Use It or Lose It Letter From Credit Card

[Route246]

Why not just use it once a month to buy a jar of peanut butter or some other innocuous purchase on Amazon and be done with the threat? Amazon is trustworthy and not going to steal the card ID. I cycle through a few of mine and use them to make micro-purchases on my Amazon account. I just used one last week to order a box of bandaids.

 

[kgtest]

I think I had one that sent a use it or lose it letter, DW has had a couple. Plenty of CC options around, that's for sure.

 

[OldShooter]

I agree that paying the bills on time is the most important aspect, but I don't think getting a card then ignoring it is a good idea. I did the same thing years ago with the Home Depot card (as well as Lowes and many other "store" cards). But with my Home Depot card, a few months after I used it to score the discount somebody stole the number from somewhere (certainly not from me, as I had also shredded the card after a single use). I happened to sign onto the card site to check something with my purchase and saw a ton of fairly large purchases that I hadn't made. I found it before they sent me the paper bill, although that would have notified me of the problem too. I was able to clear it up and get the card canceled, but it was a PITA. So now after I open a card, I check it monthly by just signing on, making sure the balance is still zero, then signing off. I do this every month for all of our cards until they drop a card for lack of use. It's not very time consuming, and saves me the annoyance of cleaning up after a theft situation.

Sorry to hear that, but your future probability of debit card problems and my future probability of problems remain the same: very low. It's a risk I am very comfortable taking, particularly with Schwab backing me up.

 

[Koolau]

Sorry to hear that, but your future probability of debit card problems and my future probability of problems remain the same: very low. It's a risk I am very comfortable taking, particularly with Schwab backing me up.

I've had perhaps a dozen fraudulent charges on my "deck" of CCs. So, while the probability of fraud within any given month is relatively small, the continuing probability of card fraud is (arguably) near 100% if you live long enough. Just the nature of the beast (and fraudulent people.) YMMV

 

[OldShooter]

I've had perhaps a dozen fraudulent charges on my "deck" of CCs. So, while the probability of fraud within any given month is relatively small, the continuing probability of card fraud is (arguably) near 100% if you live long enough. Just the nature of the beast (and fraudulent people.) YMMV

I dunno. I have always carried just one credit card and really do not remember any fraud issues, but of course that is only somewhat over 50 years. For lots of reasons I have never had anything like a "deck," but certainly the more cards you have the higher the probability of issues. I'm still comfortable with the small risk I see.

 

[GenXguy]

I've had one bill showing fraudulent credit card use in my life. IIRC, there were four charges related to long distance phone service to India a decade or so ago, through some company I hadn't dealt with. But I also received emails from this same company after that, so both my CC and email address had been compromised together. The CC company sent me a new card/number, and I was not liable for the charges.

 

[Zona]

We play the points game and often cancel and sign up for new cards for points. (DH has a spreadsheet and it's a whole "thing" but has given us some great value over the years).

But... I have kept my oldest credit card for over 20 years. It was one of my first cards that I applied for just out of college and although it earns no points it also has no fee. My balance is usually 0 but every year I have a reminder on my calendar to make sure to use it to buy something and pay it off. Length of credit history helps keep your credit score high.

 

[Koolau]

I dunno. I have always carried just one credit card and really do not remember any fraud issues, but of course that is only somewhat over 50 years. For lots of reasons I have never had anything like a "deck," but certainly the more cards you have the higher the probability of issues. I'm still comfortable with the small risk I see.

Yeah, I'm okay with the risk as well, but it's definitely not zero. It's very likely to happen and it's difficult to avoid, though some risks are controllable (don't hand your card to a food server) and use the touch-screen instead of the regular card reader, etc. Limit your on-line purchases. Try not to give your card number over the phone, etc. YMMV