OT: Typically do you carry cash?

[Upstream]

You folks are real zealots in the church of anecdote.

Oh jeez. You do realize these types of stories have been going on forever.

Baby boomers like to complain that millennials are self centered. It is kind of ironic, since baby boomers were once labeled the "me generation".

For all the complaints about millennials' lack of intelligence, this generation is better educated than any generation preceding it. (The flip side of that, is as college education education becomes more inclusive, the minimum standards for admission to college drop. Once only the cream of the crop would attend college. Now students of average intelligence can gain admission somewhere. Of course that means that people of average intelligence are now better educated than they were 100 years ago.)

Lectures, you seem like a bright guy. Have you read any T.S. Eliot? About 70 years ago he wrote, "We can assert with some confidence that our own period is one of decline; that the standards of culture are lower than they were fifty years ago; and that the evidences of this decline are visible in every department of human activity."

Plus ca change...

 

[RUChoppin]

You folks are real zealots in the church of anecdote.

I taught middle school math for 3 years, and a year in the high school. I know the deficits students brought into my classroom, and I know the pains I took to try to close those gaps - usually successfully, oftentimes not.

The majority did not have a firm grasp on the times tables through 12 coming into seventh grade. It was a point of emphasis of mine to know that, as well as the squares up through 20. Some (maybe 10-15%) were still doing repeated addition even on their way out of 7th grade (i.e. instead of knowing 9x4=36, they'd write 9+9=18, 18+9=27, 27+9=36), or just falling back to their calculator. The old "you won't always have a calculator with you" canard stopped working around the time they all got cell phones, and the calculators were allowed on all standardized tests.

Fractions baffled the majority of them entirely, often even with a calculator because they struggled with Order of Operations. Number sense was definitely lacking, and it was always a point of emphasis. I'd repeatedly tell them to "Check for reality" once they got an answer... because they'd mechanically go through a series of steps and not realize that they'd made a mistake, even after the answer was so wildly off base (anecdote... 3 pairs of jeans for $51 became one pair for $0.588... divided 3 by 51 instead of 51 by 3, and didn't notice that wasn't anywhere close to making sense).

And this was in a well-off NJ suburb. I know we were ahead of a lot of other districts in the state, and certainly across the country.

Separately, I was friends with English teaches who were fighting against the current by insisting on teaching grammar... which was largely removed from the curriculum, but they were finding ways to shoehorn it in. One friend is an AP Lit teacher who was never taught grammar in school herself, and had to learn it on her own so she could properly grade papers.

There are areas where our educational system is leaps and bounds better than it was (inclusion, support for special needs, support for low income kids, etc) and areas where it's not (e.g. chasing "flavor of the month" pedagogy concepts every few years has ended up losing core competencies, focus on testing has taken away a lot of instructional time and changed the focus of that instructional time, etc).

 

[RUChoppin]

9th grader who could factor polynomials but doesn't know 4x6? I'm skeptical.

It's because I took his calculator away. He knew the concept, but would sit on his calculator dividing to get factors... (24/2, 24/3, 24/4, 24/5, etc). I was expecting them to rattle off factors off the top of their head, and he really had to think about it. In that particular example, it was a combination of a) never building the wrote memorization, and b) being lazy and more willing to ask the teacher for the answer than work it out himself. It wasn't a lack of ability (he got to the answer), just a lack of knowledge and will.

 

[Upstream]

The old "you won't always have a calculator with you" canard stopped working around the time they all got cell phones, and the calculators were allowed on all standardized tests.

I had a high school teacher who wouldn't allow us to use calculators, but we could use a slide rule. His rationale is that the batteries in the calculator might die, or there might not be a place to plug it in. But you'll always have your slide rule with you.

 

[Leonard23]

Not a millennial thankfully. Carry petty cash for tips and such. Everything I can I put on Amex. Doesn't everyone use Venmo to pay people?

Yea, your average millennial can't do basic math without their iPhone. Is this really news?

Why do you use venmo over PayPal or Google Wallet or even a regular banking app like Bank of America?

 

[retired711]

9th grader who could factor polynomials but doesn't know 4x6? I'm skeptical.

I'm pretty good at math, fairly straight B+'s and A's until college Calculus where I found out I'm not actually that good in math, but sometimes when working the register it does get a little confusing when people throw a bunch of pennies and nickels at you in order to get a quarter back.

To the OP, I carry a couple bucks in my pocket, somewhere between $5 and $30 typically, and use my credit card 95% of the time.

Calculus was my downfall, too. It was my first quarter at Berkeley, and there was a lot of excitement to distract my attention.

 

[retired711]

I had a high school teacher who wouldn't allow us to use calculators, but we could use a slide rule. His rationale is that the batteries in the calculator might die, or there might not be a place to plug it in. But you'll always have your slide rule with you.

When was the last time you saw a slide rule? Darn things couldn't tell you the decimal point.

 

[retired711]

Why do you use venmo over PayPal or Google Wallet or even a regular banking app like Bank of America?

I haven't used PayPal since someone tried to hack my account there. I've used venmo, but only because a service provider wanted me to. So far as I can tell, it worked well.

 

[LevaosLectures]

Oh jeez. You do realize these types of stories have been going on forever.

Baby boomers like to complain that millennials are self centered. It is kind of ironic, since baby boomers were once labeled the "me generation".

For all the complaints about millennials' lack of intelligence, this generation is better educated than any generation preceding it. (The flip side of that, is as college education education becomes more inclusive, the minimum standards for admission to college drop. Once only the cream of the crop would attend college. Now students of average intelligence can gain admission somewhere. Of course that means that people of average intelligence are now better educated than they were 100 years ago.)

Lectures, you seem like a bright guy. Have you read any T.S. Eliot? About 70 years ago he wrote, "We can assert with some confidence that our own period is one of decline; that the standards of culture are lower than they were fifty years ago; and that the evidences of this decline are visible in every department of human activity."

Plus ca change...

Upstream, you seem to have misunderstood me, because I agree 100 percent with everything you're saying and that's my point. People take anecdotes of their personal experiences and use them to generalize about an entire generation. "Kids today" rhetoric goes back to the beginning of time. My own field of Renaissance England is full of countless rhetorical exempla of the moral turpitude of the rising generation.

Amusingly, in my anecdotal, subjective experience, Gen Xers (late 30s/early 40s) are often some of the most virulent millenial bashers, which is hilarious coming from the generation that was once lampooned as stoned slackers in flannel shirts who didn't want to work hard. It's almost as if they are so traumatized by their marginalization that they now leap at the opportunity to wail on someone else.

 

[Upstream]

I haven't used PayPal since someone tried to hack my account there. I've used venmo, but only because a service provider wanted me to. So far as I can tell, it worked well.

Read this: http://fortune.com/2016/05/24/venmo-investigation/

 

[LevaosLectures]

I taught middle school math for 3 years, and a year in the high school. I know the deficits students brought into my classroom, and I know the pains I took to try to close those gaps - usually successfully, oftentimes not.

The majority did not have a firm grasp on the times tables through 12 coming into seventh grade. It was a point of emphasis of mine to know that, as well as the squares up through 20. Some (maybe 10-15%) were still doing repeated addition even on their way out of 7th grade (i.e. instead of knowing 9x4=36, they'd write 9+9=18, 18+9=27, 27+9=36), or just falling back to their calculator. The old "you won't always have a calculator with you" canard stopped working around the time they all got cell phones, and the calculators were allowed on all standardized tests.

Fractions baffled the majority of them entirely, often even with a calculator because they struggled with Order of Operations. Number sense was definitely lacking, and it was always a point of emphasis. I'd repeatedly tell them to "Check for reality" once they got an answer... because they'd mechanically go through a series of steps and not realize that they'd made a mistake, even after the answer was so wildly off base (anecdote... 3 pairs of jeans for $51 became one pair for $0.588... divided 3 by 51 instead of 51 by 3, and didn't notice that wasn't anywhere close to making sense).

And this was in a well-off NJ suburb. I know we were ahead of a lot of other districts in the state, and certainly across the country.

Separately, I was friends with English teaches who were fighting against the current by insisting on teaching grammar... which was largely removed from the curriculum, but they were finding ways to shoehorn it in. One friend is an AP Lit teacher who was never taught grammar in school herself, and had to learn it on her own so she could properly grade papers.

There are areas where our educational system is leaps and bounds better than it was (inclusion, support for special needs, support for low income kids, etc) and areas where it's not (e.g. chasing "flavor of the month" pedagogy concepts every few years has ended up losing core competencies, focus on testing has taken away a lot of instructional time and changed the focus of that instructional time, etc).

Let me touch on the grammar issue, as it is germane to my field. The main reason that the teaching of grammar was abandoned (and yes, it's still hugely controversial) is because research showed it didn't really work. The best way to help students write was by challenging them with increasingly complex readings and developing their aptitude for responding to those readings and incorporating them into their own argumentative positions.

I don't think anyone ever suggested that we just throw up our hands and accept terrible grammar; rather, simply, that formal instruction in grammar for English first language learners is generally worthless.

Personally, I find that most of my students are mechanically passable writers. What kills me is a persistent lack of intellectual curiosity and an astounding ignorance of the world they inhabit. However, I'm pretty sure that this situation did not originate with our current crop of youngsters. The vast majority of 18 year olds have probably always been morons.

 

[cicero grimes]

no.. i'm not gonna rob you.

I want to clarify this a bit. When i ask if you carry cash, i'm asking if you regularly carry it. Not when you have your special trips to the strip club.

Actually, the question should be do you always carry weapons cause you always carry cash as the great Glen Fry suggests.

 

[RUinPinehurst]

Oh jeez. You do realize these types of stories have been going on forever.

Baby boomers like to complain that millennials are self centered. It is kind of ironic, since baby boomers were once labeled the "me generation".

For all the complaints about millennials' lack of intelligence, this generation is better educated than any generation preceding it. (The flip side of that, is as college education education becomes more inclusive, the minimum standards for admission to college drop. Once only the cream of the crop would attend college. Now students of average intelligence can gain admission somewhere. Of course that means that people of average intelligence are now better educated than they were 100 years ago.)

Lectures, you seem like a bright guy. Have you read any T.S. Eliot? About 70 years ago he wrote, "We can assert with some confidence that our own period is one of decline; that the standards of culture are lower than they were fifty years ago; and that the evidences of this decline are visible in every department of human activity."

Plus ca change...

Or. . . Kids? Why can't they be like we were. Perfect in every way. What's the matter with kids, today?

Source?

 

[sherrane]

I only use plastic when purchasing items online and when I purchase gas (unless I'm in NJ because every time I buy gas with plastic in NJ, the card is stolen). Skimmers have become high tech to the point where they are difficult to distinguish. Credit Card companies have always dragged their feet resolving my disputes. Skimmers found at a few Walmarts.

 

[RBS05]

9th grader who could factor polynomials but doesn't know 4x6? I'm skeptical.

I'm pretty good at math, fairly straight B+'s and A's until college Calculus where I found out I'm not actually that good in math, but sometimes when working the register it does get a little confusing when people throw a bunch of pennies and nickels at you in order to get a quarter back.

As someone who is very good at math, I'm perfectly willing to admit that if I spent 8 hours a day at a register waiting for a CC swipe to process or making normal "change of a $20", for every day of my working life, it would take me a few seconds to register WTF was going on when some guy gives me $23.13 to pay for $17.88 worth of items because a $5 bill and a quarter is so much easier for him to carry around than two singles, a dime and two pennies.

 

[oldman87]

Actually, the question should be do you always carry weapons cause you always carry cash as the great Glen Fry suggests.

I always carry a weapon in case if I need more cash.

 

[retired711]

Read this: http://fortune.com/2016/05/24/venmo-investigation/

many thanks! I will not use the service again. And I passed this along to the service provider who had wanted me to use venmo.

 

[retired711]

Let me touch on the grammar issue, as it is germane to my field. The main reason that the teaching of grammar was abandoned (and yes, it's still hugely controversial) is because research showed it didn't really work. The best way to help students write was by challenging them with increasingly complex readings and developing their aptitude for responding to those readings and incorporating them into their own argumentative positions.

I don't think anyone ever suggested that we just throw up our hands and accept terrible grammar; rather, simply, that formal instruction in grammar for English first language learners is generally worthless.

Personally, I find that most of my students are mechanically passable writers. What kills me is a persistent lack of intellectual curiosity and an astounding ignorance of the world they inhabit. However, I'm pretty sure that this situation did not originate with our current crop of youngsters. The vast majority of 18 year olds have probably always been morons.

The law school exams I read rarely contain grammar errors. Usage errors "principal" for "principle" or "effect" for "affect" are much more common. Although I am a baby-boomer, I did not have much grammar in school, and I find I can look up things I need to know (e.g. correct use of the subjunctive or when I should use plural verbs).

I agree with Levaos that there is a lack of intellectual curiosity and a lot of ignorance. I see this in class as well as on exams. I do not know how to explain it.

 

[Caliknight]

Why do you use venmo over PayPal or Google Wallet or even a regular banking app like Bank of America?

It just seems easier to use, and everyone I know uses it. I read the article above and I did find some privacy concerns, but managed those. I just assume they are in every app I use. Millenials just love to have people see their names for any reason. "Look at me, I paid someone for something!"

It's all manageable though.

 

[RUChoppin]

Let me touch on the grammar issue, as it is germane to my field. The main reason that the teaching of grammar was abandoned (and yes, it's still hugely controversial) is because research showed it didn't really work. The best way to help students write was by challenging them with increasingly complex readings and developing their aptitude for responding to those readings and incorporating them into their own argumentative positions.

I don't think anyone ever suggested that we just throw up our hands and accept terrible grammar; rather, simply, that formal instruction in grammar for English first language learners is generally worthless.

Personally, I find that most of my students are mechanically passable writers. What kills me is a persistent lack of intellectual curiosity and an astounding ignorance of the world they inhabit. However, I'm pretty sure that this situation did not originate with our current crop of youngsters. The vast majority of 18 year olds have probably always been morons.

As you say, the "best way" is still controversial. The idea that content matters more than grammatical presentation is prevalent right now, especially for papers written outside the English classroom (at least, it was a decade ago when I was teaching). However, when students are not shown why their writing is awkward or confusing, they tend to develop bad habits. There are only so many opportunities for students to get feedback on their writing during middle/high school, as class sizes limit the number of papers teachers can grade.

While it's not necessarily formal education in grammar (e.g. diagramming sentences), that grammatical feedback on written papers is important to the process of improving writing quality. Given the limited number of opportunities for grammatical feedback, I really feel it needs some type of supplement in the form of classroom instruction (or we could just cut class sizes in half and double the amount of writing assignments).

I had colleagues (Gen-Xers) who would read a student's paper and know it "didn't sound right", but couldn't always pinpoint why. They knew the sentence structure was off, and they knew how they'd rewrite the paragraph it to make it better, but they didn't know how to explain to the student what their error was and how to correct/avoid it. That was because *they* had never been taught the grammatical rules that were being broken, and they were now the ones grading the papers. Some would go to Google for help, and others would just mark it "awk" and move on to the rest of their stack of papers to grade.

To me, that's just a recipe for accelerated linguistic drift (e.g. "should of", "one in the same"). Especially against a backdrop of other technological pressures (e.g. text, twitter, etc).

 

[robcac26]

Fractions baffled the majority of them entirely, often even with a calculator because they struggled with Order of Operations.

Yeah you see this issue every now and then on facebook when people start sharing one of those "1+1+1+1*0+1=?" posts. It seems like half of the people who answer it are wrong on every one. Of course, these posts are designed to trick people, but how are that many people completely unaware of order of operations? I guess most people just forget about it once they're out of school, but then it seems that the people who are wrong are so confident that they are correct that the comments on these posts turn into people arguing and calling each other stupid.

 

[RUsojo]

Read this: http://fortune.com/2016/05/24/venmo-investigation/

many thanks! I will not use the service again. And I passed this along to the service provider who had wanted me to use venmo.

How could you not know the basic features of an app before you use it? I read the article and everything mentioned there is public info. Seems like user due diligence is more to blame than anything else.

 

[Leonard23]

It just seems easier to use, and everyone I know uses it. I read the article above and I did find some privacy concerns, but managed those. I just assume they are in every app I use. Millenials just love to have people see their names for any reason. "Look at me, I paid someone for something!"

It's all manageable though.

PayPal, Google Wallet & my BOA app send $ by entering an email address, just like venmo. I guess venmo did a better marketing job.

 

[RUScrew85]

For those of you that do carry cash could you post what night you are out the latest and where you'll be? Maybe even after having some drinks?

 

[Upstream]

PayPal, Google Wallet & my BOA app send $ by entering an email address, just like venmo. I guess venmo did a better marketing job.

A couple of "features" of Venmo (which are identified in the settlement with the Texas AG) certainly are marketing features. The newsfeed showing transactions that friends made, encourage people to use Venmo. If I keep getting notifications that some of my friends are using Venmo daily, then I am likely to feel more comfortable and encouraged to use it more frequently too. Same thing about emails from Venmo that look like they're coming from my friends.

 

[Upstream]

For those of you that do carry cash could you post what night you are out the latest and where you'll be? Maybe even after having some drinks?

I'll probably be at Stuff Yer Face tonight. I might have $45 in cash on me. Why?

 

[Upstream]

How could you not know the basic features of an app before you use it? I read the article and everything mentioned there is public info. Seems like user due diligence is more to blame than anything else.

I think the most troubling part of the settlement is that Venmo previously stated they offered "bank-grade security" when they did not. Note that as a result of the settlement, Venmo's website no longer indicates they offer bank-grade security.

 

[Phi_1055]

I give you permission to be rude. Please go ahead and tell me what I'm missing. Tell me how companies which we literally click a button to allow access to our devices which log every website visited, item purchased, "liked" item, etc and then use that information we've given them to direct us to other sites, recommend items we should buy, remind us when we need to buy more of them, and on and on...how that is so much better than what Visa has on me? You click "enable" on your phone GPS which allows whoever in the world to track your location, tell you which stores are nearby you for you to shop at, remind you to "check in" to a restaurant so everyone else knows you're there. But the credit card company is the problem?

Visa has my SSN. So do a few banks, my brokerage/retirement account companies, my current and former employers (one of them a government agency where employee info was hacked), plus the IRS (probably the most widespread identify theft target).

If you're trying to say that anyone who has had their credit card stolen is a victim of identity theft, sure go ahead. It's not what most people equate to identity theft. People who steal CCs (physical or info) tend to be in a rush to buy as much as they can before the missing card/fraudulent charges get reported and the fun stops. If my Visa gets stolen and $2K in charges get past the fraud monitoring, I still don't pay a cent and I wait a few days for a replacement card. I spend an hour updating my autopay accounts.

Most people when they hear "identity theft" think of the much more severe, and much lengthier restitution process, of when someone gets access to your SSN and starts opening accounts under your name which you never know about. CCs, cars, mortgages. That's the type of stuff that can make your life hell and be a terrible surprise when collections come or you apply for your own mortgage. Having a CC stolen doesn't move the needle in that regard.

But please tell me what I'm so off on.

You are not wrong about credit card theft not equaling identity theft. They are two different things and I never meant to imply they are the same.

Your position is that since you are giving out personally identifiable information all over the place, it hardly matters that you give it to a few more institutions, and I pretty much agree with you on that. It's convenient for you and you accept the risks associated with it.

 

[RUScrew85]

I'll probably be at Stuff Yer Face tonight. I might have $45 in cash on me. Why?

Oh nothing... ; )

 

[Zak57]

Every app on your phone has the same parameters. They all scrape your phone. Venmo is no different. The public feature can be used if you choose to. You can make all payments private and there is no amount listed even if it is public. Next...

 

[IL Lusciato]

I did not for a long time, but recently I do try to carry some, usually anywhere from 5-40 bucks, because it is easier to grab food, a soda, things from cash-only delis, use vending machines etc.

 

[RUforJERSEY]

Rarely carry cash. Use debit card for almost everything.

 

[RU848789]

Don't a lot of strip clubs have the Disney dollars system where you can swipe your card to get a stack of "funny money" for tipping? If so, cash is truly dead.

Yeah and no wife ever looked at a credit card bill. There will always be cash...

 

[RU848789]

When it comes to doing math in one's head, I'm a firm believer it's like speed, i.e., either you're good at it or not, independent of how you were taught. Doesn't mean teaching can't get you from a 4.8 forty to a 4.7, but it ain't gonna get you to a 4.4. I can do math in my head like Rainman, but with calculators and ubiquitous smart phones, it doesn't really matter much any more, as others can do the math pretty quickly too.

 

[LevaosLectures]

Yeah and no wife ever looked at a credit card bill. There will always be cash...

Hopefully they bill discreetly.

 

[Phi_1055]

I give you permission to be rude. Please go ahead and tell me what I'm missing. Tell me how companies which we literally click a button to allow access to our devices which log every website visited, item purchased, "liked" item, etc and then use that information we've given them to direct us to other sites, recommend items we should buy, remind us when we need to buy more of them, and on and on...how that is so much better than what Visa has on me? You click "enable" on your phone GPS which allows whoever in the world to track your location, tell you which stores are nearby you for you to shop at, remind you to "check in" to a restaurant so everyone else knows you're there. But the credit card company is the problem?

Visa has my SSN. So do a few banks, my brokerage/retirement account companies, my current and former employers (one of them a government agency where employee info was hacked), plus the IRS (probably the most widespread identify theft target).

If you're trying to say that anyone who has had their credit card stolen is a victim of identity theft, sure go ahead. It's not what most people equate to identity theft. People who steal CCs (physical or info) tend to be in a rush to buy as much as they can before the missing card/fraudulent charges get reported and the fun stops. If my Visa gets stolen and $2K in charges get past the fraud monitoring, I still don't pay a cent and I wait a few days for a replacement card. I spend an hour updating my autopay accounts.

Most people when they hear "identity theft" think of the much more severe, and much lengthier restitution process, of when someone gets access to your SSN and starts opening accounts under your name which you never know about. CCs, cars, mortgages. That's the type of stuff that can make your life hell and be a terrible surprise when collections come or you apply for your own mortgage. Having a CC stolen doesn't move the needle in that regard.

But please tell me what I'm so off on.

Just to show you something. Keep in my mind I am not what you would call tech-savvy but I do know what to look for. I started with nothing more than the users screen name.

There's a poster in this thread who mocked the notion of carrying cash and not using credit cards. Who it is not important. Just from the information in posts made on SN by him it took me TEN minutes to use public websites to learn:

His, his wife's and his stepchildren's names, his wedding date and their birthdays. Wife's last prior last name, too.
His home address and telephone
His and his wife's places of employment and past job history
Their colleges attended and years of graduation
Numerous dates and times when they have been out of town or state.
Their leisure and spending habits
Find many photographs of them in and around their home, which would greatly assist a home invader
And more

With very little effort someone so inclined and with a little know-how could steal this poster's possessions and/or identity.

 

[mildone]

I teach law students. For 30 years, they have been unable to do what I consider simple arithmetic (a woman gets $100 a month in social security, and $500 annually from farm rental. What is her income.). I joke with the students that now I understand why they went to law school -- to avoid math!

I avoid paying cash in stores because I don' t like carrying change. I use my CC even to buy a sandwich at Wawa's.

That's interesting because I seem to have noticed a problem w/my lawyers' math too, although they're no longer students. They always seem to bill me for more than 24 hours of a single individual's time in a single day. It's a neat trick, if you can do it. :)

 

[RBS05]

Just to show you something. Keep in my mind I am not what you would call tech-savvy but I do know what to look for. I started with nothing more than the users screen name.

There's a poster in this thread who mocked the notion of carrying cash and not using credit cards. Who it is not important. Just from the information in posts made on SN by him it took me TEN minutes to use public websites to learn:

His, his wife's and his stepchildren's names, his wedding date and their birthdays. Wife's last prior last name, too.
His home address and telephone
His and his wife's places of employment and past job history
Their colleges attended and years of graduation
Numerous dates and times when they have been out of town or state.
Their leisure and spending habits
Find many photographs of them in and around their home, which would greatly assist a home invader
And more

With very little effort someone so inclined and with a little know-how could steal this poster's possessions and/or identity.

So your thought process is because a person uses some form of social media, you can then use that to obtain enough information about them to potentially steal their identity. That makes sense if you're going to attempt to hack their information using things like common passwords through children's birthdays, etc. All well and good. But WTF does that have to do with using credit cards over cash?

Your original post was that your decades of experience in management at Visa results in you never using credit cards. I don't see what this exercise proves. You seem to be arguing why people shouldn't share anything about themselves, which is actually what I said when you then told me I had no clue what I was talking about and should do my research.

 

[retired711]

How could you not know the basic features of an app before you use it? I read the article and everything mentioned there is public info. Seems like user due diligence is more to blame than anything else.

I read the article as saying that the accusation is that Venmo is not doing enough to make clear what its default is. It turns out that I had changed the default to give myself more privacy,, but still I'm wondering what other kinds of hand grenades are in the program.

 

[Phi_1055]

So your thought process is because a person uses some form of social media, you can then use that to obtain enough information about them to potentially steal their identity. That makes sense if you're going to attempt to hack their information using things like common passwords through children's birthdays, etc. All well and good. But WTF does that have to do with using credit cards over cash?

Your original post was that your decades of experience in management at Visa results in you never using credit cards. I don't see what this exercise proves. You seem to be arguing why people shouldn't share anything about themselves, which is actually what I said when you then told me I had no clue what I was talking about and should do my research.

The more companies that

So your thought process is because a person uses some form of social media, you can then use that to obtain enough information about them to potentially steal their identity. That makes sense if you're going to attempt to hack their information using things like common passwords through children's birthdays, etc. All well and good. But WTF does that have to do with using credit cards over cash?

Your original post was that your decades of experience in management at Visa results in you never using credit cards. I don't see what this exercise proves. You seem to be arguing why people shouldn't share anything about themselves, which is actually what I said when you then told me I had no clue what I was talking about and should do my research.

My first and main point in my first post was that all of your credit card transactions are tracked. That data is bought and sold every day. The same goes for any e-purchase and debit card transaction. The CEO of the very large company I worked for once stated that we were not in the credit card business. We were in the technology and information gathering business. He was playing a little loose with his words but the point was that the information we were gathering on our customers was more valuable than the money we made on their transactions and outstanding balances. The more you use cards, e-purchases, fobs, etc, the more data on you is collected. Purchase cigarettes, alcohol, condoms or lots of junk food? Your health insurer probably knows about it. Purchase lots of gasoline? Your auto insurer probably knows how much and where you drive. There was a story a few years ago that made the news. A teenage girl made some purchases at Walmart or Target or something. She was living at home and suddenly a lot of coupons for baby items started to show up in the mail. The young girl was early in her pregnancy, wasn't showing and hadn't told her parents. She wasn't buying baby items. But the store's algorithms predicted that she was pregnant based on the food and over the counter vitamins she bought. Getting 1 or 2% back on purchases is not worth the "cost" to me.

As for identity theft - The more cards you have and e-purchases you make greater the opportunity for trouble because there are more people and companies that have your personal information. Hacks happen but you don't need a major hack for your identity to be stolen. Employees at those companies have your information and oftentimes sell it or, more commonly, are careless with it. e-files with confidential data gets sent to the wrong people. Data are stored on laptops or thumb drives that get lost. Paper files are left unsecured. Carelessness with data was a daily event where I worked. Criminal enterprises are constantly trying to infiltrate credit card companies.

Credit cards are very convenient. I have one. But read the information that is out there and understand how easily and frequently identities are stolen and how much the information about you is shared.

BTW, I didn't work at Visa