A suggestion, everybody.
Go to your bank and open another "chequing", er, "checking" account.
Tell the bank that that is to be a /debit card account/ and that it
is/not to be linked to your other accounts/. That is quite easily done.
Then transfer, say, $500 into that debit card account from one of
your "real" accounts. Thereafter use that account's card for all your
larger everyday transactions. That is to say paying for the lunch with
the boys when it's your turn, buying a pair of better quality shoes
and...purchasing on line. Register that card as your card on PayPal,
Amazon and Aliexpress.
Since there is never any more than $500 in the account and since it
is completely separate from your other accounts (different card number,
different password and different p.i.n. and no link to other accounts),
if somebody gets into that account, your maximum exposure is very small
even if you lose the argument over security with the bank. It is
important to get through the mind of the bank employee setting up the
account that your other accounts cannot be accessed or even seen from
that account. Check that by going to the bank's automated teller right
away and using your new debit card. You must not be able to get at or
even see your other accounts.
Somebody putting an exact clone of that card into a cash machine and
using your p.i.n. will see the $500 balance or whatever the existing
balance is and nothing more. He has no knowledge of the other, the
"real", accounts. He can't get at you. A dishonest retailer on line or
his employee or a confederate to whom he has sold your data cannot bill
you for thousands of dollars.
That has been done here. The account has been in use for a couple of
years now. The card is registered on Amazon, PayPal and Aliexpress and
works with no issues. The idea has worked perfectly. Larger grocery
bills, restaurants (a prime location for "card scanning") and all on
line purchases go through that account. The card saves depleting out of
pocket cash, too, so you don't have to go around town with any more than
a few dollars on you. Now and then, as required, the bank branch is
dropped into and, say, two hundred dollars is transferred into that
every day "working" debit card account to top it up. The only way money
can be moved into that account is by a teller in a branch of your bank.
She is also the only one who can see all your accounts. When you move
money into the account she can also see your face and see your signature
on her monitor for comparison.
+++++
On 2019-12-27 6:29 p.m., BruceN wrote:
On Fri, Dec 27, 2019 at 05:40 PM, hwalker wrote:
I haven't ordered from Alibaba because, like you, I would rather use PayPal
than give out my credit card. I also don't like the added postal charges for
expedient delivery.
I didn't mind using the credit card. It's pretty protected. And I've seen unbranded clones going for $60 on Ebay. You can get it from Hugen for $50 via slow boat from China. Still need to use a credit card though.
BruceN
--
May everybody have a happy and prosperous new year!
John
at radio station VE7AOV
