# to those who foolishly think plastic is safer than cash



## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

I think this article does a pretty good job of debunking any theories that plastic is somehow safer than real cash.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/05/31/f-rfid-credit-cards-security-concerns.html

Pay with cash. It's the safest, track-proof method and prevents fraudsters from scamming you as well as big brother running reports on your spending habits.

Of course, paying with cash won't protect us from the scams described above, which merely require the existence of a RFID credit card. Tough one.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I don't get it. Why would anyone think plastic is safer than cash (unless you get robbed)?

I like plastic because it is more *convenient*.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Four Pillars said:


> I like plastic because it is more *convenient*.


And because it gets you cash back


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## michika (Apr 20, 2009)

And they have purchase protection! I only use my cards for two types of purchases; online, and big purchases like electronics, etc that you would probably benefit from having the purchase protection on.


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## Dana (Nov 17, 2009)

I love using plastic for most of my purchases. I have two cashback cards and earn $750 per year on them combined (one maxes out at $500 cashback, so I revert to the other for the remainder of my spending). It makes tracking my spending easier, purchases are insured, warranties are doubled up to two years, there are no fees, and I get a grace period of 3 weeks before I actually have to part with my money. 

I understand that plastic is not as safe as cash and leaves me open to having my spending patterns analysed, but the convenience and cash back make it so hard to go back to cash.


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## Underworld (Aug 26, 2009)

I think I use cash around 1x a year.


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## canadianbanks (Jun 5, 2009)

I rarely use cash, and pay for almost everything with credit cards. It's just more convenient. I pay off my credit cards in full at the end of each billing period though.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

But how do you get cash without plastic unless you have time to go to a teller and withdraw cash everytime you need it? My debit card was made of plastic last time I checked.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

Can't travel without a credit card? Rent a car? etc. Must pay them off every month though. We check our activity on every card almost every day. Unknown purchases followed up if required. Banks absorb fraud losses and charge them to the people who don't pay the cards off every month. This is perfect for us. Not worried in the least about "big brother" knowing my purchases-who cares if "they" do. Not to mention all the perks they pay you for using them. Given these benefits, I don't understand why so many people use Dr cards.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Go ahead! Pay for everything with cash

Better watch your back and where you go. When you start handing out hundred/fifty dollar bills to pay for groceries/gas you would be a pretty rare target these days


I usually charge over $5k a month to my cards with work related travel. No way I'm gonna carry all that cash


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

The article linked to above highlights a far more $ serious crime than the unlikely event of being mugged for some cash.

sour makes a good point though. I never meant to suggest that we should all carry hundreds and thousands in cash with us. I basically withdraw $100 in cash per week in cash and use that for the small, quick purchases like groceries in the express line, having it available to get pop from the machine, takeout food, rent the odd movie, buy a pack of gum, stuff like that. When the $100 is gone then I go back and withdraw another $100. I did the debit thing many years ago and found it was wasting time and making people wait in line behind me for nothing. I was shelling out all sorts of money in fees and was vulnerable to having my card and PIN skimmed at any time, with all that use. By reviewing my records at the time I found that $100 was a good amount to have in cash. It cut down on all the un-necessary debit use.

I think the point of my original post is you are NOT safer just because you pay with plastic and I feel the story demonstrates that perfectly. Muggings are far rarer than all the incidents of plastic card theft, skimming etc which are growing rapidly. 

It saddens me that so many people can't look past the benefits aspect to realize the inherent risks in plastic and modify their behaviour accordingly.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

Sad? I would think there are much more important thing to be "sad" about.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

the-royal-mail said:


> I think the point of my original post is you are NOT safer just because you pay with plastic and I feel the story demonstrates that perfectly. Muggings are far rarer than all the incidents of plastic card theft, skimming etc which are growing rapidly..



You're skewing the stats. Of course there's more plastic card theft..

That's like saying we should all ride horses because far more cars are stolen than horses now a days

That said I'm not a fan of RFID, especially in my ID card. Easy solution is to carry it in a case designed to shield it.


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

Plastic is definitely safer than cash and I usually limit the cash I carry around to $20.00. 

- If anyone steals my card number, the credit card company is on the hook, not me. There's no need to buy the expensive insurance that credit card companies try to sell you. That being said, I use an infrequently used card for any online purchases. One of my cards was once compromised and someone used it for online gambling. The credit card company refunded the money and issued a new card within a week.

- If I either loose my wallet or if it is stolen I'm SOL for any cash contained therein. However, I simply have to cancel my credit cards.

- If I have a dispute with a merchant and he refuses to refund my money, I'm likely SOL with cash. However, with a credit card purchase, I can usually do a "chargebacK" and let the merchant worry about taking me to small claims court rather than the other way around.

- On top of that, I get rewards for using my cards I recently received a $1200.00 refund when buying a used car because of accumulated auto points. If I had been using cash all this time, my refund would have been zero.

I use my cards as a convenience and always pay my cards in full every month and never pay interest.


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## Larry6417 (Jan 27, 2010)

*To those who foolishly think cash is safer than plastic*

See www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hvRwWnDjIUF3gNuTPVjHc7OPjTag

The story referenced by the OP dealt mainly with RFID cards, which are still in the minority. Nothing is completely safe - including cash - but the convenience and rewards of plastic outweigh the risks for me.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

Don't forget about fire. Cash burns really well. Nobody expects a fire, then when it happens you say "oh crap. "IF the plastic burns, you don't lose any money. I never use debit card, too much risk. The banks really make you wait because they confirm first who's at fault. It can take months to see your money again from debit card fraud. I've read on RFD that of there is any fraud with your CC, the onus is on the CC company for the loss and the customer will get a credit back immediately, when processed. I've made a few chargebacks on my CC just from double swiping errors, and they have been processed within a week and I got my money back every time. 

I don't like carrying any cash. It really stops me from making bogus purchases incase my emotions take over my self control. Plus, people get mugged all the time. Read the public police reports your local police website. They are TONS of muggings, all the time. 

ALso, you would miss out on credit card rewards. I just posted in the last rewards thread, that I earned $1500 in cash back rewards last year from several credit cards. Cash can't do that for me.


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## Elbyron (Apr 3, 2009)

And don't forget about the health risks of using cash. Most people don't realize how much bacteria is carried on your money. Most of it is harmless, but various studies have shown that between 7% and 42% (depending on the study) of bills have pathogenic bacteria, such as E-Coli, and Staph Aureus. Also 13% - 18% of coins tested positive. But don't panic, experts say that money is not a major cause of exchange of diseases. And yet in Japan, there are machines called a "clean ATM" that clean their yen by pressing in between rollers at 392 degrees. That seems a bit excessive, but I guess they really like to be clean.
Next time you go to buy a hamburger and fries with the loose change in your pocket, don't forget to wash your hands before you eat it! Or, you can just pay with plastic (which I couldn't find any bacteria studies about, but I would think bacteria cannot survive on plastic very well).


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Good point but all of us carry and contact filth on our hands every time some idiot sneezes in their hand (instead of in their arm), push or pull a door open, push an elevator button, hold a bus stanction or escalator rail, push a public ATM or debit key pad etc etc. None of these are any better than cash. 

Besides, have you not seen War of the Worlds?


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

If we want to broaden the topic of cash vs plastic, the health risk doesn't concern me. People are overly clean. Bacteria actually builds your immune system, so quit being a pansie

I'd be more concerned with the public cost of cash. Pennies - what a waste of time and resources. Even the new $5 bill costs more than it's worth


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## houska (Feb 6, 2010)

I think both sides have a point here.

Credit cards have clear advantages for major purchases, and some advantages even for small ones where you can use them. They reduce some risks significantly but do carry some of their own.

Debit cards are in some ways more convenient than cash, and reduce the risk of loss of cash, incorrect change, etc., but expose you to fraud risk (where you then have to argue with your bank about the security of your PIN, etc.)

Myself, I have never really seen the point of debit cards (i.e., for POS transactions - of course they are ATM cards too...). These days, you can use credit cards even in grocery stores. It's only a few and far between stores I end up with that would accept debit but not credit, and then generally I can just pay cash. The convenience benefit seems low. But to each his own.

Of course, there is a free rider problem here. I know that any time I use my credit card to buy groceries (or anything else), the merchant is being charged a fee that only partially gets reimbursed to me in bonus points. So I, as well as all those paying cash/debit, end up subsidizing my credit card habit over time...

I do worry a bit how the RFID security issues will play out, and I am less than thrilled about chip+PIN credit cards....


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## Dave (Apr 5, 2009)

Thanks of that thread. I was not at all aware of all the risks associated wiht RFID. I destroyed all the RFID chips in my cards as soon as I read the linked articles. There are some pretty cool videos on the net about how to do it... very easy.

Unfortunately, last month a teller noticed that my debit card is pretty old and replaced it with a new one with a chip. The old card worked just fine in the BMO atms. However, now that I have destroyed the chip in the new card, I can no longer use it at the atms as if the magnetic band was not read at all by the machine. Weird.

Guess the future will be in blinded wallets. Not very fashionable though.

Dave.


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