Credit Card

this also, i have a card like that that looks like a credit card to the accepting party but they can't charge it for shits unless i put money on it. i use it to reserve rooms and shit, they think they can charge fees on it if i don't show up the retards.

Whats with the meme about not paying your card back on time? What's wrong with that? It's free money

>It's free money
nice memeing no money is ever free tho

Holy fuck what is everyone in this thread doing on a finance board jesus christ. Am I seriously reading posts saying you don't need a credit card in CURRENT FUCKING YEAR??

OP. Call your bank. Get whatever credit card they have that's entry level. That's how you start out. Pay all your bills with it, pay the credit card off entirely every month. Do this for two years, minimum, and forget about applying for any more cards until then.

Also, do all your online shopping with a credit card. NEVER expose your debit card or bank account number to the outside world unless you have no other choice. This is because credit card fraud is reversed almost instantly, with no liability in many cases, and it WILL HAPPEN. Debit card fraud takes months to reverse and in that time you're going to be out that money.

Sites like nerdwallet are for people with established credit who are looking to get into the credit card GAME, which is entirely different. You, as a new borrower, have no options. You will be offered a credit account with no perks and shitty interest and that's it.

if you have no credit history try a student card. High approval as long as you have a job, don't have to be in a school.

high APR though, but if you're using about 30% of your limit, you should be good as long as you can pay it.

Keep that card for at least 2 years to build your credit, then go for a rewards or travel card.

NEVER get a store card, unless you shop exclusively or mainly(about 80% of the time) at that store, such as Amazon.

don't get a credit card if you don't have a job, or have less than $1k in savings.

My best advice is to try to get a card through your bank, as long as you have a savings account with them, youre likely guaranteed for a card with a high limit, as thats more money they can lean against you.

Don't get discover or mastercard.

Even if you shop mainly at that store, chances are you can get a better omnipurpose card. As long as universal 2% or better cash back cards are a thing that exists, this will be the case.

they exist but you rarely get approved for those cards if you have no history.

>don't get discover or mastercard

That's dumb. You're dumb.

To be fair, there is no point in getting discover. Master card is accepted more or less anywhere visa is.

Is there a Mastercard that gives me 5% back on Amazon purchases?

I'm not sure I see where you are going with this question.

Amazon store cards are visa, but the 5% back requires prime, which effectively functions as an annual fee for the card. Pretty easy to calculate if that extra 2% back is worthwhile for you or not since the other card is just a flat 3% on amazon. If you'd get prime anyways, well that's a sunk cost. If the card is the deciding factor on using prime or not, you need to be spending several thousand a year on amazon for it to be 'worth' it.

Amazon is the exception to store cards being worthwhile. Stuff like L.L Bean, kohl's, etc, are all fucking shit, and citi doublecash is just outright better, and several business cards are slightly better than that.

Oh, and the amazon card has, or at least had, a really fucking shitty bank behind it.

Lot of complaints about credit being arbitrarily lowered for good behavior. I haven't personally experienced this, but I'd drop them in an instant if they tried, and file disputes accordingly.

Discover IT gives you 5% cash back on amazon purchases in the later half of the year. Their quarterly categories are on a set rotation, unlike the Chase Freedom which has random bullshit every quarter.

It's actually a very good card for anyone who does a lot of online shopping. Citi Doublecash is also legit, since many retailers don't really fall into any recognizable category.

Anyway the rewards game is pretty far beyond the scope of this discussion. Except to say store cards are always shit. Unless they give you a signup bonus equal to, i would say, at least $300.

I really cannot be fucked to bother with the rotating cards. Too much garbage to keep track of for what amounts to 50 dollars by the end of the year. The entire model is built around you fucking up a few times here and there so they don't pay out the full cash back. They also have lots of stupid limits on how much you can get back, and past those limits they will just cut you down to 1%, or nothing on those transactions, so it sometimes ends up not even being better than a flat rate card if you aren't meticulously planning stuff out.

Even assuming you don't run into any pitfalls, to get even 100 dollars more out of that card compared to a double cash, you'd need to spend 3.3 thousand dollars. If that's mostly amazon, you need to do that in a 6 month period. That's not exactly difficult to do, but it's still pointless shit to keep track of.

I'd rather just stick with my moderate arsenal of no bullshit cards. Don't have to think about what time of the year, month, or day it is, and none of them have any cut offs on the rewards for me to keep in mind. If you don't mind keeping track of that stuff, power to you.

>NEVER expose your debit card or bank account number to the outside world
this is retarded advice tho there are debit cards with adjoining accounts explicitly for online purchase and they are the safest form.

your bank is salivating at the notion of giving you their entry level card with a 2k credit limit.

most of them have rewards programs, so you'll still get tiny gains until you're ready for a big boy card. i got a couple of hundred of amazon gift cards per year with my shit-tier card.

Not even. If it's taking your real world money it is not safe, period. You will be out money until the bank decides to return it. If you get hit with credit card fraud, it's the bank's money, and it's their problem, not yours.

What if it's transactions on debit processed through the visa network? Same shit?

Basically it comes down to risk. All the security is there for both kinds of transactions, but if all that fails, debit is real money, credit is fake money.

>go to bank
>ask for credit card
>sign up for credit card
>get free stuff for singning up for credit card
>get credit card in mail
>use card to buy stuff
>realize 2 months later that you fell for the plastic jew card, now your credit score is shit so you can't get a loan
>now that you can't buy a loan, you can't move out of your moms house
>which means you lost all of your gbp
>which means no more chicken tendies.

don't fall for the plastic card jew.

creditless-fag here
my credit union wouldn't give me a card even when they knew i made $70K+/yr, paid off my student loans in months, and have more than $80K in savings

find out why your credit is shit, it should be good if you paid your loans

go to annualcreditreport.com and pull your credit report. Do it via mail instead of online.

Some credit unions are just stupid about who they give cards to. If your report is good, you should just apply for a good card like the doublecash, and call it a day.

So would the amazon card be a good choice if most of my shopping is there and buying gasoline.

Or would the Amex cash back or citi dual cash back be a better option? I do buy groceries too.

I'd just go double cash.

>It Just Werks™

The 5% amazon card is worth it if you want prime anyways, and buy a lot of stuff, but be willing to drop it at a moment's notice if they start to fuck around with you. NEVER trust the '0% financing'. Pay it off without fail every single month.

Double cash seems like the most appealing option. Been debating between that and the blue cash from amex.

I think I've got my answer. Thank you.

Amex has far better support, but the double cash is master card, so it's more or less accepted everywhere.

Support how?

I've been using a bank card for over a year now, never had to use support for anything.

You call them and get someone fluent in your language instead of a Pajeet in bumfucknowhereistan. Even their basic ones have shit like free insurance when renting cars, extended warranties and the like.

Their higher end ones have all sorts of nice bonuses. I've had my plat skimmed on vacation and they detected it, called me, and arranged for a courier to ride a scooter out to me and put a new card into my hand in less than 2 hours. I just took an extended lunch. No other card company handles premium support like amex.

>You will be out money until the bank decides to return it.
you dumb. they can't charge you on your card there is nothing on that account until you buy something. then it's on the account for 5 minutes tops. hard to time a scam like that. when you buy on ebay and places like that they have customer protection no issues with bank again.

exposing your cc is bad idea they can charge it any time and you have to run after your money.

That's impressive. I'll keep Amex in mind if I ever get an income to justify a premium card.

I did this too and it works. I don't see the point of getting more than one credit card. I use it to protect myself from fraud and get free shit while I use cash only when I want to hide what I'm buying or can't use a card.

The plastic card Jew only affects stupid people. Smart people make the plastic Jew work for them.

Then your credit union is shit. I got a credit card from my credit union when I was 18 before college even started. I started at $500 and now I have a $25k spending limit.

No. Apply for a card that does Amazon rewards better than the Amazon card.

You are retarded. Exposing a CC is always better than exposing your debit card because it becomes the credit card companies problem, not yours. You don't want your debit card out there ever.

but i just told you they can't do a fucking thing with it...

here is the thing: if you expose your cc for online purchase they can charge it any time sell the card number and security code to scammers that will pick at it and you constantly have to monitor your balance decipher the charges and report them at your cc company and they might try to charge back which will either succeed or not.

with an onlilne debit card you expose the same info the scammer tries to charge it and fails because there is no money on it your bank reports "insufficient funds" every time they try it and they will just give up eventually.

that is why i would never expose my cc online. they could always charge it to the limit.

>with an onlilne debit card you expose the same info the scammer tries to charge it and fails because there is no money on it your bank reports "insufficient funds" every time they try it and they will just give up eventually.

This is only for online purchases.

Unless you are buying shit from shady Chinese and Russian sites, there's nothing to worry about. Amazon, sears, walmart, or whatever aren't going to steal your information. Physical skimming is by far and away a bigger threat, and for that credit cards are unquestionably superior.

No debit card has the same level of fraud protection as a credit card against physical skimming.

get a maestro you underage fuc

Get a masterGoy

>Amazon, sears, walmart, or whatever aren't going to steal your information.
maybe but one crooked employee is all it takes really. and as you type in your info there are man in the middle attacks also feasible and malwares on your side can pick up the info too.
>No debit card has the same level of fraud protection as a credit card against physical skimming.
doesn't matter because they can't succeed with an online debit and you have to report the fraudulent activity yourself with a cc so it's worse.
i have cc i specifically asked about this they said even if i was charged fraudulently unless i insure the card for this they still gonna charge me the only exception is if they call me about a charge they find suspicious and i say "nah that"s not me" in that case they won't charge me.

cc is shit for online purchase plain and simple. also hotel reservations and a lot of places require you to give cc info for "insurance" i just give the debit card info they think it's a cc but they can't charge it for shit whenever they feel like they have to take their issue to me (assuming they can even find me).

i forgot to add, the security code printed on the card i always scratch it off from every card i get and paint over with black ink the entire box.

this way the card number alone is useless they can't use it for online purchase and the info on the card is also useless if they don't know my pin it's also more or less impossible to clone the card chip, and if your card is missing you report it to be stolen fast. before the thief sold it to a broker who auctioned it off to retards that try credit card fraud risking their skin your card is long disabled.

if however you leave the security code on the card anyone who puts his hand on it can take a pic with a hidden camera and use it for online purchase or send it to a "friend" who has "no connection whatsoever" to the place you used your card at and that fucker will buy something with it.

>that is why i would never expose my cc online. they could always charge it to the limit.

So what? Fraud is detected easily and everything is fixed for you. A credit card is great for using as a proxy to pay for things online.

Just don't get a credit card from a shitty company. Get one from a good bank.

>Fraud is detected easily
yeah sure except you have to prove it is a fraud if it's not automatically picked up. dude just stop buying stuff online with cc is irresponsible and generally a bad idea like handing out signed blank cheque wherever you go.

Get a better card then.

See above. I've been skimmed. Amex called me to confirm it, and nothing happened. When my other cards have been skimmed, one phone call to report the fraud fixed the problem. I've never had to argue anything. I'm more concerned about an extended family member stealing my identity and opening lines in my name than with random skimming. That at least requires you to do something.

this doesn't make any sense. if your card info gets skimmed you get a new card you can't just use it and go on like business is usual.

>if your card info gets skimmed you get a new card you can't just use it and go on like business is usual.

Why not?

Amex detected potential fraud, called me to confirm, went over the last few transactions to manually approve them, and then sent a courier to hand deliver a brand new card. What part of that is unclear? What part of that didn't let me continue with business as usual?

For the other cards that have been skimmed, oh fucking well. I didn't have a card for 24-48 hours while they overnighted me a new one. I just used one of the other ones for a day, and didn't get as many reward points. Nothing to lose sleep worrying over.

well a new card here would definitely be a week long wait maybe two and they send the pin in a separate mail a few days after. fuck that. also you have to prove the charge is fraudulent here. there are also no limitations to your liability in credit card fraud like in the us.

you are only exempt from fraud and consequences after you reported your card stolen or disabled your cad. and it's not just one bank or company all of them offer the same terms. i know because i pretty much visited all of them when i went shopping for a good cashback card.

Where the fuck do you live?

How does someone even do a credit card scam?

I had my identity stolen once, it sucked, and I never understood it.

Citi is just a garbage issuer. Don't bother with them.

Mfw sign up for credit card and gets $2.000 of cash. Its fast bro, and it's all right there.

Mfw only buying food or water with it and paying it back the next day.

>and paying it back the next day
i think then you don't get cashback
you have to wait for them to issue you a statement of your debt and then pay it fully

Not all online merchants need the CVC. Never bought anything from Amazon?

I don't recall anything in my amex agreement about that.

Because multiple rewards programs can result in you taking in more money via money you're already going to spend. Having multiple cards also drives up how much credit you have access to, which has a dramatic impact on your credit score.

you either give the cvc for an offline transaction or they redirect you to your banks page to identify yourself there.

Not to mention, it makes fraud detection trivial.

I have a credit card I only ever use for gas. If anyone pops up on the statement that isn't gas, I've been skimmed.

>I don't see the point of getting more than one credit card.
I have

* An Amex main card
* A Visa backup card (amex isn't accepted everywhere)
* Considering looking for a Mastercard with free currency conversion for travel
* And although I generally avoid paying things off over time, if I do need to cover a major purchase I can easily get an 18+ month 0% card and use it for free financing.

Point is, there are plenty of good reasons to have multiple cards. Although I admit that I sometimes read about people with 24 cards and wonder what the hell they're doing with them.

Yep. I'm pretty big on the credit card game and maximize my points to pretty good effect. I have:

-A card that earns 2% cash back on all purchases at gas stations and grocery stores
-A card that earns 1.5% cash back on all purhases
-A card that earns 1 skymile per dollar spent and 2 skymiles per dollar spent on the airline's airfare. It also provides me with priority boarding and a free checked bag. (I travel a lot, usually 2-3 days a week, for work so this is nice)
-A card with less stellar rewards, but a $15k limit so it helps out my credit a lot by adding to my total

All told, using the right card at the right time nets me $1-2k annually in money that I would not otherwise have. When you couple that with fraud protection and the fact that you're building credit, which brings down the cost of lending, especially for a home, there's literally no reason not to do this. You just need to be patient and always pay your balance on time.

On Amazon UK, I've used two Visa Debit cards, a Visa Credit, and an Amex. Never entered a CVC and never been redirected to 3D Secure.

It's true that Amazon is an oddity here. Most merchants need at least one and often both of those methods. My point is that there exist merchants who don't need them.

They do still need the billing address though. I don't think I've used any site that accepted card details without needing the billing address, but that might be a UK-specific thing.

Get a GoldMoney credit card for small purchases.

If you travel a huge amount, get an amex plat.

Centurion lounges are comfy as fuck, and the services on the card are excellent.

Yeah thinking about that one. Here's my dilemma though: I'm going to get the Chase Sapphire next, which I think is the strongest travel card on the market with great flexibility between carriers. That's doubly true since I have a Chase Feedom Unlimited and the two cards enhance each other.

So not sure if I got the Amex Plat that I would use it enough to warrant it.

I suppose it depends on where you are traveling. The lounges have someone who generally knows the area quite well, so if you are constantly going to random locations, you can just point blank ask them "Hey. Is there a great hole in the wall Chinese place nearby?" and they'll have a decent idea. They are supposed to push their partnered services, but you can just be blunt and ask for something specific that they can't fit into that. Most of the times, they'll give you a recommendation or two.

Oh, and wifi that's actually decent, plus a printer you can use.

Really, it's just worth it to me to crash in a decently sprung chair for an hour or two during layovers. I fly about as well as a dead fish.

When you get a card online, can you use it right away??

Do you have to have it physically before you can use it?

How frequently should one close their account? I just applied to a capital one and I have a total credit line of 1500, I'd like to get rid od the bank one someday but closing an older account has an impact on my score, right?

Here's a hot tip for unsecured credit. If you cannot buy it outright right now, you likely shouldn't buy it.

Typically you need to receive it physically so that you can enable it (by phone or online)

Yeah usually no need to close out an old one. Just keep it open and stop charging or maybe throw in a charge once a month or quarter.

Typically need to get it physically to enable it, and you generally wont even know the number until you have it.

'Premium' cards often have next or same day delivery.

i enjoy your demeanor

How long should it take to raise my credit roughly 70 points using just a credit card?

years, AAoA plays a big role into your score.

$URRE$ shill team here.

Protip: Learn basic personal finance. Get on a budget(including both income and expense sides) and STICK TO IT. The second you spend more on a credit card than you can cover with cash, you're fucked. There are much cheaper ways to finance purchases if it's something you can't afford(but NEED) right now. If you want to play with credit cards, at least get one that has some kind of sign-on bonus.

If you don't have basic financial discipline, then credit cards are not for you. You're on a long train ride to pound town and back, and the rapists are on board. I'm finally back home and have been shitting pancakes ever since.

Considering you have to ask, you probably should not get one right now.

Discover card is the best card I have, other than the one I have with my CU. It's nice to be able to call someone here in the U.S.

Also have Capital One, which is the worst. Good luck trying to understand those fucks when you call.

I agree.

Wrong.

Actually it's correct, depending! Banks aren't stupid. They create these programs taking on the risk that you're going to carry a balance. Some people fall out. Fewer people fall out because they've showed intent of not carrying a balance. It can happen. If you have tight financial controls, there's no risk in carrying your balance to at least the statement, and paying it then. No interest will be accumulated and sometimes that's when they "trigger" the rewards. I'm waiting for one right now.

Here in the UK, there are dozens of cards available with 18+ months 0% on purchases. If I need to buy a new computer or whatever, I can just sign up for one of those, set a direct debit to pay 1/18th of the purchase amount each month (although I'd add a safety margin by assuming a couple fewer months), then forget about it after adding it to my budget spreadsheet.

Are these cards rare in the US?

Anyone getting this card?

creditcards.chase.com/a1/sapphire/reserve
100k bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from
account opening
Receive up to $300 in statement credits annually as reimbursement for travel purchases such as airfare and hotels charged to your card
Earn 3X points on travel worldwide from airfare and hotels to taxis and trains
Earn 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide from fast casual to fine dining
Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Get 50% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards(R). (For example, 100,000 points are worth $1,500 toward travel.)
No blackout dates or travel restrictions -- as long as there's a seat on the flight, you can book it through Chase Ultimate Rewards
Receive up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check
1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
Access to 900+ airport lounges worldwide with complimentary Priority Pass(TM) Select membership
Special car rental privileges from National Car Rental, Avis and Silvercar when you book with your card
Special benefits during your stay with The Luxury Hotel & Resort CollectionSM
Pay no foreign transaction fees
World-class suite of travel and purchase protections
24/7 direct access to a Customer Service specialist
Worldwide Travel Assistance from the Chase Travel Team
Access to the Visa Infinite Concierge who can help you with requests like dinner reservations, or Broadway, music and sporting event tickets
$450 annual fee

I don't travel. Points are just cash back with a different hat and harder to use, right?

i agree, any card that gives points instead of cash is going into the garbage.

Just ordered mine yesterday. Best card on the market so long as you would be traveling otherwise and you can spend enough on it in the first three months to get the 100k miles.

>NEETs in their late 20s and early 30s are just now getting their very first credit card after falling for the 'credit cards are bad' meme for over a decade

Cute thread, kids

Pretty much this in large part.

Credit cards are fucking awesome. Just don't run a balance.

I got my first card when I was 14 and my own at 16, am I cool yet?

I don't travel that often, but I figure if I take a $300 flight and use the priority pass lounge once or twice, the annual fee will be worth it.

Pays for itself many times over in several ways

nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/chase-sapphire-reserve-review/

you can sell the points through a broker and do pretty well

So I'm 21, have regular income and use a debit card. My bank wants me to get a visa, why should I get a credit card when my debit card works for me ? It costs me nothing, I know exactly how much I pay, I can't pay for something unless I have money for it so I can never be in debt, why would I want to change that ?
What would I gain by getting a credit card, really ?