The Kavanaugh Confirmation Charade Thread

[Guest]

If you have decent income and a score over 780, you probably get the best available rates for normies. I took my mom car shopping last year, she had an annual income of $60,000 and a ~760 score and got a 1.9% rate from the lender she went with.

 

And most banks will immediately refund fraud transactions pending the outcome of their investigation. That drawback of debit cards is pretty much void in 2018.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

5 minutes ago, mclumber1 said:

 

I think in general card security is getting better.  The card companies must have some pretty good algorithms to identify suspicious activity, because my card was once frozen within a few minutes of a thief using it to purchase something for like $28.  

They are really good. A friend of mine is a data scientist at capital one in the fraud division. They have to be quick because otherwise fraudsters can max out/empty your account in minutes flat if they don't. Really interesting to talk to him about it.

[CitizenVectron]

46 minutes ago, mclumber1 said:

 

I think in general card security is getting better.  The card companies must have some pretty good algorithms to identify suspicious activity, because my card was once frozen within a few minutes of a thief using it to purchase something for like $28.  

 

Was it when they detected it was used to buy a box of condoms? "WARNING, UNEXPECTED SEXUAL ACTIVITY DETECTED." lol

[mclumber1]

My credit union knows I'm raw dogging it?  Big brother is definitely here!

[CitizenVectron]

Has tap taken off in the US yet? Or is the US still implementing chip-and-pin?

 

Almost all places here have tap now, which lets you use tap your card against the machine and then walk away. Kind of like Apple Pay or whatever, but universal across all banks, credit cards, etc. I think the reason why Canada is at the forefront of this tech is because all of the banks and credit unions set up the interac consortium in the 90s to create a nationwide non-profit system to handle bank transfers, debit cards, etc. And in Canada the vast majority of credit cards are actually through your bank (in cooperation with Visa or M/C, etc) so it transferred over to CCs.

 

Also, do you guys have eTransfers? Here, all of the banks and CUs use interac eTransfer to send funds between banks. Most banks don't charge fees for it (a few charge $1 per transfer). How it works is that you just go into your app and send money to someone's email address with a password. They enter the password and bam, the money is instantly in their bank account, no waiting. It's like the modern version of a cheque. It's become the ubiquitous payment method for paying someone else securely in Canada. The government and banks are really pushing us to be cashless as soon as possible (along with removing the penny. Nickel will be next).

 

As a wedding photographer, it's awesome to just tell people to eTransfer me the money. They can do it right in front of me, and then I wait for it to go through and we're good to go. 

 

Basically, because of interac Canada has been able to avoid all the fragmentation that has occurred in the US. There's no point of even using Apple Pay or Paypal or anything else here since you can do all of that stuff instantly between personal bank accounts.

[Joe]

The value of points is massive, though. You are really missing out if you dont have a credit card these days, especially if you like to travel.

[CitizenVectron]

2 minutes ago, Jose said:

The value of points is massive, though. You are really missing out if you dont have a credit card these days, especially if you like to travel.

 

That's the one thing that Canada really lacks. We do have points on our cards, but the rewards are typically 1/2 or less than comparable American cards. Still 100% worth it, though. I don't bother with the travel ones though, I use for gas points and gift cards. Flights in Canada are 2 or 3x the cost of the US (little competition, and there used to be a government airline that was privatized and since then prices have shot up), so people don't travel as much here, lol.

[Jason]

33 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

Or is the US still implementing chip-and-pin?

 

We're not doing chip-and-PIN, we're doing chip-and-signature or just chip-and-nothing (automated fraud detection on the backend).

 

It's a giant PITA for traveling because most of our issuers won't even let us set a PIN for use abroad.

[SaysWho?]

1 hour ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

That's the one thing that Canada really lacks. We do have points on our cards, but the rewards are typically 1/2 or less than comparable American cards. Still 100% worth it, though. I don't bother with the travel ones though, I use for gas points and gift cards. Flights in Canada are 2 or 3x the cost of the US (little competition, and there used to be a government airline that was privatized and since then prices have shot up), so people don't travel as much here, lol.

 

That's what you get for having universal health care.

[SilentWorld]

3 hours ago, CitizenVectron said:

Has tap taken off in the US yet? Or is the US still implementing chip-and-pin?

 

 

 

I drove through Montana and a few places had tap but it was tap and signature.  And it wasn't instant like it is here, you had to select the account (savings, checking, or credit) and click ok for the total amount to be charged, etc. It's like they sat down and thought "how can we get rid of all the conveniences of tap?" 

 

That may have just been because it was Montana though. idk how it works in the other states. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

5 hours ago, legend said:

I don't use a credit card at all. I had one a long time ago and rarely used it. Other than missing out on "points" and carrying you if you don't have the cash for something immediately needed, what is the reason for using one?

I mean, it's nice actually getting cash back for using it...my debit card doesn't give me shit. 

 

I honestly don't know how much I should care about my credit score anymore.It's already really good, I've bought a house. Other than buying another vehicle down the line, I dunno how much it really matters to me, other than just to brag.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

5 hours ago, sblfilms said:

If you have decent income and a score over 780, you probably get the best available rates for normies. I took my mom car shopping last year, she had an annual income of $60,000 and a ~760 score and got a 1.9% rate from the lender she went with.

 

And most banks will immediately refund fraud transactions pending the outcome of their investigation. That drawback of debit cards is pretty much void in 2018.

It was pretty sweet when I bought my truck in 2013. I don't recall what my score was then, probably in the mid-700s, but I got a deal so that I paid no interest on my new Frontier over 3 years. Worked out quite nicely.

[SilentWorld]

My credit card's give me 1-4% cash back depending on category of purchase. It seems I average out to spending like $2000 a month on the credit card so that's like, probably $500 a year in cash back. I guess it's not a big deal but I'd rather have the $500 than the blood sucking retailing assholes. 

[CitizenVectron]

27 minutes ago, SilentWorld said:

My credit card's give me 1-4% cash back depending on category of purchase. It seems I average out to spending like $2000 a month on the credit card so that's like, probably $500 a year in cash back. I guess it's not a big deal but I'd rather have the $500 than the blood sucking retailing assholes. 

 

*job creators

[Joe]

You should all apply for the Sapphire Reserve. It's truly magical.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I don't want any CC that I have to pay an annual fee on.

 

Maybe if I ran a business where I had to put huge amounts on it to make it worth it. But $450 a year for me? Fuck that.

[Joe]

19 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I don't want any CC that I have to pay an annual fee on.

 

Maybe if I ran a business where I had to put huge amounts on it to make it worth it. But $450 a year for me? Fuck that.

 

It's more like $150 since you will be using the $300 travel credit very easily.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Still, I'm wasting money, paying to just use a CC when I get good benefits with my currents cards that don't charge me to use them. 

 

Easy pass. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

And there's no guarantee that'd I'd get the $300 in travel credit every year. I go on one real trip every year, if that. 

 

Not everyone travels a ton. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

...How did we go from...to...nevermind.

[Joe]

The credit refers to tolls, ubers and public transportation as well. My wife and I use the credit up in like 2 months.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

All of which I spend incredibly little on, since I don't live in a huge city. I've never paid a toll and I use uber and public transit once a year, when I went to Boston, DC, and Chicago(at the end of the month). We probably spent $100 a year(if that) on uber and public transportation combined. 

 

It's great for  you. But not everyone is in your situation and would benefit. I'm just saying it's not the perfect card for a log of people, despite your praise. 

[Jason]

54 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I don't want any CC that I have to pay an annual fee on.

 

Maybe if I ran a business where I had to put huge amounts on it to make it worth it. But $450 a year for me? Fuck that.

 

35 minutes ago, Jose said:

 

It's more like $150 since you will be using the $300 travel credit very easily.

 

30 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

And there's no guarantee that'd I'd get the $300 in travel credit every year. I go on one real trip every year, if that. 

 

Not everyone travels a ton. 

 

24 minutes ago, Jose said:

The credit refers to tolls, ubers and public transportation as well. My wife and I use the credit up in like 2 months.

 

https://www.chase.com/index.jsp?pg_name=ccpmapp/shared/assets/page/Online_Rewards_FAQ

 

Quote

 

Q. What types of merchants are in the 'travel' category?

• A. Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages. Please note that some merchants that provide transportation and travel-related services are not included in this category; for example, real estate agents, educational merchants arranging travel, in-flight goods and services, on-board cruise line goods and services, sightseeing activities, excursions, tourist attractions, merchants within hotels and airports, and merchants that rent vehicles for the purpose of hauling. In addition, the purchasing of gift cards, points or miles does not qualify in this category unless the merchant has set up such purchases to be classified in the travel category.

 

It's incredibly difficult to not use up the credit if you're traveling even once per year. @Jose even loading up a Metrocard counts.

That leaves you with $150 to make up. There's various ways to use the points but the most straightforward one is using them at 1.5 cents per point through the Chase travel portal, meaning you need 10,000 points. If you spend on nothing but travel and dining using the card (those get 3x) that leaves you to spend $3,333. What Jose is describing with the Freedom Unlimited is to stick non-travel non-dining purchases onto the card so that the 1.5% back on that turns into an effective 2.25% back after you transfer the points to the Reserve.

[Jason]

Also if you go someplace and rent a car you can turn down the supplemental protections and if something happens to the car (not liability, just dings to the car and what-not) you can file a claim that bypasses your regular insurance.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Or I could not pay to use a card and still get benefits on the cards that don't charge me. :P 

 

Not every card is right for everyone. People need to do the research and select the card that is best tailored to their spending practices.

[Joe]

22 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

 

 

 

https://www.chase.com/index.jsp?pg_name=ccpmapp/shared/assets/page/Online_Rewards_FAQ

 

It's incredibly difficult to not use up the credit if you're traveling even once per year. @Jose even loading up a Metrocard counts.

That leaves you with $150 to make up. There's various ways to use the points but the most straightforward one is using them at 1.5 cents per point through the Chase travel portal, meaning you need 10,000 points. If you spend on nothing but travel and dining using the card (those get 3x) that leaves you to spend $3,333. What Jose is describing with the Freedom Unlimited is to stick non-travel non-dining purchases onto the card so that the 1.5% back on that turns into an effective 2.25% back after you transfer the points to the Reserve.

 

Yep. I've definitely gotten some travel credit with a SmartLink/MetroCard refill. 

 

Plus, you get $500 back in points value if you spend something like 4k in 3 months.  When I signed up it was at $1k, making it a super no brainer.

[Spork3245]

9 hours ago, sblfilms said:

If you have decent income and a score over 780, you probably get the best available rates for normies. I took my mom car shopping last year, she had an annual income of $60,000 and a ~760 score and got a 1.9% rate from the lender she went with.

 

And most banks will immediately refund fraud transactions pending the outcome of their investigation. That drawback of debit cards is pretty much void in 2018.

 

Yea, to my understanding, anything over 780 is ignored. As long as your score is at least 780 you *should* get the best possible rate.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

Yea, to my understanding, anything over 780 is ignored. As long as your score is at least 780 you *should* get the best possible rate.

 

Yup. The biggest thing that gets you into the next tier of credit products (things often with negative interest rates) is high income and very high assets. Banks value deposit accounts/products that carry large balances and will entice those customers with zero and even negative interest credit products. 

 

It literally pays to be rich.

[marioandsonic]

Well, this thread went in an odd direction.

[SuperSpreader]

+1 Chase Sapphire Reserve

[MarSolo]

I have shit credit so this thread just really depressed me even more. I maxed out two credit cards in a year long drunken binge after a bad breakup, losing my job, and grad school.

[SilentWorld]

4 hours ago, MarSolo said:

I have shit credit so this thread just really depressed me even more. I maxed out two credit cards in a year long drunken binge after a bad breakup, losing my job, and grad school.

 

How long ago 

 

I had some bad marks on my credit but like it goes away after 7 years. 

[marioandsonic]

4 hours ago, MarSolo said:

I have shit credit so this thread just really depressed me even more. I maxed out two credit cards in a year long drunken binge after a bad breakup, losing my job, and grad school.

I don't have bad credit, but I have no money or investments in general, so I have no plans to get a house or new car or anything like that.

[MarSolo]

1 hour ago, SilentWorld said:

 

How long ago 

 

I had some bad marks on my credit but like it goes away after 7 years. 

 

The maxing out was around seven. The "fuck this I'm broke and I'll stop making payments and do a set payment plan with the credit card companies" was maybe a year or two ago.

[RedSoxFan9]

 

is this 4D chess?