The Sisyphus Comments

Safely Pay For Christmas Purchases

There is no way to avoid it. The Christmas shopping season will begin the day after Thanksgiving with “Black Friday.” Since you can’t avoid buying all those gifts, at least make sure you don’t get ripped off. Although a debit card is a useful financial tool, it is not the best tool for holiday shopping, particularly on-line shopping.

We found out the hard way that a thief does not have to have your pass code in order to use your debit card to make a credit purchase. When my wife’s wallet was stolen, the thief used our Wachovia debit card to buy merchandise at a gas station convenience store. Although the bank covered the unauthorized purchase since it occurred after we reported the theft, we could have gotten stuck had the circumstances and the bank been different. If your ATM card has a Visa or MasterCard emblem on it, the card can be used as a credit card.

The best strategy for making on-line purchases is to get a credit card with a low limit, maybe $500 or $1,000 depending on your situation. A credit card is the safest way to pay for items online because most card issuers give you free security protection. Stick with Visa, MasterCard or American Express and you get a zero liability policy. With the policy, if you notify the bank of unauthorized transactions, you pay nothing.

You can even assign purchase password challenge with some credit cards. If you have a password assigned, you will be prompted for the password when you make a purchase which is a second layer of protection. MasterCard offers SecureCode and Visa offers Verified by Visa.

That January credit card bill will be large enough if it only includes your purchases. Make sure that it doesn’t include a bad guy’s purchases.