patrick.net

This is from Canada, but it could be related.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/banks-upselling-go-public-1.4023575

Yes, that all sounds pretty familiar.

It's all about what the banks can get away with.

Patrick says

Every time I open an account,

Why do you keep opening up new accounts?

Patrick says

hen they send me a debit card. Maybe a year later, or maybe just a few months.

Then I close the account and avoid that bank forever.

Well, you could just cut up the card and throw it away or shred it. Nobody says you have to use it.

Patrick says

Clearly banks must be saving money by pushing risk onto their unwitting customers, probably by not having to pay Visa or Mastercard.

Absolutely, it costs them nothing to instantly deduct the amount from your account, versus waiting until the end of the month to get paid.

Patrick says

Debit cards are extremely dangerous. I worked with a guy who had his checking account cleaned out by someone who got his debit account number.

Which is why you NEVER tie your debit card to any online purchase or other regularly re-occuring charge.

MrMagic says

Why do you keep opening up new accounts?

Because I close any account that sends me a debit card. Then I need a new account to replace the one I closed.

MrMagic says

Well, you could just cut up the card and throw it away or shred it. Nobody says you have to use it.

The debit card number still exists, and the danger is still very great, just because the number exists.

MrMagic says

Which is why you NEVER tie your debit card to any online purchase or other regularly re-occuring charge.

Yes, but I'd go further: you should never have a debit card ever, under any circumstances.

Aphroman says

The utilities here won’t accept CC payments only ACH transfers.

That is because if they accept credit cards they must pay the merchant fee. That could be 1-3% depending on the card.

Patrick says

Yes, but I'd go further: you should never have a debit card ever, under any circumstances.



Unfortunately, too many banks require a Debit Card to use the ATM. I use my Debit Card only for ATM cash (never any fees).

Patrick says

The debit card number still exists, and the danger is still very great, just because the number exists.

Not really, once the card is destroyed, the number disappears, except in the records/database of the bank, just like your regular account numbers. No one can get the debit card number once the card is destroyed.

HeadSet says

I use my Debit Card only for ATM cash

That's the only time I use mine, or to justify my identity when going to the counter at the bank when cashing a check or making a deposit.

Patrick says

Yes, but I'd go further: you should never have a debit card ever, under any circumstances.

True, definitely not linked to your checking account.

RafiMaas says

You are even safer if you don't have a checking or savings account because they can get the money out of those too.

That's true.

A friend of mine had a dispute about how much he owed the DMV, until the DMV just took the money from his checking account.

He did not give the DMV the account number.

Your money is definitely not safe in the checking or savings either. But it's a compromise for convenience.

Patrick says

Yes, but I'd go further: you should never have a debit card ever, under any circumstances.

My bank still uses an non-chip ATM cash card w/o an associated CC number. Yes, it's better to pay hoes in cash.

For everything else, it's credit card and even then, it's wrapped in a RFID blocker sleeve to prevent theft.

MrMagic says

except in the records/database of the bank

So bank employees with access to the data can't be crooks? And there are employees that have access to the unencrypted data regardless of what any bank wants to tell you. Someone had to encrypt that shit.

Credit cards offer the best fraud protection assuming you read the fine print. I have a debit card mind you, but never use it. But, I could drop a nuke on it and that doesn't make it any more or less secure. The account exists. Anyone that thinks anything they do is 100% secure is living in fantasyland. I've had a debit/checking account with money removed that I had never used (never used the debit card or written a check, only physically went into the bank to get money). There was someone I had known of in high school that was a teller at a bank and stole $100k plus and got caught (she did this as an adult). Not cash mind you. She did it digitally.