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Stop Paying for Gas with Your Debit Card

26 points| todsac | 6 years ago |forbes.com | reply

23 comments

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[+] marpstar|6 years ago|reply
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...

[+] whalesalad|6 years ago|reply
Stop using your debit card period. Use a credit card and pay it off monthly. Problem solved.
[+] winternett|6 years ago|reply
That way if you get ripped off it will be on you credit card instead of another account?

The logic here is bewildering to me... Why aren't they instead addressing how banks aren't covering debit card fraud properly, and how the cards and transaction system is flawed?

They're all cards, consumers pay for the services. It's companies that are at fault for not creating better protections.

[+] toastal|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] pdemporg|6 years ago|reply
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.)

[+] windexh8er|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] jfim|6 years ago|reply
Some gas stations are cash/debit only to avoid credit card interchange fees, and thus can have a slightly lower price than other gas stations.
[+] jboles|6 years ago|reply
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.
[+] nycdotnet|6 years ago|reply
or just run your debit card as credit and don’t play with snakes?
[+] toomuchtodo|6 years ago|reply
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.

[+] selimthegrim|6 years ago|reply
Or if you’re at ARCO in Oregon, you can avoid 35 cent undisclosed debit fees.