I use cash as much as possible. I avoid using debit accounts or credit cards but use the latter for large purchases. I have more distrust of anything to do with computers
so typically I carry max $400. Once that is gone I go back to the cash machine.

I pay $11 a month for banking fees which is not too bad.

Guy.:)

I have two different checking accounts, both are free monthly with a very small minimum balance and free Visa debit card. One is our primary checking, the other is what I use for my car fund and play money. I think you need to shop different banks.

I just put everything on the CC and pay it off each month. Never buy anything that puts me in a position where I can't do that, tend to save my dough for big purchases. My business checking gets hit with a fair number of fees, I stick with smaller, local banks.


John, you really need to rehabilitate your credit

+1

Get a Visa with chase. I put every dollar I possibly can on my card. It's a short term interest free loan and the protection is great. Have a dispute? Card compromised? Everything is refunded and new cards are overnighted to you.

Credit union.

I have a credit card with USAA that I use for Internet purchases. I always pay it off every month.

I have a debit card with my credit union that is 95% of my day to day purchases. I use cash for only a few things. I pay my regular bills with online bill pay. It works great and is 100% safe.

Credit cards are inherently safer than debit cards. When you receive your credit card statement, you have something like 45 days to dispute a charge that isn't legit. Once you notify your bank or credit union of the problem, while the problem is being researched you don't have to pay the charge and it isn't accruing interest. On the other hand, a fraudulent debit card transaction comes right out of your account. After some period of time after you have reported the bad transaction, the bank or credit union will usually refund your money. But, it isn't instantaneous, and the bigger banks put the burden of proof on the account holder to prove that the transaction wasn't legit. Because of that, I won't use a debit card for an internet transaction with a company that I don't know very well. I also second the earlier comments about credit unions. Usually the fees are substantially lower, and they tend to be more focused on taking care of their members than you will find with the big banks. Credit union depositors are also shareholders, so the interests of the owners and the depositors are the same, and not at odds as with other financial institutions.

+1

One of the girls in our cycling group bought a bicycle, which never arrived. She used PayPal attached to a debit card. She has almost no recourse.

Always use a credit card on the internet. I have a low dollar, bare bones, credit card for internet purchases.

That used to apply to me, and I concur with everything you've said about CUs, but unfortunately, they've morphed into being a LOT like banks over the past decade or so. Got a notice from my CU's Visa "service provider" several years ago that "such" protection would no longer be applicable to Internet purchases and outside of a 150 mile radius of my mailing address. Took me about 2 minutes to pick up the phone and cancel a card I'd had for 13 years....YMMV.

I am far happier with my regional bank than my credit union. Whenever I burn the account down near zero I plan to cancel the CU accounts.

Another example of infiltration into small banks.

Capitalism vs. Oligarchy.

Back to square one.
I purchased a Master Card 'gift card' for online purchases, but the registration requirements turned out to be an obtuse security risk.

Registering a gift card requires giving the internet your mother's maiden name and your SS#/DL#/Passport#.
Are they f'n serious?
Did these people learn nothing from the Target or Heartbleed debacle?

The gift card is basically electronic cash, with zero charge-back protections, and is pre-paid (i.e. owned).
I'm beginning to wonder if these federal banking requirements are more about consumer tracking than consumer protection....


What other non-tracking options are there?
I'd like to purchase my online gay midget porn without getting strange looks from the bank tellers.