3 ms·

A good reason to not use your checking or debit cards. I only use my credit cards, then pay them off every month before incurring interest. Makes scanning your

A good reason to not use your checking or debit cards. I only use my credit cards, then pay them off every month before incurring interest. Makes scanning your checking account for fraudulent charges easy. I report my credit cards lost once a year and get new ones in case those have been unknowingly compromised, kinda like changing my password.

pmiller2 6y ago
Very true. I use my debit card for the sole purpose of making sure I can meet requirements to get the 2% interest rate on my checking account (one of the requirements is $300 in purchases linked to a card with the bank, of which my debit card is the only one). Other than that, I have PG&E linked directly to the account, because they're so far behind the times they either can't accept credit cards or charge a fee for doing it (I forget which). The only other things that touch the account directly are my actual credit cards, and the site I use to pay my rent. I wouldn't personally go so far as reporting my cards stolen once a year, but I could increase the security of my setup by having a checking account that all the things I just named access, and then having a second account that holds all my excess reserves, and transfer from the real account to the public account when things need to get paid. Unfortunately, that negates most of the benefit of having things on autopay, like I do now. Besides, my bank actually treats my debit card the same way as the law treats credit cards (it's either max of $0 or $50 liability, I forget which), so it's entirely not worth it for me to go to these lengths.
akiselev 6y ago
> I report my credit cards lost once a year and get new ones in case those have been unknowingly compromised, kinda like changing my password. I do this with most of my cards every quarter, staggering each card by about 2-3 weeks. Even ten years ago this level of opsec was practically impossible but nowadays I just log into the bank's app, tap a few buttons, and my digital wallets are updated with the new credit card instantly. I've got the process automated for 2/3s of my cards and worst case scenario, I have to walk from a store that doesn't support tap to pay to an ATM or major retailer for cash back. Combined with Privacy.com linked to a secondary bank account for digital transactions, I'm feeling secure for the first time since I discovered online shopping.
- pmiller2 6y ago
  I would think reporting your cards stolen once a quarter would be likely to get your accounts closed. I'm amazed it hasn't happened to you yet.
  - akiselev 6y ago
    They don't care as long as my chargebacks are legitimate. I imagine it would be an issue if my cards really were stolen and used without authorization on a regular basis instead of at the bottom of a paper shredder basket.
foepys 6y ago
Afaik CC companies notify companies about CC number changes. I don't know what the criteria is but the last time my CC got replaced because of suspected fraud by my bank, nearly all companies I gave my CC number to had the new number automatically in the respective accounts. If anybody can register themselves to that service, getting a new number isn't really a security improvement. Maybe somebody else knows more about that.

pmiller2 6y ago

Very true. I use my debit card for the sole purpose of making sure I can meet requirements to get the 2% interest rate on my checking account (one of the requirements is $300 in purchases linked to a card with the bank, of which my debit card is the only one). Other than that, I have PG&E linked directly to the account, because they're so far behind the times they either can't accept credit cards or charge a fee for doing it (I forget which). The only other things that touch the account directly are my actual credit cards, and the site I use to pay my rent. I wouldn't personally go so far as reporting my cards stolen once a year, but I could increase the security of my setup by having a checking account that all the things I just named access, and then having a second account that holds all my excess reserves, and transfer from the real account to the public account when things need to get paid. Unfortunately, that negates most of the benefit of having things on autopay, like I do now. Besides, my bank actually treats my debit card the same way as the law treats credit cards (it's either max of $0 or $50 liability, I forget which), so it's entirely not worth it for me to go to these lengths.

akiselev 6y ago

> I report my credit cards lost once a year and get new ones in case those have been unknowingly compromised, kinda like changing my password. I do this with most of my cards every quarter, staggering each card by about 2-3 weeks. Even ten years ago this level of opsec was practically impossible but nowadays I just log into the bank's app, tap a few buttons, and my digital wallets are updated with the new credit card instantly. I've got the process automated for 2/3s of my cards and worst case scenario, I have to walk from a store that doesn't support tap to pay to an ATM or major retailer for cash back. Combined with Privacy.com linked to a secondary bank account for digital transactions, I'm feeling secure for the first time since I discovered online shopping.

pmiller2 6y ago
I would think reporting your cards stolen once a quarter would be likely to get your accounts closed. I'm amazed it hasn't happened to you yet.
- akiselev 6y ago
  They don't care as long as my chargebacks are legitimate. I imagine it would be an issue if my cards really were stolen and used without authorization on a regular basis instead of at the bottom of a paper shredder basket.

foepys 6y ago

Afaik CC companies notify companies about CC number changes. I don't know what the criteria is but the last time my CC got replaced because of suspected fraud by my bank, nearly all companies I gave my CC number to had the new number automatically in the respective accounts. If anybody can register themselves to that service, getting a new number isn't really a security improvement. Maybe somebody else knows more about that.