Showing posts with label reduction of credit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reduction of credit. Show all posts
2/15/2009
9/26/2008
Do you have a Debit Card for your checking account with a Visa/MC logo? A Warning to Heed!
Late yesterday afternoon I called my bank to alert them that I would be traveling soon to Europe (always do this with cards you're taking on a vacation, BTW) so I wouldn't run into any issues.
But this time with all of the reductions of credit going on I decided I couldn't risk finding out that a credit card I took with me reduced my credit line and left me hanging. So I also told them I'd be taking my debit card.
This is where the "ah ha" came in. The rep asked if I had a secondary checking account that I wanted to make the primary account for my debit card while I was traveling. Huh? Then he explained that if I lost the card it couldn't be used as a debit card without the PIN # but it could be used as a charge card and potentially wipe out my checking account. My bank set me up with another checking account on the phone and made the existing card link to that account as the primary account. I'll get another debit card for it in the mail, and I can always change the primary account back to my regular checking account. But why would I?
Now I don't know about you, but I'd never thought about that and no one at the bank ever brought it up, they just sent me a new debit card a long time ago that now also had the Visa emblem on it.
So a word to the wise - check your debit card and if it has a MC/Visa emblem talk to your bank about it. As far as I'm concerned it isn't just an issue for traveling overseas it's a serious issue, period. You can lose your debit card just as easily as a credit card. And think about this in closing...it's YOUR money that would disappear, not the bank's. Would there be any recourse or protection as with a credit card? My guess is a resounding NO.
But this time with all of the reductions of credit going on I decided I couldn't risk finding out that a credit card I took with me reduced my credit line and left me hanging. So I also told them I'd be taking my debit card.
This is where the "ah ha" came in. The rep asked if I had a secondary checking account that I wanted to make the primary account for my debit card while I was traveling. Huh? Then he explained that if I lost the card it couldn't be used as a debit card without the PIN # but it could be used as a charge card and potentially wipe out my checking account. My bank set me up with another checking account on the phone and made the existing card link to that account as the primary account. I'll get another debit card for it in the mail, and I can always change the primary account back to my regular checking account. But why would I?
Now I don't know about you, but I'd never thought about that and no one at the bank ever brought it up, they just sent me a new debit card a long time ago that now also had the Visa emblem on it.
So a word to the wise - check your debit card and if it has a MC/Visa emblem talk to your bank about it. As far as I'm concerned it isn't just an issue for traveling overseas it's a serious issue, period. You can lose your debit card just as easily as a credit card. And think about this in closing...it's YOUR money that would disappear, not the bank's. Would there be any recourse or protection as with a credit card? My guess is a resounding NO.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
Posted on: Sun, 06/29/2008 - 11:00 Mary said:
I don’t have a prediction but take what has already been noted, add in the reducing or totally cancelling of HELOC’s, the reduction in credit card limits ... and the resulting financial disasters for many, many more people and the resulting drop in FICO scores and, wait, I DO have a prediction - total economic disaster!
Please, someone tell me we aren’t in as bad a situation as it appears to me…
Posted on: Sun, 06/29/2008 - 18:50 Mary said:
I think what worries me most is the ripple effect...one bank, company, etc. starts calling in HELOC's and then the credit card companies start reducing credit lines. These are things that affect people who have been paying all of their bills on-time, managing their debt, etc. These aren't necessarily the people who didn't know their adjustable mortgage actually would go up.
And that's what is so troubling...I'm old enough to remember waiting in gas lines during the embargo, the freeze on wages, etc. And yet this seems more ominous.