What credit cards do you carry on the road?

2oldman wrote:

Effy wrote:
If there is a strip stealing device (you'd be surprised how many there are and where they are) on a machine someone can drain your account in a matter of minutes.

I've heard this before, but how, exactly, can your account be drained in minutes? And the bank will just say 'tough luck'?

The strip can be replicated and new plastic - several if they want, and can cash advance or purchase under the limit until it's gone. That process takes a little longer but a cash transfer to a new account can happen pretty fast. And although there are FEW (fraud early warning) detections on large cash transfers - it's a moot point as the account it's funneled to will be drained as quickly and closed before the trail even gets warm. There is no systemic way to know if a strip stealing device is on a merchant machine. So by the time you realize - looking at a statement for example - the damage is done. Unless you look at your statements hourly.

The bank may/may not reimburse you, it may depend on the bank. But it's not a process that is fast like a credit card and it's not a process you want to go through. Usually it would involve police.


Using an ATM card provides direct access to your cash. Using a credit card provides access to a credit line funded by a bank. Big difference in loss and liability. Not to mention risk and fraud controls. Credit cards have controls to monitor suspected fraudulent transactions, or more to the point, transactions that aren't typical of your spending habits and can put a hold on the account before further damage is done.

Someone replicating your atm card is easier as it's the same as cash - your cash - and thereby much greater risk.

This is exactly why the OCC defines that credit cards are not considered devices for money laundering but checking accounts are. And an ATM is a device used in lieu of cash but it comes from the same account.

Here's a good article

article

What is doesn't say is how much easier credit card transactions are to detect and shut down vs ATM cards and the owner of the risk (you vs the bank)