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What percentage of those carrying a balance are living in debt though? Like even someone with perfect credit and means to pay would happily take advantage of a
by wfunction 9y ago
What percentage of those carrying a balance are living in debt though? Like even someone with perfect credit and means to pay would happily take advantage of a 0% balance transfer offer to carry a balance for a couple of years when he could pay it off fully. I would be curious what percentages of these revolving balances are due to a strict lack of funds rather than due to wanting to keep emergency cash on hand, or taking advantage of a sensible offer, or otherwise.
That said, even 35% is more than a third of the population, which should be more than enough reason to suggest you shouldn't be telling everyone you meet not to get a credit card. The consumer protection is far greater, and it's far less risky than carrying a debit card. (I would be surprised if anyone here didn't know these already, but then I'm surprised at the advice being given.)
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- dzhiurgis 9y agoThe security from credit card is FUD. If anything, it's probably less secure: 1. Users are encouraged not to care about the security as they are insured - which means spending in dodgy online stores. 2. Magnetic stripe technology is terribly insecure. Combine the both and you end up Americans being prime target of fraud, constantly (rightfully) scared of Eastern European fraudsters. Meanwhile people here in Europe never ever worried about it.
- wfunction 9y agoNo, it's not FUD. First, magnetic strips are already phased out in many places and continuing to be so in even more, so I don't understand that complaint. Second, see my reply to the sister comment -- even with magnetic strips they're still safer.
- ajdlinux 9y agoWhat's the difference in consumer protection between a credit card and a Visa/MC debit card?
- wfunction 9y agoGoogling should provide plenty of answers to this question, but I'll quote a couple differences here for your convenience: 1. "According to the EFTA, your potential liability for fraudulent debit card transactions is virtually unlimited. Under the FCBA, your maximum liability for fraudulent credit card transactions is $50." [1] 2. "The real difference between a debit card and a credit card when it comes to fraud is in how you get your money back. When a fraudulent transaction occurs on your credit card, you have lost no money. You can report the fraud, get a credit on your statement, and the issue will never affect your bank account. With a debit card, your bank account balance is affected from the moment the fraudulent transaction takes place. If the transactions are significant, you could experience a domino effect of financial headaches. Fraudulent charges can tie up funds so that legitimate charges are declined or cause overdrafts." [1] 3. Individual credit cards have other protections for your purchases, e.g. Citi has Price Rewind and Extended Warranty for your purchases. I haven't seen these with debit cards, and I'd be happy to hear if you know of any that do have these features. But it's icing on the cake anyway; the above are far more important. 4. A number of credit cards allow generating temporary card numbers with limited amounts or expiration dates for online purchases. I use this all the time. Again, I haven't seen any debit cards that allow this. [1] https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-card-vs-debit-card-safer-online-purchases/ https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-card-vs-...
- ajdlinux 9y agoIn Australia I have seen "platinum" debit cards with 3. 2 definitely makes sense. 1 probably varies by jurisdiction, of course.