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Comment by yukichan | Hacker News Reader

I'm going to start paying cash everywhere. I already use cash at point of sale at regular stores, and I've limited my online exposure to Amazon, Netflix, Google and PayPal. Insecurity is sending me back into the 70's with financial technology.

I don't even want to use checks. I went to H&R block, tried to pay with a check to avoid giving my credit card details and they scanned the check's routing and bank number and stored that! Losing your bank info is more severe than credit card data because you have to close your account. Seriously bringing like a wad of cash next time I go to H&R block.

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You're almost never liable for any fraudulent charges made on your credit card or debit card. Provided you notify your bank, the standard procedure is to issue you a new card and reverse the charges. While it's not convenient, I'd gladly trade the convenience of paying with plastic over cash.

Additionally, any situation where you COULD pay in cash, you're not providing billing information to the merchant, so there's no risk of information compromise (aside from your name).

Not only that, if you're paying back your credit card every month you're getting some kind of points/rewards thing which definitely covers the risk of inconvenience if your number is stolen.

And cards like Amex can come with their own unconditional return policies that are more generous then those if the retailer you purchased from.

There are a lot of pro-consumer reasons to use a card. That, the ability to execute chargebacks in disputes, and rewards make for an attractive package. I personally get about 3.5 flights a year off of a credit mechanism that needs to be employed regardless, so not bad. Usually have fraudulent charges show up at least once a year though.

A charge back doesn't immediately make the merchant eat the cost. The merchant has a chance to rebuttal the dispute (show proof of purchase and delivery &c). If the merchant did nothing wrong the card issuer eats the cost, and if said person makes a habit of doing bad charge backs you better believe their card will be canceled.

Just saying, charge backs should be used as a last resort, not in spite or without even contacting the merchant. They can negatively affect the consumer if the consumer abuses them.

|A charge back doesn't immediately make the merchant eat the cost. The merchant has a chance to rebuttal the dispute (show proof of purchase and delivery &c). If the merchant did nothing wrong the card issuer eats the cost,|

Absolutely, but it remains a strong consumer protection. Certainly a 'plus' on the consumer side at the end of the day.

Definitely! I've seen people use them in spite before so I just wanted to add on that it's not an absolute protection.

As for Amazon, I've been paying cash for the Amazon gift cards at the local grocery store. For other sites, I'm using GreenDot, a debit card that can be used online like a credit card. I can keep a low balance on it so if it ever gets compromised I won't be out very much. However, the over $5 a month charge is a pain and I'm looking for something similar but cheaper.

You can research, maybe you have similar possibilities.

My bank allows me to register virtual "credit" card. It lasts 30 days(I can close it earlier also), I can have custom limit and making it takes around 2 minutes online. It costs i guess around 50cents per card. So by the time the card details leak from online shop, card is already useless.

Why? The customer has no exposure from credit card theft. You're making your life difficult over a non-issue.

Somehow somebody got enough information to attempt to open a line of credit in my name. Thankfully it was declined for some reason even though I ha e a good credit score but I am left with a refusal on my report. Still working on getting that cleaned up. Not sure how it was done but having a credit card in my name could be a good step in phishing.

I believe credit reports don't show refusals, only inquiries. If it's just a single inquiry, it likely isn't worth your time. They have a negligible impact on score, unless you have a lot of them. I believe they drop off after 2 years as well.

It's not a non-issue. I've been a victim of identity theft 3 times already.

> I'm going to start paying cash everywhere.

And people wonder why the cashless society is five years away and always will be.

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