It Is Your Money – Be Smart With It
For years people have been using credit cards for all sorts of money transactions. Since the economic downturn of the last twp years, a major cry went out about how credit card companies are ripping off their customers. So much went on about it that Congress decided it needed to step in. Of course, the new laws designed to protect people are now hurting the very people they were intended to save from harm.
This article however is not about the credit card inadequacies. It is about the other type of card, the debit card. While Congress did what it thought was a good thing it left the other end of the card rip-off game alone. So, I wanted to take a few moments here to explain some of the problems with debit cards.
The banks are trying to promote a cashless society. This of course will give them full control over your finances without you even realizing it and there is nothing you can do about it. There goal was to get rid of cash handling, check clearing and all sorts of other accounting costs (i.e. they wanted to save money and increase their bottom line). To do this, they instituted what we know as electronic transactions.
Their most positive gain came when they realized they can garner more profits in addition to those savings by generating billions in fee-based income. Anyone who has or continues to use their debit cards contributes to these profits, albeit unknowingly. Well, now that isn’t the case because I am making it known and you, the reader, will need to decide what you want to do with your money.
In moving toward their cashless society they have created debit and credit cards. Debit card purchases didn’t always just go through. At one point they were stopped if sufficient funds were not present in the account. That is not the case any longer. Banks realize that with customers on direct deposit they can recoup these over drafted funds immediately once the next paycheck got dropped into the account.
Now the banks not only recoup that money, they also charge an overdraft fee. It is usually somewhere in the amount of $35.00 or so. That means that if you had an overdraft of $3.50 and they charge you $35.00 that is basically a 1,000 percent interest on a one day loan. Sounds like usury to me but who am I to judge.
People who use credit cards are protected from fraud. They can challenge transactions etc if they were not their purchases and can claim cards are stolen etc. Debit card holders do NOT have the same protections. Why not you ask? Well the answer is rather simple. With credit cards it is the lenders money that I son the line and they will protect their own money. With debit cards – it is your money not theirs – and they won’t guard against the theft of your money.
How about the IRS in all this? Oh yes, they are overjoyed that its becoming a cashless society. With electronic transfers instead of cash, they can trace everything. Talk about giving up your financial privacy for a little financial security – LOL – I guess the saying those who give up freedom for security deserve neither really hits the button in this one. Financial self discipline is a must in order for a society to succeed. The problem with all this electronic stuff is that we don’t have any discipline any more. We hand out our funds simply because they are so readily available. Gone are the days where people think before they spend.
Of course, that’s how the banks and governments want it. There are only two ways for others to control you, either by money or by force. So long as you don’t have money, you have no choice but to be a good little slave and continue to work and eek out a living. Forget the idea of finding the American Dream. To find that dream you must be in charge of your life.
There are some things that can be done. We can ask the banks to tell us when we are about to overdraft and give us a warning with time to think before making a purchase. We can ask the bank not to issue a common card that defaults to credit from debit when overdrafts occur. We can ask the banks to give us the same protections on debit cards that we have on credit cards.
Looking closely, you will notice one particular word in those sentences. The word “ask”. We can ask the fox to guard the chicken coup too, but is it safe and will we get the result we want? My advice, forget the asking, deal in cash. Go back to cash, have it in your hand when you make purchases. If you don’t have the cash don’t make the purchase. This will save you from all the hassles and allows you to keep your money instead of paying those exorbitant fees.
Don’t let other people decide what you can do with it. Don’t let other people control your finances. Take charge of your funds and protect yourself from others, especially banks and governments who claim they are there to help you – trust them – LOL – yeah right – about as far as I can throw them. It is your money. It is your life.
Who is in charge of your finances and your life?
Yours in Liberty
good post. the protection of their money(bank, credit card company, financial institution– those actual or potential bailout recipients) but not yours or mine — hopefully will generate awareness to consumers that would (1) otherwise be ripped off (2) otherwise foolishly spend and most importantly (from a liberty perspective) avoid the microscopic analysis (from government) about private monetary expenditure. it seems –not bad enough that we use their legal tender fraudulent money substitute– but also that we then invite (or at least allow) these parasites (banks and government–especially the latter if non-consensual) carte blanche information facilitating further invasion and micro-management over issues that are none of their business.