
Stop Paying for Gas with Your Debit Card - todsac
https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2019/08/22/why-you-should-stop-paying-for-gas-with-your-debit-card/
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marpstar
Hy-Vee breach announced this week. I shop Hy-Vee several times a week and saw
a $250 charge on my card on 8/20\. Hard to believe it isn't from this breach.

Someone signed up for a Zelle account with my card. Managed to initiate a
transfer. I had never heard of Zelle, but there's a 0% chance I'll ever use
them now. Luckily my bank does not use them...

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whalesalad
Stop using your debit card period. Use a credit card and pay it off monthly.
Problem solved.

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toastal
Don't support the credit card oligarchy. Only shop at places that are cash
only or put the credit expense fee on the users, not the people paying cash.

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mojomark
> Don't support the credit card oligarchy.

I 100% agree. The problem is that the credit industry exists (obviously) to
make money for creditors. Their profit comes from a.) vender fees (that often
just result in higher product costs), b.) fees to people who aren't stable
enough to pay their balances before fees kick in.

Either way, the credit industry introduces a middle man that a.) artificially
inflates costs to goods and survices and b.) financially burdens those who can
least afford it.

Sure, credit serves a purpose to bridge a financial gap, like say buying a
house, but I go in to that loan agreement knowing how much I'm going to pay
for that service. Credit cards, on the other hand are just shady societal life
siphons.

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pdemporg
I may have missed something, but why specifically when paying for petrol?
Surely the advice here should be to stop using debit entirely?

(Alternatively, choose to use cash now - or you won't have the choice in the
future.)

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windexh8er
Because American gas pumps still primarily use magstripe readers and thus
skimmers are still a problem. Many new pumps are starting to get Apple/Android
contactless payment, but I've found that most of the pumps that have the
hardware don't actually have it enabled for whatever reason.

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mikestew
An AM/PM gas station in Bellevue, WA recently spent months tearing out tanks
and putting new pumps in. “Sweet, I go by there every day, maybe the pumps
will have NFC/Apple Pay.” NFC? The new pumps don’t even have chip readers. It
is still mag stripe only. Words are inadequate.

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toomuchtodo
Conversely, some Wawa convenience stores are only getting Tesla superchargers,
no gas pumps (and Tesla automatically dings your CC on file for
Supercharging). Interesting to see the dichotomy.

The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed. Apologies to
Gibson.

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jboles
Another reason: pre-auth will deduct up to $125 from your available balance,
no matter how small the actual purchase is, which you won’t get back for a
couple of days.

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nycdotnet
or just run your debit card as credit and don’t play with snakes?

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toomuchtodo
It’s a lot harder to deal with fraud with a debit card vs a credit card.
Better to never use the debit card, use a credit card for everything, and then
pay off the credit card on time each month via ACH/bank transfer.

If you can, get only an ATM card for your checking account.

A lot of pumps support NFC/Apple Pay at the pump now. Also a great option
instead of pulling a card out.

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leesalminen
I’d always been taught that if I run a debit as credit, and the transaction
occurs over the Visa/MC network, then it has all the same protections as a
credit card when it comes to fraud/chargebacks.

Are you saying that is incorrect? That would be pretty concerning.

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brewdad
When the number on the card itself is compromised, regardless of whether your
transaction was credit or debit, future transactions by the thief will put
your money at risk (possibly for months) rather than the bank's money.

Debit cards should be reserved for ATM use only. Not a perfect solution but
unless you are going to swear off of ATMs as well, the best one can do in the
US.

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selimthegrim
Or if you’re at ARCO in Oregon, you can avoid 35 cent undisclosed debit fees.

