Some years ago I did my best to avoid using credit cards. For many years, I carried only one and did my best to use it for things I had no choice but to buy and didn’t have enough money in my bank account to cover the cost.
I never wanted to carry a balance, but there were times I couldn’t avoid it. As my finances improved, I started finding it easier to use credit cards instead of writing checks for everything – at the end of the month, I committed myself to paying the balance each month.
Eventually, credit card companies kept sending more and more offers for lower interest rates and “cash” back benefits. Before I knew it, I was carrying three, then four credit cards. As I grew older, I figured out it was easier to pay my bills automatically by having the companies debit my credit card when the bills came due. The gas, electric, and car payment bills were placed on automatic payment status. Then I added more. Before I knew it, I was down to writing one check each month to pay our lawn service company for mowing our lawn.
It’s very convenient until someone steals my credit card information and tries to use it to buy things – like two tickets to SeaWorld in Orlando. When that happens, the credit card company is very good about deleting the purchase from my account, and then they send a new card. This is when having all those companies on automatic payment status gets to be a hassle because they have to be notified that the old card isn’t going to work, and I have to give them the new card numbers.
Even though contacting the companies I want to use my credit card to pay their bill each month is a hassle, it still beats having to remember to write out and mail checks each month.
I figured out a way to help prevent the theft of my credit card numbers – I put my credit card in the “wallet” in my phone and use my phone to pay for a lot of purchases by tapping the merchant’s credit card reader with my phone. The card is no longer inserted into any readers, and nobody gets the opportunity to handle my credit card.
According to a news report just the other day, credit card scammers put readers on more and more credit card machines and bilk honest people of billions of dollars every year. What makes things worse is that the readers are very, very difficult to spot, and the thief only needs a few seconds to put it on a credit card machine and start stealing credit card numbers.
I think the companies that make and sell those deceitful credit card readers ought to be held accountable – it begs the question: how can any company legally sell equipment that can aid someone in the theft of other people’s personal information?
Have A Good Week!
