5 ms·

Insurance against what? I don't carry boatloads of cash on me.

hahainternet 13y ago
Insurance against theft, fraud, any transaction based deception you are now unprotected against. Once you have handed over cash, it'll take a herculean effort to get that back. On the other hand, when someone mugged me for my card, I cancelled it a few minutes later and had a replacement within 2 days. I lost nothing but my pride and my wallet.
- waterlesscloud 13y ago
  Last time I was robbed of cash - never. You're dramatically overplaying that risk.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - res0nat0r 13y ago
    Last time I was a victim of credit card fraud: never.
    - Houshalter 13y ago
      Yes but now there is a record of every single thing you've ever bought. Of course for most people this probably doesn't matter too much. But some people do value privacy.
      - YokoZar 13y ago
        You could go half-way and leak a very biased sample of data. Some people are terrified that there might come a day where our health insurers monitor the junk food we buy via our credit card purchases. But why not just buy junk food with cash and healthy food with a credit card.
- polymatter 13y ago
  But your risk exposure is much much higher. When a mugger steals $70 from me, my maximum exposure is $70. There is no way that mugger can use those bills to extract any more money from me or as a launchpad for fraud. When a mugger steals my card (and then commits a little fraud) my maximum exposure is my bank account + overdraft + other accounts I have with the same bank + whatever loans they could get.
  - gtirloni 13y ago
    When a mugger steals my card (and then commits a little fraud) my maximum exposure is my bank account + overdraft + other accounts I have with the same bank + whatever loans they could get Your practical maximum exposure is zero, if you follow the correct process. Call your bank and report the stolen card. Any transactions will be undone and the bank will take the hit, in the name of keeping the public's faith in the banking system. This is an ordinary business day for the bank.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
  - rhino369 13y ago
    You aren't on the hook for any of that.
  - hahainternet 13y ago
    My card requires a second factor they didn't have. A credit card is not sufficient ID for a loan or withdrawl. They got nothing from it.
    - polymatter 13y ago
      "A credit card is not sufficient ID for a loan or withdrawl" Not completely no. A little fraud is normally necessary. A little social pressure, just one person not following proper security procedures. Note how Jeremy Clarkson published his credit card number to prove that leaking credit card numbers wasn't a security issue, and someone promptly withdrew £500 from his account (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7174760.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7174760.stm). I understand that the bank takes the hit in cases like that, but in the meantime you are out of pocket of far more money than you were carrying in cash. My point is there is a non-0 (albeit small) risk that they do get something from it. And then its a hassle to sort it out (check statements carefully for the next few months, phone bank on any suspicious items). I realize I ought to be doing that anyway, but it normally falls so low on the priority list I end up checking once every 3 or 4 months.
- pessimizer 13y ago
  How much would you pay for insurance that covered up to a $200 loss which is likely to happen at least once every 15-20 years? Being robbed is not a financial worry for people who aren't living check to check. It's a worry about getting shot, and I don't think bitcoin protects you from that.
- aestra 13y ago
  Science proves that you tend to spend less money when you pay with cash, especially on unplanned and/or impulse purchases. I guess the psychology of actually handing something over then having less of it afterwards makes people think twice about if they really need to spend the money. Also getting extra cash when you over budget has an extra step (trip to bank/ATM) so you're probably more likely to stay in budget or to rethink if you really need that over budget purchase. You'll probably save in the long run. http://www.livescience.com/2849-study-credit-cards-spending.html http://www.livescience.com/2849-study-credit-cards-spending.... http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/pay-in-cash.asp http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/pay-in-cash.asp http://seekingalpha.com/article/20333-guide-to-credit-cards-how-credit-cards-encourage-you-to-overspend http://seekingalpha.com/article/20333-guide-to-credit-cards-... http://business.time.com/2013/08/08/turns-out-you-only-think-youre-spending-less-money/ http://business.time.com/2013/08/08/turns-out-you-only-think... I especially think this is interesting: >McDonald's found that the average transaction rose from $4.50 to $7 when customers used plastic instead of cash
  - hahainternet 13y ago
    I don't have any comment on this really. I expect it's down to personal psychology too. I just wanted to thank you for the interesting links.
ceejayoz 13y ago
Chargebacks can come in handy when someone screws you.
- leobelle 13y ago
  I've never done a chargeback. The convenience of cash is immediate, the need to a chargeback, probably insignificant.

Insurance against theft, fraud, any transaction based deception you are now unprotected against. Once you have handed over cash, it'll take a herculean effort to get that back. On the other hand, when someone mugged me for my card, I cancelled it a few minutes later and had a replacement within 2 days. I lost nothing but my pride and my wallet.

waterlesscloud 13y ago
Last time I was robbed of cash - never. You're dramatically overplaying that risk.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- res0nat0r 13y ago
  Last time I was a victim of credit card fraud: never.
  - Houshalter 13y ago
    Yes but now there is a record of every single thing you've ever bought. Of course for most people this probably doesn't matter too much. But some people do value privacy.
    - YokoZar 13y ago
      You could go half-way and leak a very biased sample of data. Some people are terrified that there might come a day where our health insurers monitor the junk food we buy via our credit card purchases. But why not just buy junk food with cash and healthy food with a credit card.
polymatter 13y ago
But your risk exposure is much much higher. When a mugger steals $70 from me, my maximum exposure is $70. There is no way that mugger can use those bills to extract any more money from me or as a launchpad for fraud. When a mugger steals my card (and then commits a little fraud) my maximum exposure is my bank account + overdraft + other accounts I have with the same bank + whatever loans they could get.
- gtirloni 13y ago
  When a mugger steals my card (and then commits a little fraud) my maximum exposure is my bank account + overdraft + other accounts I have with the same bank + whatever loans they could get Your practical maximum exposure is zero, if you follow the correct process. Call your bank and report the stolen card. Any transactions will be undone and the bank will take the hit, in the name of keeping the public's faith in the banking system. This is an ordinary business day for the bank.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- rhino369 13y ago
  You aren't on the hook for any of that.
- hahainternet 13y ago
  My card requires a second factor they didn't have. A credit card is not sufficient ID for a loan or withdrawl. They got nothing from it.
  - polymatter 13y ago
    "A credit card is not sufficient ID for a loan or withdrawl" Not completely no. A little fraud is normally necessary. A little social pressure, just one person not following proper security procedures. Note how Jeremy Clarkson published his credit card number to prove that leaking credit card numbers wasn't a security issue, and someone promptly withdrew £500 from his account (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7174760.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7174760.stm). I understand that the bank takes the hit in cases like that, but in the meantime you are out of pocket of far more money than you were carrying in cash. My point is there is a non-0 (albeit small) risk that they do get something from it. And then its a hassle to sort it out (check statements carefully for the next few months, phone bank on any suspicious items). I realize I ought to be doing that anyway, but it normally falls so low on the priority list I end up checking once every 3 or 4 months.
pessimizer 13y ago
How much would you pay for insurance that covered up to a $200 loss which is likely to happen at least once every 15-20 years? Being robbed is not a financial worry for people who aren't living check to check. It's a worry about getting shot, and I don't think bitcoin protects you from that.
aestra 13y ago
Science proves that you tend to spend less money when you pay with cash, especially on unplanned and/or impulse purchases. I guess the psychology of actually handing something over then having less of it afterwards makes people think twice about if they really need to spend the money. Also getting extra cash when you over budget has an extra step (trip to bank/ATM) so you're probably more likely to stay in budget or to rethink if you really need that over budget purchase. You'll probably save in the long run. http://www.livescience.com/2849-study-credit-cards-spending.html http://www.livescience.com/2849-study-credit-cards-spending.... http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/pay-in-cash.asp http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/pay-in-cash.asp http://seekingalpha.com/article/20333-guide-to-credit-cards-how-credit-cards-encourage-you-to-overspend http://seekingalpha.com/article/20333-guide-to-credit-cards-... http://business.time.com/2013/08/08/turns-out-you-only-think-youre-spending-less-money/ http://business.time.com/2013/08/08/turns-out-you-only-think... I especially think this is interesting: >McDonald's found that the average transaction rose from $4.50 to $7 when customers used plastic instead of cash
- hahainternet 13y ago
  I don't have any comment on this really. I expect it's down to personal psychology too. I just wanted to thank you for the interesting links.

ceejayoz 13y ago

Chargebacks can come in handy when someone screws you.

leobelle 13y ago
I've never done a chargeback. The convenience of cash is immediate, the need to a chargeback, probably insignificant.