Originally Posted by
othermike27
Yep, that would get it! This guy is answering a question that nobody asked (nobody in this forum, anyway), and that really doesn't matter all that much for U.S. consumers. We have the protection of a maximum $50 liability in instances of credit card fraud, and that is reduced to $0 liability by competitive pressures in the market - a situation that has been stable for the last several years, and is likely to continue for awhile. So, the consumer is not really threatened much by credit card fraud - it's a nuisance, but it's not hard to deal with unless you just aren't paying attention to your financial affairs.
25 years ago, I had both my cards compromised (only had 2 then) the same month, likely my own carelessness. That experience was really quite comforting - cards replaced immediately, no liability for me, and no lasting issues. The system worked to protect my interests! ^^
No further credit card fraud issues since then until last Sunday, when I got a text message saying one of my cards had just been used to make a bogus foreign transaction - one of several alerts that users can set up, as I'm sure many of you have done. Within 15 minutes of receiving that text, the card is cancelled, and a new one is on the way. Only hassle for me is to switch around the auto-pay arrangements I had set up on the old card. That's a nuisance, but not a financial calamity for me. And because the card issuer (Chase) is smart enough to offer a variety of fraud alerts to card holders and I have enabled them, their liability is only that one $15 bogus charge. Again, the consumer (me) is protected just like it's supposed to work. ^^
So, am I scared to use my credit cards? Heck no. Am I going back to all cash? No way. The Gartner guy is just doing what consultants do - tossing off opinions on stuff. (I can say this because I'm a consultant myself, but not in this field.
) Now, let's get out there and charge some stuff!
You hit the nail on the head but also in a way this has been one of the points banks here have made about their reluctance to switch to emv i.e. why pay the costs of conversion when the public isn't really clamoring for it (other than on this blog
) and that brings us full circle. (Of course a lot of people were woken up by Target). I also agree that I think it is absurd when people suggest not using credit cards for small purchases because of the possibility of having the card cloned. Please thinking like that is absurd and defeats the whole purpose of what credit cards are supposed to do.
And so we're still where we've been. I don't worry about moving to emv because of the fraud issue. Like you, I live with card cloning and it is most assuredly not identity theft which is a horse of a different color. What I do worry about is not being able to use my card lacking emv. It is for that reason that, if at least they can make it stick that all merchants will accept chip and signature, that issue, at least to me, is on the back burner. And we are getting there here. 2015 is just around the corner.