Waldameer Comet new brakes

I still have credit on a Wally Card I loaded up last year. I just hope I have it when I decide to swing by during a family visit to Erie.

You don't need credit to hold a debit card, at least I wouldn't imagine, since it's basically an ATM card with a visa/MasterCard logo.

RideMan said:
That requires *having* a credit or debit card. Some people don't, believe it or not.

I honestly did not know it was possible to have a bank account and not have a debit card.

And as a follow-up:

Raven-Phile said:
You don't need credit to hold a debit card, at least I wouldn't imagine, since it's basically an ATM card with a visa/MasterCard logo.

I honestly did not know banks still did ATM cards.

...

I just thought ATM cards were now debit cards. Seems awfully redundant. (although I'm sure someone will give me issues about privacy or safety or something)

I'm not aware of credit having anything to do with a debit card. It's pretty simple... if you don't have money in your account, you can't use the debit card.

You'd think so but that's not actually true.

When I moved out of my parents house and moved away, leaving the bank I grew up with that did not (in 2001) offer debit cards or have any ATMs, I went to the first bank in my new area that offered Debit Cards. My credit wasn't good enough to get a debit card, so they gave me an ATM card.

Since I didn't know any better, I thought this was normal. When I eventually changed banks because that one sucked, I found out that most normal banks do indeed not care if you have good or bad credit in order to give you a (Visa/Mastercard endorsed) Debit card.

When I moved back home in 2004 I found out that the bank I grew up with finally moved into the 21st century. But their policy was that new accounts (Even though I'd previously held one for, oh, around 15 years prior) couldn't get a debit card until the account was open at least 6 months.

Promptly 6 months later I went back and they informed me that since I didn't keep an average of $500 a month in my account (I was 23, working a just above minimum wage job, and barely got paid $500 each pay day), I couldn't get a debit card, only an ATM card. Even with direct deposit.

They eventually did away with that stupid rule.

One good thing about living in a more metropolitan area is that when I lost my debit card with Wells Fargo (I hate them, but this was an instance I did think they did a good job), they gave me a temp. card till my new one came in.

So while I can't understand myself why anyone wouldn't have a Debit card, ATM cards are still issued, and some banks definitely check your credit and won't issue a card.

Thankfully I realized that loyalty to a bank should only extend as far as they're willing to give me what I want.

Oh, I use Debit all the time. Cash if fun sometimes too.

I seem to remember when I was younger that when money was not in my account, the bank would allow me to buy things with my Debit card anyways. They would add an amazing $35 fee for every time I used the "overdraft protection" service. I quit that habit real quick.

I recall a stand-up routine. The comedian complained that the bank gave wealthy people money for keeping their money in the bank, and charged poor people extra for being poor. Not only did he have no money in the bank, but he was in the negative. Made me laugh, because I used to have that problem.

My card says "debit," but when asked I say, "credit." I'm a wierdo.

There was a time when some places, using it as "debit," incurred the not-my-ATM fee, so by habit I still do it. Unless it's Costco, which doesn't take credit cards.

I recently switched back to using my debit card as credit instead of debit after reading about how god-awful the security is at many places. You would think the security issues mostly exist with small, local places and independent franchises, but even the big corporate chains are skimping on security in the name of cost savings. Simply put, choosing the credit option offers you a lot more protection if your card gets breached.

Tekwardo said:

Thankfully I realized that loyalty to a bank should only extend as far as they're willing to give me what I want.

So true. It's surprisingly easy to switch too, I don't understand why anybody puts up with the abusive stuff the banks pull. Or why people deal with banks at all when credit unions are far superior. After dealing with insane amounts of BS through both Bank of America and Huntington a few years ago, I'll never put my money in a "bank" again. I now have my checking, savings, debit card, credit card, and car loan all though my CU, and it couldn't be better.

I can't remember the last time I used my bank card as a debit. Even then, it was only because I was forced to because the place didn't take credit.

Jeff said:
There was a time when some places, using it as "debit," incurred the not-my-ATM fee, so by habit I still do it.

I still do this as well. Got into the habit of using my debit card as credit a long time ago, and it stuck.

I sort of do the opposite - I use my (one) credit card as a credit card, but I treat it like a debit card. I pay it off every week or so, so for billing purposes there's never a balance and I never get hit with interest payments. Plus, rewards.

It's basically just a way to make everything I buy cheaper by 1.75%.

BBSpeed26 said:
I sort of do the opposite - I use my (one) credit card as a credit card, but I treat it like a debit card. I pay it off every week or so, so for billing purposes there's never a balance and I never get hit with interest payments. Plus, rewards.

This.

Why pay every week when you can pay the balance off once a month and still not have to pay interest?

Because there's no penalty/cost associated with paying it off early & often, and paying it off adds about 5 mouse clicks and maybe 30 total seconds to my weekly(ish) activity of checking-my-bank-accounts-online?

Alternately, mild OCD when dealing with anything related to banks.

New Comet brakes installed:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/423485_3280713...6808_n.jpg

BBSpeed26 said:
I sort of do the opposite - I use my (one) credit card as a credit card, but I treat it like a debit card. I pay it off every week or so, so for billing purposes there's never a balance and I never get hit with interest payments. Plus, rewards.

It's the last short but powerful sentence in the above post that really makes a world of difference. I used a combination of three different cards last year and racked up a tad more than $1,000 last year in rewards. If the credit card companies will pay you to use their cards (and you manage to avoid paying them back in the form of late fees, running a balance with a high interest card, etc.) I don't see any real downside. In addition, the number of credit cards offering good signup bonuses (>$250) is impressive. If you have excellent credit the picture only gets better.

Aren't a lot of companies dumping customers who do that though? I read something around a year ago about how lots of people who paid their balance every month were being dropped because the banks were losing (or at least not making) money on them.

I've not heard of that. I'm sure they like the people they have gotten stuck on never-ending payment and interest cycles, but I would think tossing your smart customers (that don't carry interest-bearing balances) would be a pretty idiotic move. Plus, those customers might be more likely to use one of their "premium" cards with an annual fee, which is free money for them, usually.

I read back during the depths of the financial crisis that the bank's own changes would cause customers to get dropped. Let's say a person had a credit limit of $10K and a balance of 4K. The debt in proportion to available credit was reasonable. Everyone was happy. Then, due to the crisis, the bank lowered the credit limit to 5K and the customer suddenly looked like a risk and the bank dropped them.