Citibank was quick to cancel one of my cards today.

[Burgerwars]

I got eight voice mails from Citi today, along with an email. They said there was suspicious activity. I checked online and there were no pending charges that I didn't recognize.

 

I called them and they already cancelled the card. A new card is being mailed to me today. They weren't clear to me what the problem was, but they had to immediately shut the card down.

 

I'll need to reset some automatic payments, so a bit inconvenient. For someone traveling with this the only credit card on them, it could be very inconvenient. Always carry some other cards, just in case.

Edited June 14, 2018 by Burgerwars

[TheVig]

+1000 Always carry additional cards, from different issuers when traveling.

[Burgerwars]

+1000 Always carry additional cards, from different issuers when traveling.

 

That's why I do. I also keep one card in a different location when I arrive, such as in a hotel safe, so I don't have everything in my wallet if I lose it.

 

I'm thinking there was some sort of hack Citibank was concerned about. They shut the card down like I reported it was stolen.

[TheVig]

My DC got skimmed a couple of years ago. BofA has replaced my CR card three times over the last few years. No issues, it was a preemptive strike on their part because data breaches were reported at places I used the card. Cap1 fraud dept called me a few months ago asking if I was trying to use my card in AZ for 0.31

[MissKitty2U]

This happened to me two months in a row by BofA. I was very upset. They cancelled my old card without notification. I only noticed it was cancelled after I logged into my account and saw a new card sitting there. I called CS and they said, "Oh, we cancelled your card for suspicious activity." They claimed a merchant gave them a list of card numbers that might have been compromised. They had no other details such as the merchant, etc.

 

Okay, fine, send me a new card. Then they cancelled that new card a month later! I felt sorry for the CS lady who took my call that day, but I was upset.

[bradk14]

I keep a Visa and a MC on me and a couple of debit cards. The rest are either SD'd or at least accessible via Apple Pay.

[Konrad2012]

I keep a Visa and a MC on me and a couple of debit cards.

 

Gross

[bradk14]

I guess. I don't use them, but I'd hate to be in a position someday where I have to and I don't have them. one of them is tied to an account that I funnel a small portion of my paycheck to so I'm not supposed to even remember it exists.

[cashnocredit]

I guess. I don't use them, but I'd hate to be in a position someday where I have to and I don't have them. one of them is tied to an account that I funnel a small portion of my paycheck to so I'm not supposed to even remember it exists.

 

They can be handy for getting cash from an ATM on the hopefully rare times you need to do that. However, I recommend converting debit cards to ATM cards. Much harder for people to clone and drain your bank account.

[tiggerlgh]

I can’t blame the banks for doing this. They are the ones who have to eat the losses and are trying to minimize them. Mine usually text if a suspicious charge comes through. But it’s why I always carry extra cards.

[Cactus Flower]

I guess. I don't use them, but I'd hate to be in a position someday where I have to and I don't have them. one of them is tied to an account that I funnel a small portion of my paycheck to so I'm not supposed to even remember it exists.

 

I use my debit card often for small purchases these days... I just hate having to remember to pay the credit card bills every week/month... so unless it's a "category" where I am going to get 4-5% - or a gas pump - I no longer use them when I am buying $10 worth of stuff at Dollar Tree.

I am not giving up that much since my ancillary spending outside of house payment/car is minimal.

 

Some people just don't do "wild" spending or business spending.

[Konrad2012]

 

I guess. I don't use them, but I'd hate to be in a position someday where I have to and I don't have them. one of them is tied to an account that I funnel a small portion of my paycheck to so I'm not supposed to even remember it exists.

 

I use my debit card often for small purchases these days... I just hate having to remember to pay the credit card bills every week/month... so unless it's a "category" where I am going to get 4-5% - or a gas pump - I no longer use them when I am buying $10 worth of stuff at Dollar Tree.

 

I am not giving up that much since my ancillary spending outside of house payment/car is minimal.

 

Some people just don't do "wild" spending or business spending.

All the time you've spent here and haven't realized the protections offered by using your CC in the wild vs your debit card that's linked to your checking account.

[Big Bear]

”General" or "other" is still a category and only requires one more card, and one more payment.

 

Thankfully, my general spend is already through an issuer I'm logging into to schedule a payment anyhow, which makes things easy enough.

 

I'm much more paranoid about the skimming of a debit card than the ease of an additional payment.

[hdporter]

I use my debit card often for small purchases these days... I just hate having to remember to pay the credit card bills every week/month... so unless it's a "category" where I am going to get 4-5% - or a gas pump - I no longer use them when I am buying $10 worth of stuff at Dollar Tree.

 

 

 

Hey CF ... Just an aside prompted by your post:

 

Unless I'm misinterpreting, as many do here, you're minimizing reported balances through card payments in advance of statement issuance (the goal being to reduce any potential score hit from reported balances).

 

In a separate thread you note FICO scores approaching 790-800. I simply recommend that you reward yourself for the great rebuilding job and roll back the precautions re outstanding balances. Provided you have a decent set of revolving CL's, there's a decent chance you could revert to paying your balances after monthly billing and not drop your score by much more then 20 points.

 

Just as a point of reference, my current scores are 830-840. I have something like 18 outstanding revolving balances reported on my credit report. Under fico 8, the presence of multiple revolving balances just doesn't cause much of a hit.

 

But, again, the presumes that you have a sturdy arsenal of limits. I can report $14K+ in revolving balances without topping 2% utilization. So factor this in as is appropriate.

 

Bottom line, I grasp the benefit from being diligent and minimizing reported balances while you're "rebuilding". But once you've reached Shangri La, it's time to relax a little and kick up your feet

 

(And, obviously, if the time comes when you're going to have a big credit decision pending soon -- mortgage, or whatever -- then there's room to revert for a few months and present a "pristine' picture to the lender. Fortunately, mortgage lenders and the like, typically don't sweat past balance activity. 2-3 months of nominal balances more than satisfies them ...and in many cases, all they care is the current picture being evaluated in your credit score.)

 

FWIW

[ronsetoe]

I still can't believe people are using a debit for purchases and even more surprising is that people actually use apple pay! I do see it used once a month or so by some D-bag millennial with a beard in skinny jeans...but he probably has his debit card attached to it. JMHO

[cv91915]

I still can't believe people are using a debit for purchases and even more surprising is that people actually use apple pay! I do see it used once a month or so by some D-bag millennial with a beard in skinny jeans...but he probably has his debit card attached to it. JMHO

Who keeps a beard in his jeans?

[nooneimportant]

 

I still can't believe people are using a debit for purchases and even more surprising is that people actually use apple pay! I do see it used once a month or so by some D-bag millennial with a beard in skinny jeans...but he probably has his debit card attached to it. JMHO

Who keeps a beard in his jeans?

.

 

D-bag millennials. Can't you read?

[scott31337]

I use Apple Pay quite a lot - I only have two cards normally in my wallet - I don't have to carry so many and it's convenient. To each his own.

Edited June 18, 2018 by scott31337

[cv91915]

I use Apple Pay quite a lot - I only have two cards normally in my wallet - I don't have to carry so many and it's convenient. To each his own.

It's hard to beat the excitement of asking someone if they'll accept your method of payment, and then the anticipation of learning the answer, followed by the exhilaration one gets 15% of the time when the answer is YES! ...and then another burst of adrenaline when the payment terminal finally responds to the fifth smack of the phone.