If you have a card long enough (several years between issue and expiry, say) and you use it often enough, the magnetic strip can start to fade and transactions can fail. More and more often. Edit: It might have been a chip problem rather than a magnetic strip problem. I can’t remember now, but it makes no real difference to the story.
And sometimes there might be weeks with no trouble and then you’ll get that one card reader that’s particularly finicky and there’s a cold sweat moment as you realise you don’t have enough cash. “Try it again. It’s done this before.” Please work. Pleeease.
This usually happened to me in the supermarket, so that scene from InnerSpace was playing on loop in my head.
After the third or fourth time, I called the bank and they sent me a new one ASAP.
The little chip contact on my debit card started getting flaky with certain machines. Finally, it wouldn’t work at all, and I had to use my credit card to pay for groceries. I never use my credit card, I wasn’t even sure it still worked. Then I had to remember to pay my credit card before the end of the month.
The only other time I replaced a debit card is when I lost one. When I chose the “lost or stolen” option from the dropdown, my card was immediately canceled, and I got the message I’d get a new one in the mail in a few days. I had to use my coin stash to put gas in my car, and I ate from the back of the pantry till the card showed up. Cut it close there, I didn’t know that was going to happen, and didn’t plan ahead.
Also gets you credit card rewards. I’d rather not have those transaction fees baked into prices but it they already are you may as well benefit and take back some of the fees they charge.
Not strictly true.
If you have a card long enough (several years between issue and expiry, say) and you use it often enough, the magnetic strip can start to fade and transactions can fail. More and more often. Edit: It might have been a chip problem rather than a magnetic strip problem. I can’t remember now, but it makes no real difference to the story.
And sometimes there might be weeks with no trouble and then you’ll get that one card reader that’s particularly finicky and there’s a cold sweat moment as you realise you don’t have enough cash. “Try it again. It’s done this before.” Please work. Pleeease.
This usually happened to me in the supermarket, so that scene from InnerSpace was playing on loop in my head.
After the third or fourth time, I called the bank and they sent me a new one ASAP.
The little chip contact on my debit card started getting flaky with certain machines. Finally, it wouldn’t work at all, and I had to use my credit card to pay for groceries. I never use my credit card, I wasn’t even sure it still worked. Then I had to remember to pay my credit card before the end of the month.
The only other time I replaced a debit card is when I lost one. When I chose the “lost or stolen” option from the dropdown, my card was immediately canceled, and I got the message I’d get a new one in the mail in a few days. I had to use my coin stash to put gas in my car, and I ate from the back of the pantry till the card showed up. Cut it close there, I didn’t know that was going to happen, and didn’t plan ahead.
Two comments for you:
Using your credit card for all that incidental stuff and paying it off in full each month is a good way to build a good credit history/score.
If you lose you card again, remember that you can withdraw cash without it by going into the bank.
Also gets you credit card rewards. I’d rather not have those transaction fees baked into prices but it they already are you may as well benefit and take back some of the fees they charge.
Yeah, that’s an excellent point.
You get a different error message when that happens though.