Use a Bank? Stop.

The Heretic · Oct 18, 2016

As others have said, this is more or less common practice in the CC world.

I haven't had problems though the few times I have been out of state, even when out of country. There were a few times when they pinged me to ask, but most of the times they haven't.

I had my CC co. call me about a charge in Turkey one day to verify that I wasn't there and also in Seattle at the same time.

That said, this is one reason why I have two credit cards again after dumping them years ago. Even though I don't need the credit (I can afford whatever I want to buy without credit) and I pay it off every month - it is good to have a backup if one card fails to get authorization, which I have had happen a few times. Plus I get rewards.

Conversely, Vista (not Visa) the cell phone payment co. that handles all the cell phone payment authorization/etc. when you get a new cell phone from a new provider, has me flagged for some reason, and every time I switch providers and/or get a new phone, if I put in the CC# online, they reject it, no matter which card it is. Same thing if I switch the card the provider uses to bill me.

Eventually I get it worked out, but it is Vista who throws the flag on it.

Stomper · Oct 18, 2016

IronMonster said:
So, I came here to learn about how to stop using the bank and instead there are a 18 posts about using the bank...

It's Oxymoronic....

Dyre Straits · Oct 21, 2016

Anything over $5 charged to any of my accounts gets a notice sent to my email. Even the $1 hold on gas purchases...or any $1 hold, too.

mkwerx · Oct 21, 2016

The only reasons I've stuck with Chase Bank is because they have excellent fraud protection and have stopped fraudlent charges instantly a handful of times for me, and the times that money was spent, I got it back within 24 hours. I have alerts setup on my account now to notify me of any expenditures over $1 - same with Capital One. It is a bit off putting to know that they literally track everything I do with my card, but at the same time it has saved me some big headaches.

PaulB47 · Oct 21, 2016

There are a lot of dishonest Americans.

I had a job in Paris for a year. Had a checking account; I could write checks all over the country and nobody would even ask for ID. People would leave their wallets sitting on their desks with no worries. Of course that was back in 1980; things may have changed by now.

mkwerx · Oct 21, 2016

PaulB47 said:
There are a lot of dishonest Americans.

I had a job in Paris for a year. Had a checking account; I could write checks all over the country and nobody would even ask for ID. People would leave their wallets sitting on their desks with no worries. Of course that was back in 1980; things may have changed by now.

Sadly Paul, a lot has changed since 1980. There have always been drifters, grifters, thieves and tramps but our society now embraces these characters rather than reviling them. We put them into positions of political and social power and prowess and it is of little surprise that we have become what we have become. The chances of your ID being stolen and your bank accounts or credit card information being compromised and used are nearing 100% - after listening to some of the financial programs on the radio the other day - and one of their guests was an information security person - he noted that in the last few years, there have been huge (yuuuge) data breaches in the public and private sector - essentially if you were alive, had a social security number or a bank account or credit card - your ID info and account info were stolen and will likely have been sold a number of times by now.

While the honest folk still out number the dishonest - I think - it's not terribly safe to leave items sitting, even on a table where people are sitting and conversing anymore - lest they get snatched up. People being physically assaulted or even killed for petty crap such as cell phones - which shows that such actors are retarded, I mean honest to god retarded not just in manner of speach - because cell phones are all tracked and easily deactivated anymore. Why would a logical thief steal a tracking device, but I digress.

It certainly is a different world, and it is far easier, and even more accepted and excused to be a thief or otherwise no-good-nick. Social Justice, income disparity, blah blah blah. It is almost your responsibility as an American male, falling into the middle or high income bracket, to be victimized by such types and sit back and take it, because it's what you get for trying to live your life and earn what you have rather than having the government provide it for you. Or at least that's the way some folks think.

cigars · Oct 25, 2016

Amex is your best friend (mine anyway) when traveling abroad. I set it up for text alerts for 'card not present' purchases. Best customer service out there IMHO. Yes, you have to pay your balance off each month but you can also set up pay over time if you want or have to carry a balance. They also have have slew of different cards, meeting different needs. Yes, I am a corporate whore. But Amex has been there for me without fail for several decades.