5 ms·

"And the more I read krebs, the more I think I should get a $2k limit credit card and use it for all purchases that aren't on amazon." Let me repeat my advocac

by hga 12y ago

"And the more I read krebs, the more I think I should get a $2k limit credit card and use it for all purchases that aren't on amazon." Let me repeat my advocacy of the virtues of cash for face to face transactions. I normally carry a bit over $400 in my wallet, and almost always use cash for everything up to, say, $800, and around or above that, a check if I can. Also rewards the retailer with the 2-3% or so in processing charges they'd otherwise have to pay.

vcherubini 12y ago
I generally agree, but if the retailer is large enough they almost certainly pay a percentage of their cash payments to a Brinks-like company to securely handle the transfer of the money.
- mhb 12y ago
  And if they aren't large enough, they pay with their time.
  - hga 12y ago
    But at least in the latter case, not incrementally by much for my cash purchase. Every cash purchase does require a bit more work in counting the bills, but the time to deposit the cash doesn't change if it's to a night depository, and again just a little if face to face with a teller. Unless the purchase is small, there's also a time cost in getting the signature, although that's small if the company is big enough to collect it with their POS terminal, and there's also back end reconciliation work to be done, manually if the place is small, like a non-chain restaurant. No payment method is free of overhead and friction.
eropple 12y ago
Cash means having to carry cash, count change, reorganize bills, so on and so forth. Checks mean having to write checks and earning the everlasting (and justified) emnity of everyone behind you in line because you're wasting their time. Credit cards mean a swipe (debit cards add a PIN, oh noes) and indemnity against the fraud that occasionally blows up. Cash loses. Checks lose hard.
- hga 12y ago
  Checks are only for big purchases, with vendors who know me well. Last was in 2008, for a washer and dryer bought from a GE dealership who's building was purchased from my family decades ago. If there's a potential for a line, or a vendor who doesn't know me from Adam, as when I bought a water softener, I do use a credit card. I personally think the overhead for routine use of cash is roughly equivalent to routinely using a credit or debit card, e.g. I don't have to keep track of all those purchases to reconcile them with my monthly statement. Carrying cash is no problem, counting change ... well, I grew up before credit card usage was routine, so it's second nature, and reorganizing the bills etc. takes very little time. It helps that I have a standard load out that's makes refreshing my wallet easy, as well as making change, at least half the time I provide exact change, or an amount that makes my return change easy. Doing the mental math also has its advantages. Don't know how I've managed it, but I've never needed to do a charge back in 31 years of using credit cards. Certainly there's not much potential for fraud in my face to face translations. My youngest bother and his wife used to regularly shop at Target; that turned out be a significant hassle due to the recent breach. Hmmm, and only I can quantify the value of increased peace of mind by limiting my exposure to credit card fraud. Credit and debit cards also "lose".
  - sanswork 12y ago
    I think the counting cash is more on the merchant side. Managing, securing and depositing cash in your account isn't free(and the cost does often change with the amount). The fact that you haven't needed to do a chargeback doesn't mean you haven't benefited from the existence of them. The fear of a chargeback forces merchants to act in your best interest. What hassle did your brother experience with the breach did he not just have a replacement card mailed out?
    - hga 12y ago
      The details of the hassle weren't mentioned, but if one of mine was breached there would be accounts charging recurring payments that would need the new numbers. It also took a long while for the breach to be realized, they might have had issues with bogus charges on their cards. And it would be at least two cards, one each for him and his wife.

by hga 12y ago

vcherubini 12y ago

I generally agree, but if the retailer is large enough they almost certainly pay a percentage of their cash payments to a Brinks-like company to securely handle the transfer of the money.

mhb 12y ago
And if they aren't large enough, they pay with their time.
- hga 12y ago
  But at least in the latter case, not incrementally by much for my cash purchase. Every cash purchase does require a bit more work in counting the bills, but the time to deposit the cash doesn't change if it's to a night depository, and again just a little if face to face with a teller. Unless the purchase is small, there's also a time cost in getting the signature, although that's small if the company is big enough to collect it with their POS terminal, and there's also back end reconciliation work to be done, manually if the place is small, like a non-chain restaurant. No payment method is free of overhead and friction.

eropple 12y ago

Cash means having to carry cash, count change, reorganize bills, so on and so forth. Checks mean having to write checks and earning the everlasting (and justified) emnity of everyone behind you in line because you're wasting their time. Credit cards mean a swipe (debit cards add a PIN, oh noes) and indemnity against the fraud that occasionally blows up. Cash loses. Checks lose hard.

hga 12y ago
Checks are only for big purchases, with vendors who know me well. Last was in 2008, for a washer and dryer bought from a GE dealership who's building was purchased from my family decades ago. If there's a potential for a line, or a vendor who doesn't know me from Adam, as when I bought a water softener, I do use a credit card. I personally think the overhead for routine use of cash is roughly equivalent to routinely using a credit or debit card, e.g. I don't have to keep track of all those purchases to reconcile them with my monthly statement. Carrying cash is no problem, counting change ... well, I grew up before credit card usage was routine, so it's second nature, and reorganizing the bills etc. takes very little time. It helps that I have a standard load out that's makes refreshing my wallet easy, as well as making change, at least half the time I provide exact change, or an amount that makes my return change easy. Doing the mental math also has its advantages. Don't know how I've managed it, but I've never needed to do a charge back in 31 years of using credit cards. Certainly there's not much potential for fraud in my face to face translations. My youngest bother and his wife used to regularly shop at Target; that turned out be a significant hassle due to the recent breach. Hmmm, and only I can quantify the value of increased peace of mind by limiting my exposure to credit card fraud. Credit and debit cards also "lose".
- sanswork 12y ago
  I think the counting cash is more on the merchant side. Managing, securing and depositing cash in your account isn't free(and the cost does often change with the amount). The fact that you haven't needed to do a chargeback doesn't mean you haven't benefited from the existence of them. The fear of a chargeback forces merchants to act in your best interest. What hassle did your brother experience with the breach did he not just have a replacement card mailed out?
  - hga 12y ago
    The details of the hassle weren't mentioned, but if one of mine was breached there would be accounts charging recurring payments that would need the new numbers. It also took a long while for the breach to be realized, they might have had issues with bogus charges on their cards. And it would be at least two cards, one each for him and his wife.