Credit Card Use Is Imprisoning Fewer Americans

Main St. ^ | May 1, 2014 | Ellen Chang

[Enterprise]

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — Americans are relying less on their credit cards now, and more consumers are able to pay their balance in full each month, according to a recent Gallup poll.

The poll found that in 2014 48% of Americans always pay the balance of their credit card each month compared to 42% who paid them in full in 2006 and only 43% in 2008 during the Great Recession.

Now only 33% of credit card owners say they leave a balance each month, which is a record low since Gallup began measuring these habits in 2001.

[from occupied ga]

One of the motivators in my using credit cards was lotto tickets. I used to use cash to buy stuff, but when gas stations started selling lotto tickets, I’d go in to give a depost for the fill up - wait five minutes while some retard tried to figure out the numbers for his ten lotto tickets, put in my deposit, go fill my car, and then go back in to get my change onto find another moron buying his dozen or so lotto tickts and another 5 - 10 minute wait.

[9YearLurker]

Credit unions in general have pretty good service, I think.

I wouldn’t want to use a debit card online.

[rarestia]

Never had a problem. I work in IT with a focus on a security, and I’ve been able to put a lot of protections in place to ensure my data is secure. *knock wood*

[9YearLurker]

Then I’m especially surprised you’d take that risk. You are both at risk of having your actual funds wiped out and having to fight to get them back AND at the mercy of your bank.

BTW, how do you build your credit score without using credit cards?

[rarestia]

I’ve had my card number stolen in the past. All $800 was refunded to me the next day without so much as the stroke of a pen on some affidavits. My bank was very helpful and made the transaction painless.

Just for your reference, a MAJORITY of credit card fraud occurs at points of sale, not online. Thanks to SSL, you can shop online with a feeling of security provided the vendor is legit and keeps their security in check. Most card numbers are swiped at gas stations, unbranded ATMs, restaurants, and retail establishments (e.g. Target). My wife and I only buy what we can afford in cash. We never swipe our cards in restaurants or at retail stores. Most of our major shopping purchases are done online with Amazon.

As far as credit score, it’s a garbage measure. My credit score is well over 800, as I have a mortgage on which I stay current, and I assumed my wife’s old debts which we’ve paid down. Over time, however, I realize it will go down, and that’s okay. Banks still offer manual underwriting for customers if requested.

As Dave says, “There’s no need to bow to the FICO God.” It’s a meaningless number.

[9YearLurker]

RE: credit card theft—I’m in IT, I know.

And to each his own. Sounds like you’ve already got a mortgage, don’t want cc credit, and have a job. So FICO isn’t very relevant to you. And you don’t mind having money stolen out of your account directly, because you think you’ll get it back quickly enough.

[rarestia]

??

I can feel the smug all the way over here, Lurker. It’s quite bright. Could you turn down the smugness a little bit? You’re hurting my eyes.

You can’t steal money from an account with a minimal footprint. There are a TON of things you can do to protect your information from criminals. Do the research instead of deriding me for my position.

[9YearLurker]

You are the one who said you’d had $800 taken from your account—not I.

I said to each his own.

And yes, I think it is borderline irresponsible of you to be advocating that people here use their debit cards online.

[rarestia]

Irresponsible how?! My card number was stolen by a teenager (the actual SERVER) using a skimmer AT A RESTAURANT! I’ve NEVER had my information stolen from an online transaction.

If you don’t understand how the technology works, then don’t pretend to understand how your personal information is secured. Online transactions are 100% safe. The caveat here is that the TRANSACTION is safe, meaning the back-and-forth of the data is secure. If you do business with a shady merchant or someone running a server in their basement, that’s on you.

I have 10 years in IT security, and I can tell you that a majority of the fraudulent card purchases that pass through our CUSO are due to physical access to the card in question. Data analytics prove that less than 10% of fraudulent activity on a card is due to online transactions with secure merchants (i.e. Amazon).