopkeeper or market trader how much they pay for the terminal, and how it affects the price they charge you.
The same network delivers a videostream of GB duration to you bundled into your monthly. IP packets do not weigh more because they're about money. TLS does not cost more because it's protecting money, even if the Bank has PCI registration and compliance costs. The secure terminal the merchant uses is a commodity device no more expensive than a cell phone, which it often is.
Were this not true, 3rd party merchant companies like stripe would not exist. Stripe exists because of the HUGE margin between true cost of electronic funds movement, and the price we appear willing to pay as consumers.
"Credit Score" is a quite bizarre concept. Like Moodys, its not really what it looks like, and it should be more highly regulated too. Chosing not to have a CC should not reduce your credit score, any more than holding debt like student loans or a mortgage. Why does looking up your credit score negatively impact your credit score?
Are we heading back to a world where signatures on the back of a company debt instrument determine the yield?