Ordering online and credit cards?

pulser · Oct 10, 2009

This is a weard place to ask this is guess. But I get all my bike stuff online and other things. And i don't believe in credit cards. I don't buy things i don't have cash for and the last thing I need is another monthly bill. But i have been thinking allot about security when i use my Debt card online lately. So i know there are others that feel the same. I'm looking for some kind Prepay card that i can just load with money from my checking account any time i want to get something. So my checking account is never exposed to theft. But i know that most Prepay cards charge lots of fees.

gfourth · Oct 10, 2009

just get a credit card. as long as you're smart with it and can pay it off every month I don't see anything wrong with it. Plus they come in handy sometimes with emergencies.

edit: that being said I've used my debit card for the majority of all my online purchases for the past 6-7 years and never had any problems, but I guess I'm lucky

boomn · Oct 10, 2009

Paypal has a plugin that generates one time use virtual credit card numbers that work for anyone that takes credit cards. The money comes out of your checking account like a normal debit purchase. Here's the link

IMHO, I prefer using a credit card for online shopping and shopping in general. I don't buy what I don't have cash for either, and I pay off everything every month. The advantage (besides airline miles that give me at least one free round trip ticket a year) is that I can constantly review my statement and contest bad charges before I even pay for them. Just my 2 cents

older guy · Oct 10, 2009

Agree with credit cards buying online. I believe they are safer as you can always ask the credit card issuer to reverse a non delivered/defective item. Supposedly you are not liable for unauthorized use. I just pay it off when the bill arrives.

Debit cards are same as cash. What is your recourse if you have to dispute an order? Debit is instantaneous so your out of your cash and claiming it back will take time.

My daughter gifted me with a Visa card one time. I believe you can buy this from the banks, big malls, walmart, target, sav-on, cvs, etc.

Harold · Oct 10, 2009

Simon Malls sell rechargeable VISA 'gift' cards you can use anywhere that takes a credit card. Sounds exactly like what you're looking for. I buy them from time to time as gifts when I don't have a clue what to buy someone. That way, they're not roped into a particular restaurant or store, even.

That said, I use my debit card for nearly all purchases anymore. Wife and I built up a bit of credit card debt getting ourselves established her first year out of school and we're working on paying it all down. Will be paying off our highest interest card this month (woohoo)! I don't know about contesting charges from retailers who are screwing you over, but I do know my debit cards have been VERY secure. Two times suspicious charges have showed up. Once wasn't actually a problem (bank called me to verify before taking action) and the second time it was a problem and my bank issued me a new card, took off the bad charges, and reset my PIN for me without my asking (they found the problem before I did)...which is good because I was in a coma at the time.

pulser · Oct 10, 2009

Nice what bank are you with?

Remy Darke · Oct 10, 2009

I use credit cards for everything. Safer than cash or debit. Plus I like the fact the CC companies pay me for using their cards.

5H2O · Oct 10, 2009

I use only one credit card for all my online purchases. This credit card company sends me emails eveyday with my balance. That way I will know if there has been a new and/or fraudulent charge. I can also plug in a dollar amount and if there is a purchase made over that dollar amount, I get another email notifying me.

JimC. · Oct 10, 2009

agree and later on when you

might want to, I dunno, rent a car or buy an airline ticket, cash won't cut it. If you can't demonstrate good credit via a card, you don't get the goods.

Jim

Harold · Oct 11, 2009

pulser said:
Nice what bank are you with?

Two different banks. First one was Bank One back in 03. Second was USAA this spring.

pulser · Oct 11, 2009

NateHawk said:
Two different banks. First one was Bank One back in 03. Second was USAA this spring.

Nice i have to talk to my bank and see what kind of protections they have for debt cards. I haven't had a problems yet but i don't want to find out the hard way.

tomsmoto · Oct 11, 2009

i didnt even know you can get a debit card without a visa/mc logo these days. buy from reliable places and you'll never have a problem using a card online. its not even something to worry about anymore. most banks offer at least some type of fraud protection for cards.

i have 3 normal credit cards with zero balances. its financially smart to have good cards, not as emergency money or for a means of buying stuff over your head, but like it or not you need credit history. charge up a hundred bucks or so and go home and pay it. do that a few times a month or so with a zero fee card and you're coming up ahead. smarter use of the same money.

pulser · Oct 11, 2009

Having a CC and not carrying a balance can negatively effect your credit thees days. The CC company's get people that do that all the time. They ether close the card or lower your limit witch will bring your over all score down. This is what i don't like about credit Its become how we judge a persons worth but is a game.

nachomc · Oct 11, 2009

Remy Darke said:
I use credit cards for everything. Safer than cash or debit. Plus I like the fact the CC companies pay me for using their cards.

Yep. I cashed out $400 in gift cards and still had a bunch of points left over after using my CC for my bills and expenses for a year

Thanks to my credit card company, I got all new clothes for fall

tomsmoto · Oct 11, 2009

pulser said:
Having a CC and not carrying a balance can negatively effect your credit thees days. The CC company's get people that do that all the time. They ether close the card or lower your limit witch will bring your over all score down. This is what i don't like about credit Its become how we judge a persons worth but is a game.

having too many high limit cards when your income cant support it is bad for your credit. if you have 50k limits on cards and make 30k a year, your credit will tank. if you're pulling 300k a year they're not going to care if you carry 50k in available credit.

having a few cards with a decent limit helps your credit.. shows someone thinks you're credible enough to extend credit to, without giving you the ability to be over your head.

Remy Darke · Oct 11, 2009

tomsmoto said:
having too many high limit cards when your income cant support it is bad for your credit. if you have 50k limits on cards and make 30k a year, your credit will tank. if you're pulling 300k a year they're not going to care if you carry 50k in available credit.

having a few cards with a decent limit helps your credit.. shows someone thinks you're credible enough to extend credit to, without giving you the ability to be over your head.

Debt to income ratio is not a determing factor in the FICO scoring system. Scoring and credit worthiness is determined by payment history, and usable credit amount plus a few other small factors. Using your example of making 30k and having a 50k in tradelines with a 5 year payment history and no derogatives would average a 725 to 800 FICO with an average 825 bankrate. Making 300k a year and carring the same balances and tradelines would also have the same score. The bank you apply to will only use your income to set inital limit of the tradeline. There is no way to get more credit except by having credit.

Also using your 300k a year example if the tradelines were cut from 50k to 25k and carrying a 10% balance the credit score would drop over 100 points until payment history rebalanced the loss of credit. The same would be true of the person making 30k a year.

Jwiffle · Oct 12, 2009

pulser said:
Having a CC and not carrying a balance can negatively effect your credit thees days. The CC company's get people that do that all the time. They ether close the card or lower your limit witch will bring your over all score down. This is what i don't like about credit Its become how we judge a persons worth but is a game.

Um...why would they close your card just because you pay it off every month? That would be just stupid...they make money off every purchase you make (they get money from the retailer, not just interest from you). I've had a couple cards for years that I keep just for emergencies, never even use...the accounts are never closed, although I did have one lower my limit (but their stated reason was the economy, not the fact I hadn't used it in two years, and since such had never happened previously, I'm tempted to believe them).

Guest · Oct 12, 2009

boomn said:
Paypal has a plugin that generates one time use virtual credit card numbers that work for anyone that takes credit cards. The money comes out of your checking account like a normal debit purchase. Here's the link

Plus one with what boomn posted above. A very good way to go bro! I have been using Paypal for many years with my business and most all my online purchases using either the PayPal Plugin or my PayPal Debit Card. It is very safe, especially for your bank account. Try it out or at least look into it bro. :thumbsup:

Remy Darke · Oct 12, 2009

Jwiffle said:
Um...why would they close your card just because you pay it off every month? That would be just stupid...they make money off every purchase you make (they get money from the retailer, not just interest from you). I've had a couple cards for years that I keep just for emergencies, never even use...the accounts are never closed, although I did have one lower my limit (but their stated reason was the economy, not the fact I hadn't used it in two years, and since such had never happened previously, I'm tempted to believe them).

Most of the "classier" banks won't close a card for non use but some low end banks will. Orchard(HSBC) and Providian then WAMU now Chase were some of the worst. They'd close a card after 6 months of non use in most cases. Alot of banks will lower the credit line for non use so it's best to cycle your cards by buying something on each every few months and PIF.

Having available credit will never hurt your score as Pulser wrote since FICO scores all tradelines as one amount. He is correct that the closing or lowering of a tradeline will hurt your score but since payment history is scored higher than tradeline total it will balnce out. Fico loves a high a tradeline with low utilization but payment history will get you there too.

pop_martian · Oct 12, 2009

Get a credit card and treat it like a debit card. Every time you make a purchase, deduct that amount from your checking account, record it on your ledger, or whatever.

If you get a credit card with some sort of rewards program or cashback, the credit card company will actually end up paying you to use their card if you always pay your balance off.

A credit card isn't evil if you are in control of your finances and like said, can even earn you some extra cash!:thumbsup:

Ordering online and credit cards?

pulser

gfourth

boomn

older guy

Harold

pulser

Remy Darke

5H2O

JimC.

Harold

pulser

tomsmoto

pulser

nachomc

tomsmoto

Remy Darke

Jwiffle

Guest

Remy Darke

pop_martian

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