Online Cash Payments
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@pauly said:
Yea, I'm implying that I might rack up a bunch of debt, die, and default on it. I bet some of you will get really pissed reading that. Don't care.
Then I hope you die early, you self-centred cunt, so that you don't rack up such a high debt and leave others to pay for it.
You're now officially grouped with ambulance-chasing lawyers and whiplash-seeking prangsters that seek to fill their pockets at the expense of others, and not give a toss about the ramifications of your actions. Go try anal sex with a loaded shotgun.
Prick.
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@blakeyrat said:
@Cassidy said:
Go try anal sex with a loaded shotgun.
Shotguns have anuses?Double barreled shotguns do
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@morbiuswilters said:
I want to lord my wealth over middle class Americans.
Exactly! Because they actually know what that sort of money means, which makes the lording all the more effective.
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@pauly said:
Not saying this is a smart thing to do, just something I discovered applying for credit cards as a teenager.
[...]
@Cassidy said:
Then I hope you die early, you self-centred cunt
@morbiuswilters said:Wow, your greed and selfishness know no bounds. Bravo.
My friends— I believe pauly is still, in fact, a teenager.
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@dhromed said:
I believe pauly is still, in fact, a teenager.
He may be, but age doesn't excuse a selfish mindset.
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@dhromed said:
@pauly said:
Not saying this is a smart thing to do, just
something I discovered applying for credit cards as a
teenager.[...]
@Cassidy said:
Then I hope you die early, you self-centred cunt
@morbiuswilters said:Wow, your greed and selfishness know no bounds. Bravo.
My friends— I believe pauly is still, in fact, a teenager.I read it as "This is something I did as a teenager, however many years ago." He's probably older than me.
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@morbiuswilters said:
I read it as "This is something I did as a teenager, however many years ago." He's probably older than me.
Maybe we should ask him about the secret code for Leisure Suit Larry.
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@Sitethief said:
Thats because getting a credit card isn't as easy in the Netherlands.
I can't get a CC, and I work a average paid fulltime job. I believe the requirements for me would be to make 25k a year in dollars (19k in euros), and even then my limit would be very low (like 1k).
Also, I only need a CC when I want to buy something from n American shop. In the Netherlands 95% of the people pay with a debit card, wirhdraw cash from ATM's with it, or pay using a debit card like electronic banking system.
We have 7556 ATM's throughout the country, and each year more then 2,285 billion transactions are made in shops using debit cards. (remember, there are only 16,9 million Dutch people.
By comparison in Ireland its comically easy to get a card (I could phone up a bank I've never dealt with before and likely get one in the post within a week if I faxed over the right documents), nearly everyone has one and they're accepted virtually anywhere; but I'd still have difficulty getting more than a 2k limit on a single card - and I'm earning enough that I might be able to get somewhere close to morbs limit in the US.
People here with serious card debts generally have a card from every single issuer. Since there's been a lot of bank mergers recently, some people are finding that if they pay down some card debt, their limit drops accordingly.
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@Cian said:
I could phone up a bank I've never dealt with before and likely get one in the post within a week if I faxed over the right documents
America wins again: I can sign-up online, no paper documentation required, get accepted within 30 seconds and receive it in the mail within 2 days. Best of all, in many cases I can start using the card to make online purchases as soon as I'm accepted--no waiting required!
@Cian said:
but I'd still have difficulty getting more than a 2k limit on a single card - and I'm earning enough that I might be able to get somewhere close to morbs limit in the US.
Credit is very cheap here.. the Federal Reserve has been pushing down rates for over a decade. Back in the 80s mortgage rates were around 17%; today they're under 5%. Seventeen percent would be high for a credit card nowadays. My average credit card rate is 9.2% or so.
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@sprained said:
Dunno, I pay for things with my Amex where possible because they give me better "rewards" than Visa or Mastercard.
That's how it is here too, with a Westpac Earth Mastercard\Amex package, you get 1 Qantas Frequent Flyer point per dollar with the Amex and 0.5 QFF points per dollar with the Mastercard. If they accept it and don't charge a fee, go ahead. But paying for fried chicken with an Amex?
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@morbiuswilters said:
Why? I always use Amex first and if they don't accept that, then Visa. Most national stores accept Amex, I think, it's just local retail or service stores that don't.
Here, the only credit cards that have a 100% chance of being accepted at a place that takes cards are Visa and Mastercard. If they do take Amex or Diners and it's not a chaint, chances are there's a fee attached (which ranges from 1% to 20% depending on the store). On the other hand some chains will charge you regardless of what credit card you use (Aldi springs to mind - if you violate an Aldi machine with any form of Visa, Mastercard or Amex and hit Credit you get charged a reasonable-ish 1% fee).Larger stores (Wesfarmers\Coles Group, Woolworths Limited, etc.) do take them with no fees however franchise operations (like fast food such as where I worked) would accept them at the discretion of the franchise owner - I know that some (probably all, they're all owned by one company) of the stores in Adelaide do accept Amex, many others don't. Considering a) the cost, b) you need to go to Amex and negotiate the higher fee yourself (whereas with Visa and Mastercard the fee just comes part of the EFTPOS parcel) and c) the fact I worked there three years and saw two Amex cards attempted to be used, there were probably the reasons why as well.I have nothing against Amex cards, just things against pretentious dickheads who treat them as a means to show the fact that they have an exceedingly large income and a small penis.
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@morbiuswilters said:
My average credit card rate is 9.2% or so.
The lowest rate I have seen in Australia is 10.99%. Most banks consider "low rate" to be somewhere between 13 and 20%. Typical rates are 15-20% otherwise, unless GE Money is involved then you're probably paying 25%+ because GE have a lovely habit of giving credit to just about anyone.They're also cracking down on credit card debt here, they've introduced legislation which now makes credit limit increases opt in, which is probably a good thing: case in point: the amount of offers to increase the credit limit on her Mastercard The Mother gets astounds me, and she does most of her spending with another bank's transactional account and salary sacrificing credit card, with a credit limit of $1, through yet another bank.
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@Douglasac said:
Here, the only credit cards that have a 100% chance of being accepted at a place that takes cards are Visa and Mastercard
I'm sad that Bankcard has disappeared. I've been reading my son some of my old Golden Books, which still have ads to buy their stuff: the only credit card they accepted (in the 1980s) was Bankcard. The CC field even pre-filled the first few numbers that were common back then.
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@Zemm said:
I'm sad that Bankcard has disappeared.
As far as I am aware, the main reasons they went were because Visa and Mastercard came along eventually and could be used overseas (Bankcard couldn't be used overseas) and I believe there was no to limited online acceptance of it. That said, it only died in 2006 or so, so it wasn't that long ago. Considering what it was it did last quite a long time.
I'm personally surprised that the EFTPOS mob have come along and tried to make EFTPOS cards the new in thing... why would you want one when you can have a debit Visa\Mastercard that does more than an EFTPOS card for the same price, unless you bank with BBL or a credit union?
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@Douglasac said:
I have nothing against Amex cards, just things against pretentious dickheads who treat them as a means to show the fact that they have an exceedingly large income and a small penis.
Maybe the American Express Card is just more common in...America. It's true that they're not accepted in as many places. That's generally because they charge merchants more than Visa and Mastercard. But most grocery stores (and it's pretty much just some mom and pop type stores that won't) will take it.
I've only ever seen one Aldi, and mostly they seemed to take food stamps. I went in once out of curiosity, and it was like a parallel universe. All of the packaging looked familiar, but wasn't quite right. Everything was an off brand that I've never seen anywhere else.
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@boomzilla said:
Aldi
Wow, you have an Aldi in America? I thought they were purely European.
@boomzilla said:
I went in once out of curiosity, and it was like a parallel universe.
Exactly. Same feeling I get in a Lidl. It's like they forgot to finish the building.
Perhaps I'm a spoiled middle class bastard with subconscious aristocratic pretentions, but I like to think it's because of the fact that I'm better than the plebs.
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@dhromed said:
Wow, you have an Aldi in America? I thought they were purely European.
They're rare, but yes.
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@boomzilla said:
Maybe the American Express Card is just more common in...America.
I would never have guessed.@boomzilla said:
That's generally because they charge merchants more than Visa and Mastercard.
Here it's like 0.9% for Visa and Mastercard and generally 3.5+% for Amex.@boomzilla said:
I went in once out of curiosity, and it was like a parallel universe.
I usually think Ikea for Groceriess Without Assembly.@boomzilla said:
All of the packaging looked familiar, but wasn't quite right. Everything was an off brand that I've never seen anywhere else.
Here, the only brand name things they sold that I can recall off the top of my head was Milo. It's how they work, they keep costs down by only having their own brand products. Most aren't that bad, some are especially good.
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@morbiuswilters said:
It's not 2 years of salary for me; why would my credit limit have anything to do with what some family in Europe could afford?
Not much. However, it's not just 'some family', it's 'most families'. If I multiply the limit banks over here are willing to give me by my salary I'd say you're either making about 900k / year (... in the top 9% :o ) or banks over there accept an insane amount of risk of not getting their money back?
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@pnieuwkamp said:
@morbiuswilters said:
You're banks seem too conservative. Over here, banks are making money hand over fist giving irresponsible people $20,000 credit lines at 30%. Many of them default, but the principal is irrelevant compared to the massive amount of interest collected in the several years the customer is circling the drain.It's not 2 years of salary for me; why would my credit limit have anything to do with what some family in Europe could afford?
Not much. However, it's not just 'some family', it's 'most families'. If I multiply the limit banks over here are willing to give me by my salary I'd say you're either making about 900k / year (... in the top 9% :o ) or banks over there accept an insane amount of risk of not getting their money back?
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@Jaime said:
Over here, banks are making money hand over fist giving irresponsible people $20,000 credit lines at 30%. Many of them default, but the principal is irrelevant compared to the massive amount of interest collected in the several years the customer is circling the drain.
Plus the transaction fees, of course. Part of this has to be the insanely low rates at which the banks are able to borrow. Most other countries won't have this "advantage" of such a profligate central bank. Especially if they're in the Eurozone.
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@Douglasac said:
Woolworths Limited
Wow, they're still around? I thought they went out of business years ago...
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@ekolis said:
@Douglasac said:
Brick and mortar Woolworths.co.uk did - they're solely online now.Woolworths Limited
Wow, they're still around? I thought they went out of business years ago...
Woolworths.com.au is an unconnected business (grocery chain) which I believe is still trading.
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@Douglasac said:
If they do take Amex or Diners and it's not a chaint, chances are there's a fee attached (which ranges from 1% to 20% depending on the store). On the other hand some chains will charge you regardless of what credit card you use (Aldi springs to mind - if you violate an Aldi machine with any form of Visa, Mastercard or Amex and hit Credit you get charged a reasonable-ish 1% fee).
They can't charge the customer a fee here for using credit, except in the case of diesel purchases. There may be other exceptions as well, but the only thing I've ever seen is diesel.
@Douglasac said:
I have nothing against Amex cards, just things against pretentious dickheads who treat them as a means to show the fact that they have an exceedingly large income and a small penis.
I just wonder why you think someone using a particular card is being pretentious? It's not like an Amex card is very hard to get.
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@pnieuwkamp said:
@morbiuswilters said:
It's not 2 years of salary for me; why would my credit limit have anything to do with what some family in Europe could afford?
Not much. However, it's not just 'some family', it's 'most families'. If I multiply the limit banks over here are willing to give me by my salary I'd say you're either making about 900k / year (... in the top 9% :o ) or banks over there accept an insane amount of risk of not getting their money back?
Part of your limit is based on how much of a balance you are carrying. If I started carrying large balances month after month, they'd probably drop my credit limit like a rock. Even if I maxed everything out and had a debt of $60k I could probably pay that off in 2-3 years. The CC companies know how much money I make, how much I spend on housing, car payments, etc.. They know I have a strong history of paying off balances quickly, so it's not a large risk for them to give me those lines of credit.
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@morbiuswilters said:
I just wonder why you think someone using a particular card is being pretentious? It's not like an Amex card is very hard to get.
Hypocrite! Lording your wealth over the unwashed global masses....
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@dhromed said:
Exactly. Same feeling I get in a Lidl. It's like they forgot to finish the building.
The one time I went in to a Lidl outside of Ireland, that's what it felt like. I'd almost suspect the Irish one is a knockoff of the name if I didn't know for sure it wasn't. Sell brand name groceries, newspapers, magazines, prepacked sandwiches and a load of other things that the mainland European Lidl's would never touch.
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@PJH said:
@ekolis said:
@Douglasac said:
Brick and mortar Woolworths.co.uk did - they're solely online now.Woolworths Limited
Wow, they're still around? I thought they went out of business years ago...
Woolworths.com.au is an unconnected business (grocery chain) which I believe is still trading.
In Australia, Woolworths is one of the two major grocery chains. But let [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolworths_Limited]Wikipedia[/url] tell it:Woolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:
* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales
* largest food retailer in Australia and the second largest in New Zealand
* largest takeaway liquor retailer in Australia
* largest hotel and poker machine operator in Australia
* 19th largest retailer in the world (may change from time to time)Huh. Reading more in the Wiki article, this bit seems very Australian somehow:
The name on the draft prospectus drawn up by Cecil Scott Waine was "Wallworths Bazaar" – a play on the F.W. Woolworth name (the owner of the Woolworth's chain in the United States and United Kingdom). However, according to Ernest Robert Williams, Percy Christmas dared him to register the name Woolworths instead, which he succeeded in doing after finding out the name was available for use in New South Wales. Accordingly, Woolworths Ltd in Australia has no connection with the F.W. Woolworth Company in the United States.
Something tells me that the "dare" part of it probably involved a number of beers.
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@morbiuswilters said:
@Douglasac said:
Indeed, but when you wave it around expecting people to bend over backwards to serve you just because you have one, that's what annoys me.I'll try to go out of my way to provide excellent service to you if you're intelligent, don't ask stupid questions and treat me with some respect. Most of the time, that happens. If you're rude and abusive, expect me to get managers involved so they can yell at you.I have nothing against Amex cards, just things against pretentious dickheads who treat them as a means to show the fact that they have an exceedingly large income and a small penis.
I just wonder why you think someone using a particular card is being pretentious? It's not like an Amex card is very hard to get.
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@morbiuswilters said:
I just wonder why you think someone using a particular card is being pretentious? It's not like an Amex card is very hard to get.
In the UK, it was originally marketed as a prestige card that bought significant customer benefits (higher quality of customer service) so attracted the more affluent. As a result, people who got their hands on them opulently waved them about as a
sign of how much a rich cock they werestatus symbol, and they've therefore become associated with pretentious dickheads.Same could be said with specific makes/models of car, geographical location of your property, job title, etc. Sometimes it's justified, other times fuckwits ruin it for others and they're just tarred with the same brush.
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@Douglasac said:
@morbiuswilters said:
@Douglasac said:
Indeed, but when you wave it around expecting people to bend over backwards to serve you just because you have one, that's what annoys me.I'll try to go out of my way to provide excellent service to you if you're intelligent, don't ask stupid questions and treat me with some respect. Most of the time, that happens. If you're rude and abusive, expect me to get managers involved so they can yell at you.I have nothing against Amex cards, just things against pretentious dickheads who treat them as a means to show the fact that they have an exceedingly large income and a small penis.
I just wonder why you think someone using a particular card is being pretentious? It's not like an Amex card is very hard to get.
To be fair, if I was dealing with some fuckwit who didn't deserve to be in customer-facing job who rolled his eyes when I take out my Amex, I would want the manager to get involved so I could yell at him for the piss-poor customer service.
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@pkmnfrk said:
@Douglasac said:
@morbiuswilters said:
@Douglasac said:
Indeed, but when you wave it around expecting people to bend over backwards to serve you just because you have one, that's what annoys me.I'll try to go out of my way to provide excellent service to you if you're intelligent, don't ask stupid questions and treat me with some respect. Most of the time, that happens. If you're rude and abusive, expect me to get managers involved so they can yell at you.I have nothing against Amex cards, just things against pretentious dickheads who treat them as a means to show the fact that they have an exceedingly large income and a small penis.
I just wonder why you think someone using a particular card is being pretentious? It's not like an Amex card is very hard to get.
To be fair, if I was dealing with some fuckwit who didn't deserve to be in customer-facing job who rolled his eyes when I take out my Amex, I would want the manager to get involved so I could yell at him for the piss-poor customer service.
Thirty lashes for the indigent shop boy! (I also hate it when they make eye contact. I've got an Amex, motherfucker. If I wanted to look into dumb sow eyes I'd go on another boar hunt!)
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@pkmnfrk said:
To be fair, if I was dealing with some fuckwit who didn't deserve to be in customer-facing job who rolled his eyes when I take out my Amex, I would want the manager to get involved so I could yell at him for the piss-poor customer service.
If you pull out an Amex after being a nice customer, then I wouldn't care. You could write a cheque for all I care, and they're a bitch to deal with - for some reason the POS system we use doesn't let you use the numpad everywhere (yes, numlock is on) and the cheque data screen is one of them. So you have to use the hypersensitive touchscreen and make fifty mistakes in the process. Cheques are evil and I don't like them and I would always get them. Boo.
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@pkmnfrk said:
To be fair, if I was dealing with some fuckwit who didn't deserve to be in customer-facing job who rolled his eyes when I take out my Amex, I would want the manager to get involved so I could yell at him for the piss-poor customer service.
To be fair, a fuckwit like that would deliver piss-poor service irrespective of your payment method. Amex is probably irrelevant in this case.
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@Douglasac said:
Filed under: use cheques for cars and houses and nothing more
In the US you usually can't use a personal check for things like that, unless you meant the monthly payments. In which case: use automatic debit. It's easier and most places give a discount for using it.
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@morbiuswilters said:
@Douglasac said:
I'm pretty sure you can use a personal cheque for a car here (provided it's more like a $8k used Honda and not something like a $250k new BMW which I imagine would need a bank cheque), but houses need a bank cheque for obvious reasons.Filed under: use cheques for cars and houses and nothing more
In the US you usually can't use a personal check for things like that, unless you meant the monthly payments. In which case: use automatic debit. It's easier and most places give a discount for using it.
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@Douglasac said:
@morbiuswilters said:
@Douglasac said:
Filed under: use cheques for cars and houses and nothing more
In the US you usually can't use a personal check for things like that, unless you meant the monthly payments. In which case: use automatic debit. It's easier and most places give a discount for using it.
I'm pretty sure you can use a personal cheque for a car here (provided it's more like a $8k used Honda and not something like a $250k new BMW which I imagine would need a bank cheque), but houses need a bank cheque for obvious reasons.
I bought my current vehicle with two personal checks (drawn on accounts in two separate banks). "$8k used Honda" is actually not far off the mark.
Some people can probably buy houses with personal checks. I imagine Paul McCartney could make it work.
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@Douglasac said:
debit Visa\Mastercard
Yeah, but try using that at Woolworths! I've had a debit Visa card since 2001, but from last year (or year before?) using it at any of the Woolworths stores (including Dick Smiths, Big W, BWS, Caltex, etc) trying it does not even give the "credit" option any more. Forcing to use EFTPOS (Savings/Cheque). I guess it's less profit to the overseas companies, so that Woolworths don't have to pay the 0.5% CC fee (or whatever). No-where else has hacked their EFTPOS machines in this way.
Aldi puts a surcharge on CC purchases, but not EFTPOS. Most small stores having a EFTPOS minimum (usually $5 or $10, probably to make sure the ~40c merchant fee and ~25c phone call costs are covered: large companies get massive deals and use IP terminals, so these fees don't exist for them).
@Douglasac said:
(Bankcard couldn't be used overseas) and I believe there was no to limited online acceptance of it
Marketing and technical fails there! But then I've never owned a Bankcard, or any "real" credit card for that matter. My Dad switched from Bankcard to Mastercard when they got rid of it. Some stores still have the "b" icon next to all the other credit card icons. :-)
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@Zemm said:
@Douglasac said:
debit Visa\Mastercard
Yeah, but try using that at Woolworths! I've had a debit Visa card since 2001, but from last year (or year before?) using it at any of the Woolworths stores (including Dick Smiths, Big W, BWS, Caltex, etc) trying it does not even give the "credit" option any more. Forcing to use EFTPOS (Savings/Cheque).
Interesting. My bank recently-ish replaced my plain old ATM card with a version that functions as a Visa debit card. I'm pretty sure I still get the credit option at Woolworths. I'll have to check though - usually I just get cash from the ATM and pay cash for everything. I actually prefer not to use the credit option in general (though my bank recommends the credit option) since you can only get extra cash using the savings option, and I decided I'd rather use the same option all the time than have to switch between the options depending on whether or not I wanted additional cash.
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@Scarlet Manuka said:
and I decided I'd rather use the same option all the time than have to switch between the options depending on whether or not I wanted additional cash.
There's no difference other than pressing a different button! When getting cash out you still need to remember to ask for it. I use a PIN when I use "credit" just like if I use "chq" or "sav" (I have two transaction accounts on this card)
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@Zemm said:
Yeah, but try using that at Woolworths!
I know, it annoys me because for a period I forgot my PIN, and ended up just hitting Credit and signing for everything... except for when I was at Woolworths where I had to use my Handycard. If you bank with Bendigo Bank, though, and have a Debit Visa\Mastercard through then you will get the Credit option.@Zemm said:Most small stores having a EFTPOS minimum
What annoys me when an obviously high traffic place (e.g. the food dispensary at my uni) has a limit or some ridiculous fee when they would probably make more money than if they didn't. Boo.@Zemm said:Some stores still have the "b" icon next to all the other credit card icons. :-)
According to my uni's website, they take Bankcard for fee payments. It's good to see they haven't updated that part of the website for at least six years.
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@Scarlet Manuka said:
(though my bank recommends the credit option)
They recommend it because they make money when you hit Credit. And you can do a chargeback if necessary, but if you do Chip and PIN and try to get a chargeback, they will laugh at you and say no.On the other hand, if you bank with St. George or BankSA, who have yet to implement chipped cards, I'd be hitting Credit and signing everywhere because god knows when and where you'd be skimmed.
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@dhromed said:
I loved that game when I was a teenager@morbiuswilters said:
I read it as "This is something I did as a teenager, however many years ago." He's probably older than me.
Maybe we should ask him about the secret code for Leisure Suit Larry.
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@da Doctah said:
@Douglasac said:
@morbiuswilters said:
@Douglasac said:
Filed under: use cheques for cars and houses and nothing more
In the US you usually can't use a personal check for things like that, unless you meant the monthly payments. In which case: use automatic debit. It's easier and most places give a discount for using it.
I'm pretty sure you can use a personal cheque for a car here (provided it's more like a $8k used Honda and not something like a $250k new BMW which I imagine would need a bank cheque), but houses need a bank cheque for obvious reasons.
I bought my current vehicle with two personal checks (drawn on accounts in two separate banks). "$8k used Honda" is actually not far off the mark.
Some people can probably buy houses with personal checks. I imagine Paul McCartney could make it work.
facepalm Fine, you nit-picky people have succeeded in getting me to revise my statement: "In the US you can't use a personal check to pay for a car or house, unless you are buying from someone retarded enough to take a personal check or you are Paul McCartney, maybe."
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@Zemm said:
@Scarlet Manuka said:
and I decided I'd rather use the same option all the time than have to switch between the options depending on whether or not I wanted additional cash.
There's no difference other than pressing a different button! When getting cash out you still need to remember to ask for it. I use a PIN when I use "credit" just like if I use "chq" or "sav"
As I said in my previous post, my bank won't allow cash-out on an EFTPOS transaction unless you select Savings. It's got nothing to do with needing or not needing a PIN. So personally, I'd rather hit Savings all the time than Savings sometimes and Credit the rest of the time.
@Douglasac said:@Scarlet Manuka said:
(though my bank recommends the credit option)
They recommend it because they make money when you hit Credit.
I know. But they also have extra buyer protection for credit purchases, as you mentioned (which is the reason they give for recommending it), so it's not exclusively a one-way value proposition.Either way, I still prefer to vist the ATM beforehand and pay for things with cash. It's noticeably faster, you can use it everywhere, you aren't stuck if the EFTPOS terminal or comm links are down, there's much less chance of being skimmed, and (for me) it's easier to keep track of how much you're spending.
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@Scarlet Manuka said:
It's noticeably faster
See, I think paying with credit is much faster. Plus I don't end up having to deal with change.
@Scarlet Manuka said:
you can use it everywhere
There's almost nowhere I can't use a CC.
@Scarlet Manuka said:
you aren't stuck if the EFTPOS terminal or comm links are down
I don't know that I've ever seen this happen.
@Scarlet Manuka said:
there's much less chance of being skimmed
Is this a big thing overseas? I've never heard of anyone being skimmed over here. I certainly haven't had it happen.
Bonuses for credit:
- Don't have to run to the ATM constantly or carry thousands of dollars in my wallet
- Can easily track and categorized purchases online, letting me see where I'm spending money
- Don't have at to keep an eagle eye on my bank account; if I spend a bit more than I have, no biggie, just pay it down next month
- I get an average of 3% back on purchases
- Don't have to run to the ATM constantly or carry thousands of dollars in my wallet
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@morbiuswilters said:
@Scarlet Manuka said:
you aren't stuck if the EFTPOS terminal or comm links are down
I don't know that I've ever seen this happen.
Generally if the EFTPOS is down it stores the transaction, insists that you sign, and processes it later.
@morbiuswilters said:
@Scarlet Manuka said:
there's much less chance of being skimmed
Is this a big thing overseas? I've never heard of anyone being skimmed over here. I certainly haven't had it happen.
There have been some cases here, but it's getting rarer now thanks to the proliferation of chip and PIN - it is very difficult nigh on impossible to pull data off a chipped card.
@morbiuswilters said:
- Don't have to run to the ATM constantly or carry thousands of dollars in my wallet
I only draw out cash when I have to go to uni and buy food or need to buy a bus ticket on the bus (although the shiny new train and tram vending machines almost make this redundant because they take cards - hooray!)
@morbiuswilters said:
- Can easily track and categorized purchases online, letting me see where I'm spending money
I find it most handy to this too, except I usually look and wonder why I spend so much money at X and try and remember what it is I actually buy.
@morbiuswilters said:
- I get an average of 3% back on purchases
That's something that's virtually non-existent here in Australia... here you generally get Rewards cards and get rewards points or Frequent Flyer points for every dollar that you spend which you trade for toasters or gift cards or flights.
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@morbiuswilters said:
There's almost nowhere I can't use a CC.
Quite a few food places etc. over here don't have EFTPOS of any kind.
@morbiuswilters said:@Scarlet Manuka said:
you aren't stuck if the EFTPOS terminal or comm links are down
I don't know that I've ever seen this happen.
Nice for you, I guess. I've experienced it from time to time. Most commonly just an individual terminal broken ("cash only this lane") but I've also been in two or three cases where the whole store has lost communications to their bank and can't do any electronic payments at all. Lots of unhappy shoppers.
@morbiuswilters said:@Scarlet Manuka said:
there's much less chance of being skimmed
Is this a big thing overseas? I've never heard of anyone being skimmed over here. I certainly haven't had it happen.
I haven't had it happen to me, but there was a case here a couple of years ago where [url=http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/mcdonalds-reveals-eftpos-skimming-in-perth-card-fraud/story-e6frg143-1225785175160]a whole bunch of McDonalds customers got skimmed[/url]. More recently there have been things like [url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/global-card-skimming-syndicate-smashed/story-e6freuy9-1226115002083]this[/url].Sounds like credit is a good option for you. In my evaluation, it's not generally the best option for me, though I use it when necessary.
