[NA] timely bill payment?

[denverpilot]

Ok - lets try this scenario:

1. Credit Card: You have a great lunch at the little bistro you found in Italy. The owner has a thief working for them - and they steal your number and charge up $4000 in charges that day - you catch it when you get home - your bank did not detect the fraud because you told them you were in Europe on vacay. You fill out the affidavit - bank removes the fraudulent charges - you owe nothing.

2. Debit card: You have a great lunch at the little bistro you found in Italy. The owner has a thief working for them - and they steal your number and charge up $4000 in charges that day. As a result your mortgage and car payment checks bounce, and you can't get cash anymore because your account has been cleaned out. You have a $150 late fee from your mortgage, you are paying interest every day, and get a late car payment and they have a $50 late fee. Your credit card payment also bounced, with a $35 late fee and interest of 19.7% plus the 26.9% penalty rate.

You get no sleep that night because you are a nervous wreck, and you're waiting waiting waiting until 2pm to call back to the US to report the theft. You need to find a place to get a fax to full out the forms - then find a notary legal in the US. You come home, and explain every thing to the mortgage company, and car loan and credit cards - who happily reverse the late fees but keep their interest - after all - your payment was late. Your bank sends them a nice note confirming the theft- all this takes another 2 or 3 hours to resolve. You have filled out the affidavits and you're not out any money, except interest, but you have lost a day of vacation and 4 hours when you get home.

Which scenario looks better?

Change it to reflect you being in the US. . . . in your home town - its more likely you will discover the theft from an overdraft notice - not from regular checking of balances - who does that?

3. Not living paycheck to paycheck because one was reasonably frugal to have some savings. Some of which does sit in the checking account, but not all. Certainly enough to cover a mishap with a debit card, which my credit union would catch long before $4000 on foreign transactions for sure. Meanwhile, call them and they'll put all but $50 of it instantly back in the account pending investigation, and ask me which transactions I made and didn't.

Because they're a Credit Union and not a scumsucking for-profit bank. And they wouldn't require a faxed anything nor a notary. They'd probably ask if we needed any cash wired to us and help us find a bank to do it at if we sounded like we were in a real jam.

The biggest downside would be that they would cancel the card immediately but I'd just switch plastic and go on. Vacation not ruined, deal with the paperwork when I got home or any other time it was convenient. Have them transfer cash from savings if they said there was any delay with the refund processing. There wouldn't be, but adding it for sanity's sake.

I'd send an email opening a claim on the ID theft insurance that came along with the homeowner's policy a few years ago, with the insurance agent, too. It's not great coverage but it's there and might as well use it for any real expenses that would arise from the problem. Stuff like the cell phone bill probably being some unholy number for making calls back to the States while roaming internationally since the phone is usually off on vacation but tucked in a bag somewhere in case it's needed.

Depending on the amount, I might not even notice for a day or two if we weren't getting on somebody's wifi once in a while. It wouldn't be $4000 though. I doubt they'd even let ME run my debit card up $4000 in a day without calling me. I remember when gas prices were really high a few years ago, getting a call because the pump I was at wouldn't authorize enough to fill the diesel pickup truck, and I swiped the card a second time. "The truck holds $100 worth of fuel and the pump would only do $75..." "Okay sir, thank you and have a nice day!"

Smallish Credit Unions NEED those cash deposits so they can meet their lending ratios. They protect that cash ALMOST as hard as I do. Big banks? You're not even a blip on their radar.

At one credit union I have a membership at but don't use much for anything (I just keep the membership since they only serve one industry and I'm not in it anymore but they have incredible rates on RVs and motorsports toys, if I were buying any...) I know the names of their only two "tellers"/"bankers" and the manager and address them by first name. I somewhat wish I had more reason to do more business with them. Super nice people.

I wish more CRs had safety deposit boxes. I'd never have to set foot inside a commercial bank ever again, if mine did. That commercial bank has changed names and signs above the door five times since that box was rented. Now owned by arguably one of the slimiest bail out banks out there. They make all their employees wear ties and white shirts still. Feel sorry for them.

 

[MadseasoN]

I pay bills twice per month on paydays. If they're early then I'm okay with that, less to worry about.