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Someone should come up with a credit card that has a dynamic hard limit connected to a checking account balance. Paid daily, too, so the checking balance is alm
by hunter2_ 8y ago
Someone should come up with a credit card that has a dynamic hard limit connected to a checking account balance. Paid daily, too, so the checking balance is almost always caught up. Seems like it would meet the needs of those people while letting them benefit from protections, rewards, etc.
Any reason this couldn't work? Does it exist already?
- rhcom2 8y agoI believe you're describing https://privacy.com/ https://privacy.com/ Lets you generate new debit card numbers with hard limits on the amount the card can spend. I really like them for tracking repeating payments.
- mcv 8y ago> Someone should come up with a credit card that has a dynamic hard limit connected to a checking account balance. You mean a regular bank transaction card? Is that not something that exists in the US? I always find the American reliance on credit cards somewhat bizarre. Not having an alternative would explain it, I guess.
- sethhochberg 8y agoThis is called a debit card in the US, and almost everyone has them - but the key distinction between a debit card and a credit card is that the debit card is a direct link to your bank. People like using credit cards (or charge cards, like some Amexes) to buffer transactions between the bank and the merchant, so if the merchant screws up there is time to resolve the issue before the credit bill comes due. If a merchant screws up with your debit card, or it gets skimmed/stolen, the only limit to abuse is how much money is in your checking account. If you just got a direct deposit from your employer and are expecting your rent payment to pull from that account today, but your account was drained because your debit card got skimmed at a gas station... not much you can do.
- Gibbon1 8y agoMy solution would be to just ban debt cards and give everyone an EBT card through the post office.
- astura 8y agoDebit cards exist but credit cards are often the better option if you're going to use plastic. The problem with debit cards is because certain transactions aren't instant in the US if there's fraud on your debit card at just the right time then your rent check can bounce, your external transfers are returned, etc, and all that stuff comes with fees and headaches. Credit cards also come with rewards whereas rewards on debit cards are rare and not as good if they exist. Credit cards usually have auxiliary benefits like (depending on the card) return protection, purchase protection, extended warranty, travel insurance, and more, whereas debit cards have nothing of the sort. THere's no interest due on credit cards if you pay your bill in full every month. The problem with credit cards is, of course, you have the ability to spend more money than you have, and you can dig yourself into a hole if you don't use that power responsibly.
- mcv 8y agoHow likely is fraud on your debit card, though? On credit cards, it's trivial, because the number you need to authorise a transaction is prominently displayed on the card and needs to be shared with the merchant, all of which is of course horribly insecure. Bank transaction cards in Netherland, presumably all of Europe, and I would hope the rest of the world, authorise the transaction in a reasonably secure[0] way between you and your bank, and the merchant only gets the money. [0] The main insecure part is that keys are short, because they need to be memorised. But with modern automatically-blocking chip cards, there's no way to brute-force that as far as I'm aware.