So I recently watched this talk by Frank Abagnale, FBI fraud squad veteran and the subject of the 2002 film 'Catch Me If You Can'. In the Q&A at the end, in reply to a question about how best to avoid falling victim to fraud, he says he doesn't have a debit card and never has/will. Instead, his money is in a savings account and he uses a credit card for all transactions online or offline. The difference being that with credit it's the bank's money so the customer isn't liable for fraudulent transactions. Whereas with a debit card/current account, it's your own money which risks being stolen and the procedure for getting it back is much more time consuming and complicated (as well as increased liability). Additionally, using a credit card for transactions improves your credit rating whereas using a debit card does not, and your purchases are covered (faulty goods, lost in the mail etc).
Now that I think about it this seems obvious, and as someone who primarily uses their debit card I'm thinking of changing my personal situation based on his advice. My question is, can I get my salary paid into a savings account (where I will earn at least some interest) and use a credit card to conduct all my transactions (cash withdrawals, direct debits, standing orders etc) and get rid of my debit card/current account? It seems safer using a credit card as a proxy to my own money, and so long as I can pay the credit card bill from my savings account every month I can see no issue (apart from the fees associated with withdrawing cash from a credit card). Am I being naive? Does anyone else do the same? Any thoughts/advice on the above would be much appreciated.
TLDR - does using a savings account and a credit card render a current account (debit card) obsolete?
Submitted July 08, 2018 at 07:00AM by MoshedBrotatoes https://ift.tt/2m1kkmb
