How Millennials Became Spooked by Credit Cards

musicprnt
Fri, 19 Aug 2016 19:04:23 +0000

It is very hard to do things in this world without a credit card, hotel rooms, rental cars, and so forth are very hard to use cash for. Yes, there are electronic services like Paypal you can now use at stores and such, and you can link that to a bank account (though most people seem to keep it with a credit card), android pay and apple pay are linked to cards, so you still need a card for them, either credit or debit, that they debit. They are a bit safer, since the merchant never knows your credit card number, and the only risk is if applepay or android pay or pay pal get hacked.

Cards offer a lot of benefits, extended warranties, travel help if you run into trouble, assistance, cash back , points and so forth are some of the benefits. And yes, in an emergency, if your car suddenly needs a 2000 dollar valve job, or you otherwise have an emergency, having the credit reserve is not necessarily a bad thing (note I said emergency), when you might not have the cash on hand to get the car repaired.

I think Millenials have a healthy skepticism about cards, maybe because credit card companies for so many years ‘hooked’ kids in college with easy credit and then the kids find out the costs, and that is not a bad thing. However, it also is kind of short sighted to overlook the convenience of cards, despite all the shortcomings, the ease of using a card (which is also a downside) makes it a tool, as long as you are buying stuff you have the funds for, or have a specific plan how to pay it off if you don’t have enough.

In terms of the security of cards, that is another matter, the credit card companies in many ways are in the 20th century and so are merchants. Things like the 3 or 4 digit number on the card (which often isn’t as easily hacked) can help protect online purchases, yet a lot of places don’t use it. The embedded chip, once stores have the readers and use them, will cut down if not eliminate fake cards created by ‘swipers’, since when you scan for card info that chip’s data is not crackable or is very difficult. Obviously, the 3 or 4 digit code won’t help if someone at a store or place of business copied down the information, but most hacking happens online and that data from what I know is not stored. Not to mention that banks and credit card companies still have sensitive information in readable form, which is an open invite to hackers, too.

I am very proud of my son, he has cards on two of my accounts, because between if things need to be fixed on his instrument, or when he needs to travel, we felt he needed that, but he has never abused it and is reluctant to use them unless he absolutely needs something. We had one brief interval when he was first dating someone where he went a little over the line, but other than that he has been responsible, and when he gets his own cards he likely will be just as good,he understands that isn’t free money.