Prepaid Debit Card Reviews, Complaints, Etc

Tag: EMV

  • Credit Card Breach Doesn’t Compel Action

    Credit Card Breach Doesn’t Compel Action

    The past year has seen an unprecedented level of attention devoted to the many problems that result from data theft. Countless news articles and opinion pieces have followed in the wake of the high profile theft of customer information at big name retailers such as Target, Neiman Marcus and, more recently, Home Depot. So what is the response to a credit card breach on the individual level? Much of the time it is simply this: just hope for the best.

    That’s one of the main findings from a recent CardRatings.com survey of 2,000 Americans aged 25 and older. Among the Americans who were surveyed, only 25 percent believed they had fallen prey to a data breach. Of those who reported being a victim of data theft, the response was hardly uniform and often not the proper steps to take in order to protect their credit and finances. Here are the actions people took:

    • 51 percent checked their credit card statement
    • 45 percent checked their credit report
    • 54 percent checked their bank account
    • 38 percent stopped using their credit card
    • 33 percent stopped using their debit card
    • 24 percent signed up for credit monitoring
    • 24 percent put a credit freeze in place

    Actually reviewing one’s credit report – an essential step after a data breach – not only occurred less than half the time among survey respondents, younger and older people were least likely to do it. Only one-third of those between the ages of 25 and 34 and just 40 percent of those 65 and older checked their credit report.

    The survey also revealed widespread ignorance of card security basics. Just over half of respondents could correctly identify that a credit card is safer to use than a debit card. Furthermore, only 20 percent of those asked could say with certainty whether or not an EMV chip, a technology that boosts card protection significantly, currently protected their payment card. Although not asked in the survey, it’s unlikely many respondents would have been able to note that prepaid debit cards offer more protection than credit or debit cards in the event of a data breach – identity thieves can only steal the amount of money that has been loaded onto the card.

    “Given how widespread data breaches have become, every consumer in America is likely to be affected at some point. We simply can’t afford to stick our necks in the sand and hope the problem will go away,” says Curtis Arnold, editor-in-chief of CardRatings.com and founder of this site. “The bottom line is that we all need to get more involved and educated.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • How To Keep Holiday Spending Joyful

    How To Keep Holiday Spending Joyful

    Prepaid debit cards can help you stick to your budget.

    by Shane Tripcony

    It seems to happen earlier and earlier each year. Even before the little ones don their witch and ghost outfits to go out trolling for candy on Halloween night – let alone before anyone has planned out their Thanksgiving Day feast – many stores around the country already are decorated with evergreen wreathes and plastic Santas.

    To be sure, this makes absolute sense for retailers, many of whom rely on the holiday shopping season to account for as much as 50 percent of their annual revenue. In other words, it’s just good business to try and stretch the duration of the holiday shopping season as long as possible, even if it does occasionally also stretch credulity.

    But what might be good for storeowners is not necessarily in the best interest of all of us shoppers. Which is why so many personal finance pros urge us to make a detailed holiday shopping budget and stick to it. The first part is easy. Indeed, according to a recent survey by Capital One Bank, fully three-quarters of all Americans say they are likely to come up with some sort of holiday spending budget this year. But the same study also hints at the reality of what usually happens: Almost half of those who say they’ll budget for the new sweaters and Xbox games they plan to buy aren’t confident that they’ll actually stick to their best-laid plans.

    But it is possible to be both generous for the holidays while simultaneously ensuring that you don’t wake up with a financial hangover in the New Year. Step one is to do exactly what personal finance experts have been urging holiday season after holiday season and actually make a budget. Only you can determine what makes sense given your current financial situation and expenses. The consulting firm Accenture pegs the amount U.S. consumers are likely to spend this year on gifts at $646, an increase from $582 last year.

    Whatever you decide that number should be, step two is to take that amount and load it onto a low-fee prepaid debit card. Doing so – and being disciplined about using only that one card for your shopping and not adding more money to it once it is depleted – will ensure that you stick to your budget, even when your holiday spirit is threatening to overwhelm your best financial interests. Why not just use a gift card? That could make sense if you decide that you want to do all of your shopping at just one store. The beauty of dedicating a prepaid debit card to all of your holiday shopping is that it gives you the flexibility to make purchases wherever Visa and MasterCard are accepted, which is basically everywhere.

    Just as we here at BestPrepaidDebitCards.com urge you to select cards with low fees for day-to-day use, the same imperative applies for holiday cards. You still want to select a card – like Serve from American Express or Chase Liquid – that doesn’t hit you with many fees. There’s no need to be a Scrooge this holiday season. Just get a little budgeting help with a prepaid debit card to ensure the good cheer lasts into 2014.

Prepaid Debit Card Reviews, Complaints, Etc