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Thread: How Many Credit Cards

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    NW Indiana
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    3,078

    How Many Credit Cards

    They got me again....I got a notice from my Visa card that someone tried to use it on the west coast. Now, I have to get a replacement card.

    This will be the third time in less than two years. One was someone in New York trying to buy expensive jewelry, another was the Target fiasco, and then now someone on the west coast. Each time, you have to get a new card and change any online accounts that you use it for.

    This time I got an email from Chase Bank about it and almost ignored it as it really looked alike a phishing email. I did call the number on the back of my card and found out what was going on. I get way to many emails trying to tell me that my card is bad, I owe the toll road, or similar things that look way to close to the real thing.

    I must say that the people at Chase Bank were very professional about the entire thing and getting it straightened out. It was kind of a pain as they asked a lot of questions to make certain that I was who I said I was but that is really a good thing. They also are great at getting new cards to me quickly.

    So......My real question is how many credit cards is reasonable. I have two now which is in case one card is bad because of fraud and then I have a back up. I am considering if it would be reasonable to have one that only attaches to certain online accounts because those are the most vulnerable. I do not see this problem with fraud getting any better and expect that there will continue to be an increase in the fraud levels.

    One last thing that I have found which helps is that if you are taking a vacation somewhere it is a good thing to call the credit card company and tell them where you are going to be so that they do not think it is fraud and cancel the card while you are on vacation. It can really make a difference if you are going to be out of the country.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    N.E, Ohio
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    3,026
    I have three. One is a Home Depot card that is only good at HD I believe. Got it only because opening the account got me 10% off a large appliance purchase a few years ago. I use only two credit cards to keep them both open. One has a feature attached to it that I use to create a one time use account number for on-line purchases. It is only good for one merchant, and you can set an expiration date of as little as two months and you set a credit limit on that account number. Once a merchant charges the account it will bounce if the number is attempted to be used at another merchant.

    As far as travel I used to go to Mexico on business and my card issuer never bounced my charges while in Mexico but I believe ti was because I charged the airline ticket to that card. Today things on travel may be much different. I once used may card in person at a merchant then used it again at another merchant 60 miles away and they called and asked it the charge was ok. I also used that card and a restaurant for a business lunch and someone at the restaurant tried to use it when they were running my card for the meal for some iTunes and the card issuer caught it and bounced the iTunes charge. I love this card issuer.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Mandalay Shores, CA
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    Three here. One is dedicated to work expenses. The other two are personal. There is no balance on any of them. Amex caught a fraud on a card 2 months ago. I had a new card the next day. Amex is very good at protecting you (and themselves). That was the first fraud on any of my cards in 15 years.
    Shawn

    "no trees were harmed in the creation of this message, however some electrons were temporarily inconvenienced."

    "I resent having to use my brain to do your thinking"

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    mid-coast Maine and deep space
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    2,656
    If you have to have CCards (and I do -3) I firmly believe that you are most safe if you DO NOT do any online banking or paying of bills. Sorry, but there is no evidence that this is a secure practice - no matter what we are told. I know we get a lot of pressure from the banks who prefer not to send us any paper but too bad for them. I don't really care about their profits.

    YES - I know there is no way to insure complete secure financial privacy in this world but not keeping credit card accounts on line is one important level of making yourself less available and vulnerable.

    My personal preference is to call in my payment on the day before or on the due date. They already have my bank routing number the 1st time I sent them a check and so this works well for me and it allows me to pay at my leisure without concerns about mail delays.

    Your last point about informing your credit card company about your travel plans is a good one.
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    West Lafayette, IN
    Posts
    6,529
    I have three (one is a target card). One is my main card I use for everything (visa), and the other is a MasterCard I use only if for some reason I can't use the visa.

    I use my main card for online purchases all the time and have paperless statements, and pay it automatically from my bank account. Online banking and paperless statements are the way the world is going (or has gone already for a lot of people). The card has built in fraud protection, so you're not responsible for the fraudulent charges, you just have to deal with the hassle of changing auto payments and such. Ive have had my card number stolen 3 or 4 times so far.

    The main point I'd like to make is that it might be a good idea to have one card that is not shared with your significant other. No, not to make tool purchases without her knowing, but because if she looses her wallet and you have to cancel all the cards, you don't have any cc's to use for 5-10 days. If you each have a card the other does not, you'll have one to use.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    El Dorado Hills, CA
    Posts
    1,311
    I have only 1 primary card, but really need a backup card since my card has been compromised twice in the past 2 years. I only use my card for online purchases and occasional large local purchases.

    I think the biggest risk of having the card stolen are restaurants and small stores with hard copy paper slips to sign. The restaurant server disappears with your card for 5-10 minutes and may have a scanner to copy your card, so I usually pay cash. I try to keep a few 5's and 1's in my wallet so I don't have to wait for change. Small store credit card readers can print paper slips with your name and card number. All they need to do is remember the security code on the back and they have all the info they need to use your card for online purchases.

    It makes me wonder how the credit card companies can stay profitable with all the theft that is going on lately. Both times I was hit had several thousand dollars of online purchases before I received the statement and reported the theft.

    Steve

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Lawton Oklahoma
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    512
    Ok, I will be "that guy". I have zero, nil, nadda, zip credit cards. I have two different debit cards. One is an emergency only account and the other I keep very little money in at any one time (more money is a simple ATM transfer or phone call away). I have also set up fraud alerts with my banks so they know my spending habits and block purchases from out of state unless I call them to let them know when I am traveling.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    5,427
    I have quite a few credit cards because I get bonuses of between $300 and $500 for signing up for them. Most of them are stored safely at home, but I have three main credit cards I rotate between because they have various bonuses for different types of purchases. I know some will say it isn't worth the hassle, but I don't mind getting some extra tax free income for very little work. (The IRS has ruled that bonuses and rewards from credit cards are not taxable.)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Victoria, BC
    Posts
    2,367
    One Visa, carry a small balance on it. We wouldn't have one at all, but we need it to buy clothes online for our daughter (very specific needs for school and sensory issues with cloth) and make reservations if we are travelling. I learned my lesson when my first wife ran up a huge (to me) amount of credit card debt on a bunch of cards before she moved out.
    Paul

  10. #10
    Two - One is AmEx that gets used mainly for the extended warranty, 90 day accidental damage and the annual rebate check. For the places that don't take AmEx, I still have a Visa. I even have most of my utility bills auto payed through AmEx - and if there is ever a problem, I am confident that AmEx will take care of me...

    Note - if you are the victim of credit card fraud, you should be filing a police report and then notifying the credit agencies and asking for an EXTENDED fraud alert. Then get your free copies of your credit report and check them over carefully and monitor them every now and then.

    With an extended alert on your record - if anyone tries to take out credit (even you) they would need to answer a series of questions about your personal history - past addresses where you have lived or worked, etc

    Here is some more info
    http://idtheft.utah.gov/education/ed...alert_001.html

  11. #11
    Like others, I have three. One I use only for online purchases, one for all in person purchases, and one for my woodworking (to make tracking expenses easier).

    I disagree with the poster who was afraid of on-line banking. I've never had a problem with on-line banking and since I don't have my credit card through the bank, they could not compromise my credit card. I spent some time talking with a banker friend about compromises and he commented that the problem they have is that someone will give their bank debit card (and pin) to someone else, allow that person to "steal" some money, then report the card as stolen. However, he said that if the card is used with the proper pin, they generally will not reimburse the account holder. They've seen that scam done way too many times.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Rutherford Co., NC
    Posts
    1,126
    Quote Originally Posted by paul cottingham View Post
    One Visa, carry a small balance on it. We wouldn't have one at all, but we need it to buy clothes online for our daughter (very specific needs for school and sensory issues with cloth) and make reservations if we are travelling.
    You can do those things with a debit card, so if you want to ditch that last credit card you have an out. Also, more and more online retailers are taking PayPal. You can tie your PayPal account directly to a particular bank account without any card.

    We have one credit card left, and the ONLY reason I keep it is because of travel for work, specifically hotel charges, because on so many occasions the hotel charges took FOREVER to actually post and it messed with the running balance on the checking account tied to my debit card. I have actually gotten my reimbursement check from work before the charges showed up on the account. I found it annoying. I always pay it off each month so have not payed any interest in YEARS. If there were ever any down side to that credit card I would ditch it in a minute.

    I pay all of our monthly bills online and frequently buy online and NEVER use a credit card. It's all done with direct draft, the debit card, or PayPal.

    We also have ID theft protection through ID Experts. They are not as big on the prevention side like LifeLock, but if you have a breach they assign a caseworker who spends THEIR time cleaning up the mess for you. If your identity is stolen you aren't liable for the fraudulent charges, but proving that, and restoring your accounts is where they big losses of time and money are for the consumer.

    Cheers,
    Charles
    Last edited by Charles Wiggins; 08-27-2014 at 1:49 PM.
    "Live like no one else, so later, you can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!"
    - Dave Ramsey

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    15,332
    Let's see:

    One AMEX (BTW, shared with my wife but hers has a different number; put everything under the sun on it; yearly rebates hit $600-700)
    One VISA (shared with wife)
    One Discover (shared with wife...rarely use these days)

    One Target (shared with wife)
    Just recently got a Walmart card due to $25 rebate if I spent $75...I spent $77. I don't have a physical card for this but one might arrive...dunno.

    I shop online constantly and I use the AMEX and VISA all the time.

    I had once case of fraud on the AMEX...AMEX took care of it straight away...new card in a day or two. No biggie.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Upland, CA
    Posts
    1,344
    Quote Originally Posted by John Pratt View Post
    Ok, I will be "that guy". I have zero, nil, nadda, zip credit cards. I have two different debit cards. One is an emergency only account and the other I keep very little money in at any one time (more money is a simple ATM transfer or phone call away). I have also set up fraud alerts with my banks so they know my spending habits and block purchases from out of state unless I call them to let them know when I am traveling.
    And I'll be the other guy - with 28.

    If you don't count one for a private fuel station plus two customer cards, used for their purchases, still leaves 25 for 3 businesses and personal.

    They are a great way to track purchases and most of them earn some kind of rewards or come with some benefit.
    Lowes and Home Depot business cards gets you 5% off on each purchase.

    One Amex card could be cancelled but there is no advantage to do so and a 40 year old account helps your AAoA (Average Age of Accounts) on credit scoring systems. I just have to remember to use it a couple times a year so they don't cancel it.

    I try to use Amex Business for online purchases. I get my choice of email or text notification of each online purchase. The one I have setup for texts gives me a text within 15 seconds of buying something online.
    Last edited by Greg R Bradley; 08-27-2014 at 3:28 PM.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Wiggins View Post
    Y

    ...I pay all of our monthly bills online and frequently buy online and NEVER use a credit card. It's all done with direct draft, the debit card, or PayPal...


    Cheers,
    Charles
    Charles - You are really missing out on some of the benefits from using a credit card. I have used the AmEx 90 day accidental damage
    protection a number of times. Just recently we purchased a new EZ-Up for around $200. Set it up and went inside for lunch. Unfortunately, a gust of wind caught it and flipped it over up against a planter wall while we were inside. The top got ripped and the scissor frame had several links bent. AmEx refunded our money in full in just a couple of days. They also extend you warranty on something for another year. I have had a couple of computer monitors stop working in the 4th year of a manufacturer's 3 year warranty, filed the claim with AmEx - and full refund.

    The annual rebate checks are a nice bonus

    Another thing I have done recently - Chase was offering 50,000 reward points for a new account with the Southwest Reward program if you charged $2,000 in 3 months on the card. 50,000 points can be converted to $500 in Amazon gift cards instead of using air miles, and Amazon sells a lot of tools....

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