4 ms·

> Pay cash at retail establishments. Your cash can be stolen, lost, misplaced. No recourse. If you lose a credit card, you just call and get a new one mailed

by tdfx 12y ago

> Pay cash at retail establishments. Your cash can be stolen, lost, misplaced. No recourse. If you lose a credit card, you just call and get a new one mailed to you. > Use paypal at as many online stores as possible. I can't believe someone just recommended using PayPal on HN. > Use prepaid debit cards elsewhere, don't keep much money on them normally, drain them and switch to another card every month. Don't use debit cards to pay for things. Ever. Credit cards give you substantial consumer protections that you don't get from debit cards. Bottom line: use credit cards everywhere you can. Find the best rewards program for you and rack up points. Check your account activity once a week. Report anything you don't recognize. If you're part of the social class to which credit cards are actually available, it's quite foolish not to use them.

InclinedPlane 12y ago
> Don't use debit cards to pay for things. Ever. Credit cards give you substantial consumer protections that you don't get from debit cards. A: This is simply not true any more. Most banks offer essentially the same level of protection for debit cards as for credit cards, the only issue with debit cards is that potentially you could have a period of time while still missing funds, but I've never seen that be an issue with any reputable bank within the last several years. B: You must have missed the part where I talked about using "prepaid debit cards". If you are extremely paranoid you can only add money to them just prior to use, leaving them with a low balance most of the time. C: The problem isn't just fraud and potentially having a period of time without funds available to you that should otherwise be there, it's also the enormous hassle of replacing a card (and updating everywhere you use that as a payment instrument such as amazon, your bills, etc.) That problem isn't improved at all by using a credit card vs a debit card.

by tdfx 12y ago

InclinedPlane 12y ago

> Don't use debit cards to pay for things. Ever. Credit cards give you substantial consumer protections that you don't get from debit cards. A: This is simply not true any more. Most banks offer essentially the same level of protection for debit cards as for credit cards, the only issue with debit cards is that potentially you could have a period of time while still missing funds, but I've never seen that be an issue with any reputable bank within the last several years. B: You must have missed the part where I talked about using "prepaid debit cards". If you are extremely paranoid you can only add money to them just prior to use, leaving them with a low balance most of the time. C: The problem isn't just fraud and potentially having a period of time without funds available to you that should otherwise be there, it's also the enormous hassle of replacing a card (and updating everywhere you use that as a payment instrument such as amazon, your bills, etc.) That problem isn't improved at all by using a credit card vs a debit card.