That sounds like way more effort than a credit card, especially here in the US where transfers between banks take 2-3 days.
If you really want to avoid credit, you can lock your debit card and unlock it when you make a purchase. That’s still annoying, but effective. But if you’re responsible, there’s really no reason to avoid credit, and you get rewards on top.
especially here in the US where transfers between banks take 2-3 days.
*Laughs in SEPA Instant Transfer*
Anyhow, locking and unlocking is an option. Using “3D Secure” systems - which require a secondary approval via an app or website - works significantly better, and chargebacks are one tap in a banking app (modern apps, so US might again be fucked here).
Chargebacks here are a little more complex, and usually not what you want to do since it costs vendors money (read: they may refuse to serve you in the future). Instead, you want to report the transaction as fraud (which is different from a chargeback), and the bank will investigate and work with vendors.
So usually a quick call (mine took 5 min) and the transactions are put on hold pending the investigation (mine resolved in 2-3 days). A new card is sent immediately, and if you go to a branch, it can be printed immediately.
Maybe not as smooth as the EU, but still decent. I’ve only had to do that once, each other time the fraud was caught by automated systems before I noticed.
That sounds like way more effort than a credit card, especially here in the US where transfers between banks take 2-3 days.
If you really want to avoid credit, you can lock your debit card and unlock it when you make a purchase. That’s still annoying, but effective. But if you’re responsible, there’s really no reason to avoid credit, and you get rewards on top.
*Laughs in SEPA Instant Transfer*
Anyhow, locking and unlocking is an option. Using “3D Secure” systems - which require a secondary approval via an app or website - works significantly better, and chargebacks are one tap in a banking app (modern apps, so US might again be fucked here).
Chargebacks here are a little more complex, and usually not what you want to do since it costs vendors money (read: they may refuse to serve you in the future). Instead, you want to report the transaction as fraud (which is different from a chargeback), and the bank will investigate and work with vendors.
So usually a quick call (mine took 5 min) and the transactions are put on hold pending the investigation (mine resolved in 2-3 days). A new card is sent immediately, and if you go to a branch, it can be printed immediately.
Maybe not as smooth as the EU, but still decent. I’ve only had to do that once, each other time the fraud was caught by automated systems before I noticed.