POS devices at Kmart....Is it safe to use card?

[SHOZ]

Originally Posted By: Leo99
In today's modern age, it's not a question of if, but of when, your credit card number will get stolen. Mine gets stolen about once every 2 years. I never use my debit card; only credit cards. It get stolen, the bank sends me a new one. The first couple times it's unsettling. Now, it's a routine thing.

Just for clarity, my physical card is never stolen. Just some thieves find out my number and buy a bunch of stuff. Ipads, airline tickets, take-out food in Finland...


I too get a card hacked at least every 2 years. I January I used a new card for the first time with an over the phone transaction. Within two weeks there were two Western Union money transfers on the card. Called the bank. They voided the card. Then sent me a fraud report. The card was debited the fraud amounts and I get a new card.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
POS devices at Kmart....Is it safe to use.


Thanks i had a good laugh while it lasted. At first i thought you were talking about POS Purolator oil filters on sale at Kmart.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
If your debit card is a Visa or Master Card they have the same protection as a credit card.


They do, but there's the added risk/hardship of your money really and truly being gone out of your actual bank account. If you don't notice it for a day or two, you could very easily incur minimum/negative balance fees, etc.

Sure...with the protection you should have, this kind of thing should be restored in relatively short order. But it's still an extra step, and a hardship that you don't have with a credit card.

The rewards associated with most credit cards make them more appealing than debit cards for us, too. There's only one thing we use our USAA Mastercard Debit/ATM card for: the rare trip to an ATM.

 

[SHOZ]

I've had a debit card hacked. All fees are refunded.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
If your debit card is a Visa or Master Card they have the same protection as a credit card.


They do, but there's the added risk/hardship of your money really and truly being gone out of your actual bank account. If you don't notice it for a day or two, you could very easily incur minimum/negative balance fees, etc.


Yeah, this.

My wife has a US Cellular prepaid cell phone with autopay. Their computers screwed up and charged her credit card $71 a DAY for more than a week before I caught it with a random check of my online banking. If I waited for paper statements I could have been many thousands of dollars in the hole.

Their nonpology was pretty epic, too.

Am glad it's a seperate account from the one I use to pay the mortgage, etc.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Originally Posted By: Leo99
In today's modern age, it's not a question of if, but of when, your credit card number will get stolen. Mine gets stolen about once every 2 years. I never use my debit card; only credit cards. It get stolen, the bank sends me a new one. The first couple times it's unsettling. Now, it's a routine thing.

Just for clarity, my physical card is never stolen. Just some thieves find out my number and buy a bunch of stuff. Ipads, airline tickets, take-out food in Finland...



I too get a card hacked at least every 2 years. I January I used a new card for the first time with an over the phone transaction. Within two weeks there were two Western Union money transfers on the card. Called the bank. They voided the card. Then sent me a fraud report. The card was debited the fraud amounts and I get a new card.



I buy a lot of stuff online. Without fail, EVERY TIME, I go to Target, Home Depot, Kmart, Sears ... it gets compromised. I have started paying cash for most store transactions.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Any Kmart I've been to has an old-school IBM register with a modern card swiper. The same card swipe as is used most anywhere else I've been.

I've never had any issues.

Now what is stupid to me is exposing a debit card for any purchases anywhere. Credit card rewards don't make you rich, but the cc shields some risk, and the rewards can add up, if you're responsible with how you use it.

No way I'd make purchases with a debit card, no matter how 'modern' the terminal looked.


If your debit card is a Visa or Master Card they have the same protection as a credit card.


Except that when you have $abcd in your bank account for bills and that gets wiped out, it can take a while to receive the funds back.

Credit cards are another step isolated from the issue.

 

[Mr Nice]

I use my ATM card inside the grocery store.

Not outside at an ATM machine.

 

[JHZR2]

I would generally do the exact opposite as long as it was my bank's ATM with no fees and no evidence of tampering.

As soon as the store has your ATM card #, a hack means draining that account of YOUR cash, which even if returned with zero liability, means time without YOUR cash. If its a CC, I have zero liability and it's the bank's money.

With the ATM Im dealing directly with my bank, who already has all my info, so the only real risk is tampering. Ive not yet had an issue.