Credit on Sale
by Heather Koerner on 08/27/2008 at 5:05 PM
Let's just start by saying I meant to pay it on time. I really did.
But, I had to return a couple of things -- so I didn't want to pay the full balance and then end up with credit on the account. You see, they'd offered me 30 percent off my purchases just for using their store credit card. So I bought first and asked questioned and tried on later. Then I needed to return something else -- so I delayed paying the bill a little longer.
Then it was the first day of school. And then Ted gave me a deadline (yeah, okay, technically I had had the deadline for two months). And it wasn't in my routine of bill paying, since I don't normally use store credit cards. So, the bill did not get paid.
Then, last night it hit me in all its fierce fury: it was the last day to pay the credit card bill. Frantically, I got on the web site to pay the bill. They wanted my bank account number. Um, no. Not gonna happen. So, I turned off the computer with an increasingly nauseous feeling in my stomach. Yep, I was gonna pay interest. Me, who rails against credit card debt. Me, who writes to encourage good stewardship. I felt like a total sap.
That's why at 8:05 a.m. this morning, if you happened to be sitting in the parking lot of my local department store, you saw a wild-eyed blond screeching into the parking lot, hustling out of her SUV and half carrying/half dragging her poor, dazed, four-year-old straight to the credit counter. There, I paid the bill in full and inquired carefully how much the interest charge was going to be.
"I'm not sure," the very helpful lady told me. "But you will have a $25 late fee automatically."
I'm sure the blood must have quite literally drained from my face because she gave me a concerned look. Yeah, there goes my savings from using the card at all.
"You know," she offered sweetly, "you can call the credit department from that phone over there. They can let you know."
A few short minutes later, I was heaping phone praise on my customer service helper lady for wiping out my $25 and the interest which they had back charged on my entire bill.
Yeesh. Never again, I swore.
It's getting practically epidemic, though. It seems almost every store I go to wants me to sign up for a credit card and promises me savings if I will. And, I have to say, it worked on me this time. It's just plain hard to turn down 30 percent off. All I have to do is sign up for your silly credit card? Okay, fine.
We think we'll pay it on time. Some of us do. But they're counting on the fact that we won't. After all, why would they offer us such an incentive if they didn't plan on making even more money off of us than we are saving off of them? According to an article over at Dave Ramsey's web site, 60 percent of us don't pay off our credit cards each month. Another article I read stated that a major chain store just made more than 15 percent of its annual profit off its credit cards alone.
And here's something else: Even when we pay off our credit cards each month, two separate studies have shown that we actually spend more using credit than cash. One of the studies showed that we spend 12-18 percent more on a purchase with credit than with cash. Another (cited by Randy Alcorn in his book Money, Possessions and Eternity) "calculated that a consumer using a credit card will buy 26 percent more than he would if he were carrying cash, even if he pays it all off without interest charges."
So, I'm saving 30 percent to spend 26 percent more? And then they're counting on the fact that I'll have returns or the first day of school or deadlines or life, and that they'll be getting some interest and late fees too?
Tricky. Suddenly, my "savings" aren't looking so smart.
1. Leah said the following at 6:14 PM on Aug 27:
We don't spend anymore on our credit card than we have in our account to pay with. Can't get into debt that way unless you're plain lazy and simply don't pay it on time.
2. Tom Neven said the following at 6:57 PM on Aug 27:
It's part of the same reasoning that retailers and manufacturers offer rebates that have to mailed in. They count on the fact that most people will never get around to it or won't read the fine print and send in the rebate too late.
3. Rachael said the following at 7:20 PM on Aug 27:
Way to be responsible! And yay for the kind service lady! Yeah, I've heard people spend more using credit than cash. Using a credit and/or debit card is simply easier than dealing with cash.
4. Shannon K said the following at 8:05 PM on Aug 27:
Yeah, I heard Dave Ramsey cite the studies about spending more with a credit card. Though I paid my card off every month, I was always surprised how large the balance was. I decided to try using my debit card for a month (I bank online and monitor my account throughout the week, so it's like using cash). I was amazed by how much less I spent (~15%) and have been using my debit card almost exclusively since then!
Despite all Dave's warnings, though, I don't plan to get rid of my credit card. I'm not sure I want nothing at all on my credit report...
5. anonymous said the following at 8:10 PM on Aug 27:
Apparently you can't get the best credit rating if you pay your bills on time and in full (since the companies can't make much of anything off you). If you really want the best rating for things in the future, you should pay most of your bill but occasionally leave a very small balance that will create a tiny bit of interest.
6. Vanessa said the following at 8:17 PM on Aug 27:
While the credit versus cash argument here is valid for most people, I tend to blow through cash a LOT faster than if I whip out my debit card or a credit card. Of course, for the majority of my working years, there has always been online bill pay, debit cards, and a general aversion to cash.
Also, if my purse is stolen, all my credit cards have theft protection while cash does not.
The only stores I have charge cards for are paid off in full every month without fail and are used only during promotion times and are only stores that I regularly shop. I wear plus sized clothing and there are very few stores that stock stylish, modest clothing that is age appropriate for a 20 something lady. I'll gladly accept monthly coupons for 15-20% off sale/clearance prices for a place I'll shop anyway!
7. BDB said the following at 8:21 PM on Aug 27:
You know what's even worse than forgetting a credit card bill? Forgetting to pay the water bill - especially when it's due every TWO months...when is that due again?
But the worst part of that is discovering the water is shut off in the bathroom...after commuting home from work and running errands...
8. KJ said the following at 8:45 PM on Aug 27:
Maybe I'm some sort of wacky nonconformist, but I find I actually spend MORE if I pay in cash. I don't generally pay in cash for a large purchase like a camera...I prefer not to carry a big wad of bills that I might drop or have stolen, and I want the flexibility of being able to go just a whisker over my initial plan or buy a warranty and not have to say, "Oh, oops, that's the perfect camera, but I'm five bucks short so goodbye" (I do pay the credit card in full every month.) However if I have cash I tend to make stupid purchases like unnecessary fast food or ice cream or some stupid cosmetic thing when I pick up a prescription at the drugstore, whereas if there is no cash in my wallet I wouldn't dream of using my card for something so trivial.
As for the pitch from every cashier, I used to get really annoyed by that until I was in the fitting room at a large retail store years ago and heard one employee grousing to another about the "quota" of credit card signups they were expected to get per shift...they are doing their job, and they're being criticized if people don't sign up. Not that pity for the cashier should cause anyone to sacrifice their credit rating, of course!
9. NeedACatchyName said the following at 9:06 PM on Aug 27:
I still like to keep a credit card around for several reasons. First, it offers more protection in the event of fraud than a debit card does, so I like to use one for online shopping. Also, I prefer to pay for things like rental cars with a credit card to avoid the holds they place on your checking account when paying with a debit card. And credit cards can have some pretty useful perks; going back to the rental car example, most major credit card companies will cover the collision damage waiver for free when renting a car (see here for more details), and if you've rented a car recently, you know that's not cheap.
That having been said, the penalties for missing a payment can be pretty stiff, but I take two precautions to prevent this, which have worked well for me (I've never missed paying the bill in full every month):
1) When balancing your budget, deduct credit card transactions from your checking account as if they were checks. In other words, consider the money "spent" and out of your checking account once you make the charge, even if you don't pay the bill for another month.
2) Use automatic draft bill-pay for your credit card so that you don't miss a payment. You have to budget properly to make sure the bill-pay doesn't overdraft your checking account, but if you follow the previous bit of advice, you'll always have enough money in your account to cover the bill.
10. nikki said the following at 9:45 PM on Aug 27:
Yikes. It could have almost been me writing this post! I've saved some percentages off of store credit card offers, and once through a misunderstanding on my part was assessed a $15 late fee.
Plus, after you have an account, the stores are more likely to bombard you with emails and mail coupons to lure you back in. Often I've gone in because of a sale, when, had I not been notified, I wouldn't have gone at all.
I only use my debit card plus one credit card. The one card I've been glad to have is the Amazon Chase card. I get a $25 cash back for racking up a certain number of points. Since my brother and I both buy our textbooks through Amazon (the university bookstore is the worst state-sponsored scandal exploiting students that I've ever seen) the points rack up quickly. I've gotten used to paying my bill as soon as it becomes available online and so I've never gotten any late fees, or carried a balance. Plus I got $30 for signing up! If you can be responsible about it, some of these can have genuine perks. But it can be really hard to work through all that online payment stuff for the first time.
11. Amelia said the following at 3:26 AM on Aug 28:
So, Heather, you are human! But seriously - credit cards suck. My husband and I just changed banks. We now have a high interest savings account, no fees, and free use of any ATM in Australia. AND... a MasterCard Debit! Yay! No more credit card! I never liked the thing. The only reason we had it was so we could pay for things online, and we had a small limit and never paid any interest, but we did have an overlimit charge once. What a waste of $30!
I think I can agree with those studies - there's a different mindset when buying on credit, rather than with cash. It's easy to say that it's ok, it can be paid off later. Whereas, when paying cash (or with a debit card... it's orange and shiny and fun!), if you don't have enough money, you don't have enough money! It's much more sobering, and a lot more real.
I've been realising lately that my approach to finances is much different to that of my non-Christian peers...
12. obewan said the following at 5:53 AM on Aug 28:
I hate credit cards with late fees. I got a store card once to get 10% off. I mailed the second bill 7 days before it was due (in state mail). It took the long route - and got there a couple hours after it was due. They charged me $35 in late fees on an $18 balance. I shredded the card and refuse to do business with them ever again!
13. nab said the following at 6:58 AM on Aug 28:
You don't HAVE to spend 26% more to save 30%. That's just a statistic. I think there are other factors going into that figure.
I get the thinly-veiled point you're making here, but if this really happened it's not that big a deal in the grand scheme. Take the hit, call it a lesson learned, move on.
14. Dan Gill said the following at 7:10 AM on Aug 28:
Folks, that "26 percent more" is a statistical fiction when it comes to what you, or I, or any one person will spend. I am not ruled by statistics. Neither are you. If you find that you spend more when using credit cards, stop it. If not, and if you pay off the balance each month, don't worry about it. Only you can say what you are spending.
15. Heather Koerner said the following at 8:49 AM on Aug 28:
Leah--Are you saying that I'm plain lazy since I didn't pay on time? :)
16. H said the following at 9:15 AM on Aug 28:
To KJ (#8) I work for a major department store and we are constantly being harrassed about our "quota" most pushy sales people are just trying to do their job and please their managers. It's difficult for me because I know I may very well be signing people up for a lifetime of debt/screwing up their credit reports, etc. We store clerks are just doing our jobs by pushing the credit cards but it's not really fun pushing something that I have a conflict of interest about.
17. Carrie (the original) said the following at 9:38 AM on Aug 28:
I stick to writing checks, which cuts down on my dining out as most places don't accept them. It's a win-win situation. :)
Writing things down always seems like more of a commitment than giving some one a bunch of green things or signing on the dotted line.
18. Carrie (the original) said the following at 9:39 AM on Aug 28:
Also, I have no credit cards. This is something I'm quite proud of as I *know* I'd max them out.
19. Adam said the following at 10:13 AM on Aug 28:
anonymous,
It doesn't have to do with paying interest, but rather showing a level of activity.
http://www.ec-online.net/Library/credit/newadvice.html
While a very small balance when the info gets sent to the credit scoring companies can be a good thing; a balance doesn't have to be all that high to hurt your credit score.
Realistically, if you are paying stuff off every month, you will have a pretty good score. You may be able to squeeze a couple more points by manipulating a balance or two, but rarely will that make a difference when buying a car or a house.
20. Kelly said the following at 10:19 AM on Aug 28:
I agree with anonymous (#5). Last year I applied for a few credit cards (I only needed one!) and got turned down. I couldn't understand it - I'd been using credit cards for 10 years and never had an overdue bill.
But that is EXACTLY why I was turned down - given my history of always paying it off in full, the companies weren't going to make any money from me.
I still dream of the credit card that got away.... (It had no international transaction fees, which is exactly what I need. Currently I'm paying $3-$20 every time I use my card. :( )
21. Ronnica said the following at 10:49 AM on Aug 28:
Great post. I've made wrong decisions with money, but I've never had a store card. Just not a good idea. A lot of our clients (at a credit counseling place) have cards from many different stores...they have high interest and often horrible terms!
22. Mike Theemling said the following at 10:50 AM on Aug 28:
Yikes, I wouldn't see you Heather as the "sign up for a credit card because I get X% off my first total receipt" type of person. But you must've had good reason.
One can look at it in this way I guess. You may save 30% from your one time purchase (and deal with the hassle of having another credit card the rest of your life) or you can save 100% by not making the purchase at all.
I have no store credit cards whatsoever because the way I figure it I can just the X% off when the thing comes on sale, I buy it used, I get it somewhere else, etc. Unless it's a major high value purchase that I was planning on buying anyway I don't see much logic is setting yourself for more possible spending.
Sorry if this sounds like a lecture, but I do believe that most people use credit cards foolishly. They should only be used if A) you intend to pay it all off every month and B) you aren't prone to overspending.
Regarding the credit/cash thing, I agree people are wired differently. For some, if there's cash in the wallet, it will disappear by week's end. For others, they could carry no cash but run up the card like crazy. Basically know thyself and practice what won't cause you to spend friviously. It may be as simple as not going to the store/mall in the first place.
23. Andrew said the following at 10:50 AM on Aug 28:
If you go into a department store and sign up for a credit card with an APR of 17-23% or somewhere around there, you purchase your items with a promise to save a certain percentage most people won't think about the APR cutting into their savings. In my mind it's genius on behalf of the company. It is also risky due to the fact that the transaction is truly considered a
"Credit" transaction vs. if you were to use your Visa/Mastercard etc. in which the business will consider that a cash transaction because the CC issuer will give them cash. Nordstrom on the other hand has to go after you to get that money, if they can't often they will have to use a collections agency, which costs more money, to try and collect from you.
24. BDB said the following at 11:51 AM on Aug 28:
anonymous (#5) wrote:
>>Apparently you can't get the best credit rating if you pay your bills on time and in full<<
Let me address this slightly - it's not that you need to carry a balance. If you have a credit card you never use, after 12 months they stop counting it in your "available credit" total. The biggest component of the credit score is the ratio of credit balance to credit available. The best thing to do to maximize your credit score is use each credit card once or twice a year and pay it off immediately. That way it still gets REPORTED as a balance to the credit bureau because it was on your statement. But you don't actually pay interest.
That said, having more than three credit cards generally hurts your credit score. It's better to have, say, an American Express and a Visa. Use the AMEX for day-to-day purchases, because they force you to pay it off each month. Good discipline. The Visa will typically have a much larger limit than a store credit card, one Visa account can have a credit limit equivalent to 10 store accounts.
Personally, I've heard so many stories of fraud via ATM cards that I never, EVER use it anywhere. Someone can easily get your PIN number electronically when you use it at, say, a gas station, restaurant or store. Then they can make a fake card and steal the money right from your checking account. It's much safer to use a credit card, which has very good anti-fraud protections and you can cancel it and get it replaced quickly.
Debit cards that are pre-loaded and NOT linked to one's checking account ae much safer.
25. BDB said the following at 12:06 PM on Aug 28:
As far as the cash thing...it probably depends on the person. Since I use my AMEX for all day-to-day transactions, at the end of the month I have an itemized list of everything I've done. I also have a budget set for each month for that card.
If I go over my budget it gets my attention. I go back through the bill, line-by-line, and can usually identify the "impulse" purchases that put me over my budget. Sometimes I actually make a separate line in my budget spreadsheet and it's OK. Other times I kick myself.
The shock of seeing how much one spends in a month can be good for discipline, too.
It is much better for one's credit rating to show that you can use credit without abusing it. In a typical month I use less than 3% of my available credit. Anything over 20% or so hurts your score.
There is one big problem with the no-credit-card rule: travel. Business travel might require $1-2,000 in a trip. I'd much rather get the miles and have the company reimburse me. To be a successful manager, you do need to be able to do those kinds of things.
26. Heather Koerner said the following at 1:10 PM on Aug 28:
H (#16): I'd never heard of the "quota" thing. I thought it was just a "would you like fries with that" kind of thing. Yuck!
Mike (#22): My good reason? 30% off four times a year. A little pathetic, yes. But I am willing to suffer public embarassment for the sake of our readers' edification. Of course, now I'm the "cutting up the stupid store credit card" gal.
27. Jo said the following at 1:18 PM on Aug 28:
First time I've ever felt more responsible than a Boundless contributer. :P
Seriously though Heather, kudos for sharing your story - I know that feeling of panic, for me it's the moment I realise I've gone overdrawn. (Which to be fair doesn't happen.) That only results in a few pence of interest though, so I've learned to just get over it now...
28. Leah said the following at 7:57 PM on Aug 28:
Heather- it sounded from your post that this particular month you accidentally spent more than you realised, or rather, didn't have the amount of money in your account that you thought you did and so couldn't pay when you intended to :S I'm sorry, did I misunderstand?
Amelia- which bank have you switched to and what type of account is it?? My husband and I are in the process of changing banks too- we've gone with NAB because if we deposit a certain amount each month (which we are able to do just by having his salary paid into the account), we don't get charged fees. Oh, and a Debit MasterCard too!!
While my husband has a credit card- which I acknowledge can be helpful if you have an account with a withdrawal limit, but you have to go over that withdrawal limit if you have to pay car rego/rent in the one week- they still scare me a bit and we use it as little as possible!
29. Leah said the following at 8:31 PM on Aug 28:
Heather- sorry, re-read the article and realised I misread, so my original comment about thinking you didn't have as much money in your account as you thought was invalid- the actual statement was that you weren't going to give them your account number.
But do let me ask this: who buys clothing before trying it on?? (Unless of course it's for someone else, or the type of thing where you are ALWAYS the same size).
30. Jeremy said the following at 11:18 PM on Aug 28:
"Frantically, I got on the web site to pay the bill. They wanted my bank account number. Um, no. Not gonna happen. So, I turned off the computer with an increasingly nauseous feeling in my stomach."
I am a little confused ... first, how did you expect to pay your credit card online if not through your bank account? And second, what is the problem with that?
31. Tigger said the following at 10:12 AM on Aug 29:
Oh yes, those credit card offers at the register by bored-looking cashiers are mandatory for the most part. Some get incentives if they reach a quota or go beyond it, and some don't - some just get fired or redistributed if they can't.
Same for those people in call centers. After you've griped about your problem and spent far too much money fixing things, they are expected to sell you something else you probably don't need. They know you don't need it, but it's not optional. Trust me. I used to be one of them in a call center...you should hear some of the sales techniques that describe how not very bright consumers can be and how to get people to eat out of your hand. The funny thing is...it works more often than not.
32. KJ said the following at 3:28 PM on Aug 29:
FWIW I also saw a news piece once on a young woman who was "blacklisted" and no longer allowed to return merchandise to stores because she had returned too much stuff...I don't recall how widespread this ban was (whether it was one store chain or many) and they didn't really specify how much she had returned, but it sounded like maybe she was one of those people who would buy something in every single color and then return all but one once she'd decided...either way it's apparently not prudent to be returning too many things to the store either.
33. S said the following at 6:35 AM on Aug 30:
It's called being responsible. Only buy, with cash or credit or debit, what you can afford. It's not rocket science, it's self control.
34. Heather Koerner said the following at 2:49 PM on Aug 31:
Leah (29):
"who buys clothing before trying it on??"
Easy. As per the OP...I do. If your question is "why do I buy clothes without trying them on first," my answer is: Shopping by myself = try on. Shopping with two worn-out kiddos with one day left on the sale and lots of clothing = everybody tries on at home.
Jeremy (30):
Nothing inherently wrong with it. I just have this thing about giving people/companies access to my bank accounts.
35. Leah said the following at 8:42 PM on Sep 1:
Heather said Jeremy (30):
Nothing inherently wrong with it. I just have this thing about giving people/companies access to my bank accounts.
Well, if you're giving it to a well-known store (I don't know any American examples) you should be safe; they should provide you with a receipt, and if you discover they've taken more than necessary, it's easy to complain with the right documentation. Not that a chain would rip you off like that... they have too much at stake.
36. Amelia said the following at 8:52 PM on Sep 1:
Leah - we switched to BankWest. It's called a zero transaction account, or something like that, which really confused me at first because I thought we couldn't make transactions, and then what would be the point? But it actually refers to zero fees. Which is good. You have to make a minimum deposit every month - if you don't deposit the minimum for three months in a row they downgrade the account. But the minimum is about what my husband makes in a fortnight, so we're pretty safe. We're in the process of switching everything over - salary payments, direct debits etc.
I'll admit, I got sentimental changing banks. I've had a CBA account since I was 6! But no more...
37. BDB said the following at 11:05 PM on Sep 1:
Leah (#35) wrote:
>>Not that a chain would rip you off like that... they have too much at stake.<<
It's not the chain that is the biggest risk. It's the entry-level clerk who has a buddy doing small-time credit card fraud, like running a customer's card twice and letting their friend take clothes home. The customer complains that it's a duplicate charge, and the credit-card company reverses it, and a record is created. Those records make it much easier for the chain to identify the dishonest clerk.
With an ATM card, they have the pin, and they can immediately pull $400 or more out of the account at an ATM machine. The store's records won't record the theft. After you identify and report the theft, for the bank to solve the problem, the bank has to close your checking account, freeze it, and you spend hours trying to figure out what happened. Even worse, you can bounce a bunch of checks when you don't know someone has stolen your money.
Some countries have debit cards that work like a gift card - load it with money and it gets deducted from just that card, without touching one's checking account. Those are the safest, and probably help limit spending, just like a gift card does.
38. Tigger said the following at 9:23 AM on Sep 2:
KJ (#32), and anyone who is interested :) -
As for the limit on returns, yes companies have those too. I worked for Wal-mart for a year at the front end, being one of those frantic people in red vests struggling to handle Saturday afternoon chaos.
I've seen people try to return CDs they bought online, as well as CDs and DVDs already opened so the electronic files are copied to duplicate and resell later (that's why the return policy on electronics is same item-only).
I've watched people steal clothing and try to return it, to make a profit because they don't have jobs, and we're not talking teenagers here, but real adults. I've watched customers return used goods because it shrunk in the wash. I've seen clothes brought to the counter with the tags cut out so we can't identify if it came from the store. I've watched customers throw fits and call cashiers words they certainly wouldn't use in front of their mothers to upset them and make them more pliant. It takes a hard heart up there sometimes, and sometimes that's why those people behind the desk are tough with you. They've seen a lot of swindling and creativity. I worked there for 12 months, and I'd bet the entire year's wages I, personally, got done at least once a day, and of course I wasn't the only person it happened to.
Finally, a true story at my store, one I used to scare all my employees (I was a sort of manager) - a person once returned an expensive TV and refunded cash, around $900-1000. Later we discovered inside it was full of rocks. Not a tv in sight.
Wal-mart has a system whereby if you return items with a certain value (like $10 or greater) they want your receipt or driver's license number. The reasoning is that if it's a real problem, you aren't going to be doing this often. You get a limit doing this per year, say three times, and after that, managers are going to become suspicious. If you bring your driver's license and receipt, you are showing you paid for it and you are who you say you are. And if you can't prove you it was bought there, then in essence they have every right to deny you. Allowing it a few times in good faith is pretty generous in my opinion. When I left Wal-mart, about three years ago, my store was contemplating a no-receipt, no-return policy like Target has/had. I was all for it. Much simpler. Still am.
It's always the few who ruin it for the rest of us. Moral of the story? Check stuff out before you leave (under the permission of an employee, of course!), and always save your receipts.
By the way, Wal-mart has a credit card too, but I don't think it offers those 30% off sales with it.
39. credit counseling angie said the following at 8:44 AM on Sep 3:
My simple suggestion is get rid of your credit cards COMPLETELY. Most of my problems were due to my credit cards and my infatuation with using them to buy shoes.
40. Jo said the following at 2:37 PM on Sep 4:
Tigger:
"I've watched customers return used goods because it shrunk in the wash."
I've done that. If I wash it as per the instructions and it shrinks, darn right I'm taking it back!
The rest though, I'm totally with you on. :)
41. BDB said the following at 4:28 PM on Sep 4:
Tigger (#38) reminded me of something...
Part of my concern about using checks or checking account numbers is that I've had business accounts be the victim of fraud. My bank detected it, but I couldn't get law enforcement to act because they were doing it in a different jurisdiction than where my bank or office was.
It was so frustrating. People were using our checking account number to pay their real bills on line - and no one would do anything about it! I had all the documents even proving they had committed fraud.
Finally, someone tried to pass a fake check at Wal-Mart. They took our checking account number and used a computer to create a fake payroll check to pay for stuff they were buying. That way the account, when checked, showed money in it. I got a call from a woman detective askng if my company wanted to prosecute. I said yes (without checking with my superiors...I was kind of ticked). The person plead guilty and all the fraud attempts on our checking accounts stopped.
THAT's why you should use a credit card with fraud protection, not your ATM/PIN or live checks.
You can always ask your bank to lower your credit limit to $1000, which is plenty for a normal person for a month.
42. Leah said the following at 2:00 AM on Sep 5:
TIgger- it is standard policy in a majority of Australian shops to present a receipt if you want a refund.
Some will let you exchange or give you store credit if you don't have a receipt.
BDB- are there seriously people who pay with debit cards and GIVE the cashier their PIN?? Or is that standard in the US? In Australia, paying by debit card is common, but most shops will allow you to swipe your own card, and they NEVER ask for your PIN, you always put that in yourself.
Not to mention, I was talking about buying online with credit cards, not buying in a store where a cashier can swipe your card in his under-the-counter machine.
Amelia- lol, I get sentimental changing banks too. I've been with CBA too, ever since I was born and my great-grandmother opened an account for me! But we've switched to NAB.