Choose how to pay by what it protects
Decide, before you buy anything, which way of paying leaves you covered if it goes wrong — and know which ways leave you covered by nothing at all.
Every way of paying puts somebody between you and the money. The question that matters is who that somebody is, and what they are obliged to do for you on the day something goes wrong.
A credit card puts a lender in the middle, and lenders have rules about disputes. A debit card puts your own bank in the middle, and the money has already left. A transfer puts nobody in the middle at all — it is the closest thing to handing over cash, which is exactly why every fraud you have ever read about asks for one.
Key points
- You are choosing who carries the risk, not which is quickest
- A credit card puts a solvent lender between you and the seller
- A debit card is your own money, already gone, argued about afterwards
- A transfer is cash — no middle, no route back, no obligation on anybody
- Size of payment and how well you know them decides which
- Anybody insisting on a transfer, today, has answered the question for you
What to remember
- The size of the payment and how well you know the person decide it. Anybody insisting on a transfer, in a hurry, has answered the question for you.
- A card puts somebody solvent between you and a seller. That matters most on exactly the day the seller stops existing.
- On a large transfer, you are the check. Use a number you had before the invoice existed, and read the digits back.
Try this
Think of the largest thing you are likely to buy this year — a repair, a vacation, a new appliance. Decide now, while nothing is happening and nobody is hurrying you, how you would pay for it. Deciding in advance is the whole trick, because the decision is much harder to make well while somebody is on the telephone.
Practice: Choose how to pay by what it protects. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.