Please use caution when you use a 'credit' card on the
internet. There are 'criminal elements' every-where, and online
is no exception. I will actually go as far as to say that you
should NEVER use a 'credit' card online AT ALL. Hear me out! I
have a PayPal account and it can be quite useful for ebay or
other places that accept it. To get a PayPal account you need
some sort of credit card, right? WRONG! There are two main
types of 'plastic card', the first is a 'CREDIT' card (
potentially very dangerous when used online ). The second card
is a 'DEBIT' card - very SAFE to use online, if you go about it
the right way.
You do not need a credit card to establish a PayPal account. (
or for lots of other online services..) A 'debit' card is much,
much safer and I will explain why. Firstly, if you use a credit
card online and you are unlucky enough to have your card
details stolen or intercepted, then ALL the money that is
available to that card can be lost - permanently. Can you
afford that?? Even if you can afford to lose that money ( lucky
you!! ) do you really want to hand it over to a criminal? My
guess would be no. So don't risk it happening! I don't have a
credit card at all, and that is largely irrelevant, but I can
purchase things online.
What I use is a VISA enabled DEBIT card instead, and this is
how it works. I have two bank accounts, one with all my money
in it, the other is nearly always completely EMPTY. The empty
account has the VISA debit card attached to it. How does that
work if it is empty most of the time? Very easily. The first
account has an online banking facility and I simply transfer
money into the VISA account whenever I need to use it. I only
transfer about ten dollars more than I think I will need to
make a purchase, so that if my VISA card details are
intercepted or used by any criminal organization, they can't
get at ALL my money.
Yes, online banking has potential risks as well, but with the
added layers of security that a bank provides, the risk is much
reduced. Also you can directly visit your bank to sort out any
problems should they occur, but it is much ( very much ) harder
to do that if you are dealing with an online organization that
may be based a different country altogether. So, I hope you
aren't using a credit card online. (!?#!!)
Note 1 : The reason I transfer about 10 dollars more than I
think I will need for any given transaction is to cover
currency conversion variations and un-noticed packaging,
postage, or insurance costs. I also like to leave a balance of
about 20 dollars to feed my online insurance policy. ( see the
paragraph below note 2. )
Note 2 : Most online banking facilities allow an unlimited
number of transactions, with no transaction fees. So you can
use it as much as you want to and it costs you nothing. Now
that's how much I like to pay!! Don't forget that in some cases
you can do direct bank deposits to make a purchase online. That
means even less risk to you because the vendor doesn't even
have the chance to get at your card at all. They only get the
money, and that's just fine by them. If you need to set up
recurring payments for a membership or subscription service,
the best way is by direct bank deposit. You set it up, you
control it, and 'they' can't change what they charge you or add
extra charges without you knowing about them :-)
There is a cost involved with having a second bank account and
that cost is usually thought of as dead money, but if you look
at that monthly ( or annual ) cost as a form of 'pay as you go'
insurance, then it is a lot more acceptable. What I mean by pay
as you go insurance is the charges ( account keeping fees ) for
the usually empty second account are your insurance policy
against losing the contents of your main account to an online
criminal. When you look at it that way, it is really rather
cheap. You also get insurance against financial loss from VISA
if your card is lost or stolen in the 'real world'- not that
there would be a substantial amount available to that card if
you operate it the way I have outlined above. You can use
either type of plastic card on the internet, and the vendor of
whatever you purchase will never know what type you are using,
but I know what type of card I will always use. The debit card.
Footnote : No, I don't have a 'credit' card at all, so without
the services of a debit card I wouldn't be able to purchase
much online. But I wouldn't have a credit card even if I could
'afford' one. I personally think that credit cards are just too
big a temptation for the average person. If you have thousands
of dollars available to be spent as credit, that is just what
most people do, they spend it. Why is that a problem? Well if
you don't have the money to buy whatever you have bought using
your credit card, where are you going to find the money to pay
that credit back?? Oh, and what about the rude amount of
interest that a lot of people end up paying on their credit
cards? Sometimes for years.. I may be old fashioned in this
regard, but saving your money by having a budget, and buying
something when you can afford to do so, really does save you a
lot of money in the long run.
About The Author: Colin Visser is the owner of
http://webdziner.gotdns.com/ and offers web site design &
english proof reading services. Proof reading for web sites,
software, help files, email and news-letters. Free quotes.
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