The Equifax breach: Millions of card numbers exposed. Had an attempt on one of mine at a toll bridge in Mexico. Resulted in a fraud call from my bank and getting a new card. Discussed...

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Millions of card numbers exposed. Had an attempt on one of mine at a toll bridge in Mexico. Resulted in a fraud call from my bank and getting a new card. Discussed it with my banker. I never use the card. It's tied to a line of credit I have for overdrafts. I agree with his opinion that it's likely the result of the Equifax breach. He says banks and Equifax have new systems and algorithms in place to monitor use on all those hacked accounts. He noted that the attempted charge was denied. I felt better after our discussion. Keep your eyes open and monitor your accounts. Protection is just an 800 call away. Personally, I don't think it's necessary to buy extra fraud protection. The hackers did not get your 3 digit security code that's on the back of the card. Skimmers are a big problem and hard to detect. If you're still worried, use cash.

pesfls Loc: Oregon, USA

Yup, its a pain. My debit card got skimmed several months ago. What a pain. Glad you got away unscathed.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

gvarner wrote:

Millions of card numbers exposed. Had an attempt o... (show quote)

Interesting. I recently had a discussion with a rep at Chase Bank about obtaining cash overseas (in my case Europe). He suggest foregoing the use of a debit card. He strongly suggested taking more than one prepaid cash card and using those to obtain cash at ATMs. This will limit the amount of any single loss and will certainly keep crooks out of you checking/savings account accessed by your debit card.

Just an FYI that I learned.

flathead27ford Loc: Colorado, North of Greeley

Good advise from all of you. Cheers.

df61743 Loc: Corpus Christi, TX

BobHartung wrote:

Interesting. I recently had a discussion with a rep at Chase Bank about obtaining cash overseas (in my case Europe). He suggest foregoing the use of a debit card. He strongly suggested taking more than one prepaid cash card and using those to obtain cash at ATMs. This will limit the amount of any single loss and will certainly keep crooks out of you checking/savings account accessed by your debit card.

Just an FYI that I learned.

I've been keeping money in a USAA checking account because I can use their ATM card to withdraw cash anywhere, and they have the lowest fees I can find. Please tell me more about pre-paid cash cards. Particularly Chase.

What are the fees associated with them, and can they be used to withdraw local currency from ATM machines world wide without high fees?

Dick

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

BobHartung wrote:

Interesting. I recently had a discussion with a rep at Chase Bank about obtaining cash overseas (in my case Europe). He suggest foregoing the use of a debit card. He strongly suggested taking more than one prepaid cash card and using those to obtain cash at ATMs. This will limit the amount of any single loss and will certainly keep crooks out of you checking/savings account accessed by your debit card.

Just an FYI that I learned.

I have a Chase Liquid card. It's not linked to your checking or savings accounts. It can't be used on car rentals but is good for everything else, plus I get an email notification on transactions. Don't know if it can be used overseas. Somebody, I think a restaurant employee but can't prove it, used the number to order $191 worth of product from Advocare but I got it credited back no problem. The charge occurred the same day we ate at the restaurant. They don't notify you any details to determine where the charge was made, just that you didn't lose any money.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

df61743 wrote:

I've been keeping money in a USAA checking account because I can use their ATM card to withdraw cash anywhere, and they have the lowest fees I can find. Please tell me more about pre-paid cash cards. Particularly Chase.

What are the fees associated with them, and can they be used to withdraw local currency from ATM machines world wide without high fees?

Dick

So check with USAA. I did not advocate or suggest using Chase for the source of the card. I'm also not going to speak to the specifics of any particular bank's pre-paid card rules/regulations. Again, check with whatever bank you might think of using.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

BobHartung wrote:

Interesting. I recently had a discussion with a rep at Chase Bank about obtaining cash overseas (in my case Europe). He suggest foregoing the use of a debit card. He strongly suggested taking more than one prepaid cash card and using those to obtain cash at ATMs. This will limit the amount of any single loss and will certainly keep crooks out of you checking/savings account accessed by your debit card.

Just an FYI that I learned.

A wonderful way to hide your cash from everyone but the feds. Take 3 or 4 cards with you each having a 200 limit. Keep one with you and hide the others apart from each other. Just do not leave them loose on or in the motel dresser when you leave.

Pytrouble

BobHartung wrote:

Interesting. I recently had a discussion with a rep at Chase Bank about obtaining cash overseas (in my case Europe). He suggest foregoing the use of a debit card. He strongly suggested taking more than one prepaid cash card and using those to obtain cash at ATMs. This will limit the amount of any single loss and will certainly keep crooks out of you checking/savings account accessed by your debit card.

Just an FYI that I learned.

That's good information. We will be walking the Camino de Santiago in the fall which is a cash only economy. I was wondering about the best way to get cash from ATMs without incurring credit card cash advance fees or debt card non-member bank fees. Definitely something to check into. Thank you.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

Pytrouble wrote:

That's good information. We will be walking the Camino de Santiago in the fall which is a cash only economy. I was wondering about the best way to get cash from ATMs without incurring credit card cash advance fees or debt card non-member bank fees. Definitely something to check into. Thank you.

Doubt you will find free non-account ATM's anyplace but home. A cashless society means the banks have all the power and you pay them fees for using your card. Besides if Camino de Santiago is cash only where will you find an ATM when you are there?

Pytrouble

drklrd wrote:

Doubt you will find free non-account ATM's anyplace but home. A cashless society means the banks have all the power and you pay them fees for using your card. Besides if Camino de Santiago is cash only where will you find an ATM when you are there?

All of the cities we will be passing through plus many of the villages have ATMs. The tiny little villages do not so we will have to budget accordingly along our route. I'm not sure how prepaid debit cards work but will research it further.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Pytrouble wrote:

That's good information. We will be walking the Camino de Santiago in the fall which is a cash only economy. I was wondering about the best way to get cash from ATMs without incurring credit card cash advance fees or debt card non-member bank fees. Definitely something to check into. Thank you.

My point was that if I were skimmed at an ATM the only potential loss would be the amount of $ on the card and not the balance of my checking account.

Yes I will be taking 6 cards. My wife will carry 3 and I will carry 3. We'll use one until its zeroed out and them start the next.

P.S. my only account with Chase is my United Credit Card. All other financials are through USAA bank, although I'll probably get the cash cards locally.

df61743 Loc: Corpus Christi, TX

The sole reason I keep the free USAA checking account is because it's only used for travel. They only charge 1% on foreign ATM withdrawals and no foreign transaction fees. I limit the balance I keep in that account so that if "worst case" it were "cleaned out" it's something I could live with. I've been travelling world-wide with that card for about 6 years, and never had a problem. Knock on wood.

By comparison, the fees on those cash cards look like they're incredibly high.

Dick

Toby

gvarner wrote:

Millions of card numbers exposed. Had an attempt o... (show quote)

Because of the Equifax problem the government is going to pass a law that all credit agencies must put a freeze on you account for free if you request it. Should be voted on next week. See Wall Street Journal

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

gvarner wrote:

Millions of card numbers exposed. Had an attempt o... (show quote)

That's awful, isn't it? They don't take proper precautions, and then they lie about what happened. We're left to straighten out the mess. No penalties for them, of course. How different would the situation be if they had to pay a fine for each person whose data was compromised? I bet they could find a solution then.