What do you use for online purchases when no credit card? (Other than a debit card.)

[Dax]

I'm asking because my debit card number was recently compromised (I have NO idea how, it never leaves me -- but I do (did!) use it for online purchases) and my checking account was hit pretty hard. Fortunately, my bank worked with me to quickly refund my money, BUT I had a few stressful days when my account was overdrawn (auto bill payments came out) and I was left with no $$ and no way to cash a payroll check from my PT job (because I was overdrawn). This, of course, really brought home the importance of an emergency fund (in a separate account), which I've begun building. But that leaves me with the above question.

I am firmly against getting more credit cards (I'm hoping for discharge in 4 days!) because I know myself too well. But, I don't want to use my debit card for online purchases anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to use? Will a pre-paid Visa card work? I'm not familiar with them. And if so, would they also work for things like Netflix? (I got rid of my cable and just LOVE Netflix!)

Thanks for any and all comments!

[Dee]

You can use a pre-paid visa, amex, etc gift card. They are available at most grocery stores, Walmart, etc.

[Dax]

Dee- thanks for the reply. Do you know if they can be used for recurring monthly payments like the Netflix fee?

[ab33arch]

i've never looked into this but i remember seeing something on the news or somewhere on tv about a prepaid credit card.....you deposit money into the account and every time you use it for payments it gets reported to a national credit reporting agency....again, i don't kno how it works or if its good to use or anything really about it....but just a thought...

[JRScott]

Does you bank allow bill paying through online banking?

Might consider paypal if they allow it?

Other than that you can do pre paid VISAs etc.

[StartinOver]

You can get a debit card that draws against your paypal balance. You then fund the paypal with your bank account. I do not believe that the debit card on the paypal can "overdraft" the paypal and self-fund through the bank account. If you maintain very carefully your paypal balance, that might work for you.

[tobee43]

i always...or let me put it this way....usually use paypal...directly out of my checking account. i never use my debit card...and if the site doesn't have paypal then i don't buy it.

[wnguyen]

You scared me Dax. The only way (card) for me to pay online right now is my debit card but I only use it with the site I'm comfortable with, such as Amazon and Buy.com
With Buy.com I can use Bill Me Later to pay and they send me the bill and I'll pay them later. It works similar to credit cards. Other alternative that I use is Paypal, where I transfer funds from my bank account to my paypal account and use that fund to pay for my purchases, it takes more time and a little more annoying though but it's safer.

[ccsjoe]

I can't really say I've ever had a problem using my debit card. It got compromised twice, but being as anal as I am, I do check my balances and transactions every morning, both time I caught the fraud while it was still a pending transaction, called bank immediately both times and both times bank credited me the amount right away, no waiting. Maybe some banks are better than others about this, I happen to think the problem is more about getting into the discipline of logging into your bank account daily to review your transactions and balances. Takes me 7 mintes...well, that was before, with my pile of cc's, now with 1 checking and savings, takes me 2 minutes and I'm done.

[Pandora]

Its for that very reason that we have TWO accounts. One for local every day in person purchases and check writing and the other is debit only checking account with minimal in it used for online purchases only. That way if ever stolen, they wont get much.

So sorry your identity got hacked - that sucks.

[WhatMoney]

You can get a debit card that draws against your paypal balance. You then fund the paypal with your bank account. I do not believe that the debit card on the paypal can "overdraft" the paypal and self-fund through the bank account. If you maintain very carefully your paypal balance, that might work for you.

This is true as long as you do not have any backup payment method for your PayPal Debit Card. To increase your spending limit PayPal lets you specify a bank account as backup funding, or another credit card. You can limit the maximum taken out of a backup account to $200 however. This is convenient if your PayPal balance is too low for a purchase and it would take 4-6 days to fund your PP account from your bank account without the instant backup funding. Of course backup funding has the risk you mention up to the dollar limit you specify, a $200 minimum limit.

I've had cases where my PayPal account was too low to afford an online purchase of an item on a limited sale, or an eBay auction about to expire, so the backup funding was useful. Otherwise I'd have to expose my checking account debit card to the merchant, or skip the purchase if it was eBay. I'm thinking of Black Friday type sales that are only good for one day and may be the lowest price of the year. Geez, I'm sounding like a typical consumer now. I'm supposed to be saving, not spending....

[tobee43]

This is true as long as you do not have any backup payment method for your PayPal Debit Card. To increase your spending limit PayPal lets you specify a bank account as backup funding, or another credit card. You can limit the maximum taken out of a backup account to $200 however. This is convenient if your PayPal balance is too low for a purchase and it would take 4-6 days to fund your PP account from your bank account without the instant backup funding. Of course backup funding has the risk you mention up to the dollar limit you specify, a $200 minimum limit.

I've had cases where my PayPal account was too low to afford an online purchase of an item on a limited sale, or an eBay auction about to expire, so the backup funding was useful. Otherwise I'd have to expose my checking account debit card to the merchant, or skip the purchase if it was eBay. I'm thinking of Black Friday type sales that are only good for one day and may be the lowest price of the year. Geez, I'm sounding like a typical consumer now. I'm supposed to be saving, not spending....

one of the MAIN reasons to use paypal...(i have been a member since they opened)...is that if you buy anything on line they back it up...so if one is concerned with internet sales and getting ripped off they watch your butt...whether you use your checking attached to the account or a debit card...which they DO NOT let the vendor ever see...payment comes directly from paypal and the vendor gets none of your personal money info....

that's why i like it so much.

i know we aren't supposed to be "buying" but i even buy food off the net!

[blockhead]

Paypal is ok but I trust their security less than a bank, even with all the bank glitches lately. They suffered from the acquisition by eBay. I use a low credit limit credit card for online and never agree to leave it registered. As for 'electronic checks' that's like a debit card - another easy window into your bank account.

[tobee43]

Paypal is ok but I trust their security less than a bank, even with all the bank glitches lately. They suffered from the acquisition by eBay. I use a low credit limit credit card for online and never agree to leave it registered. As for 'electronic checks' that's like a debit card - another easy window into your bank account.

actually paypal and ebay have been the same almost forever....

i have never ever had a problem and i pay everyone and their mother...including rent....clothes etc. i don't even get spam mail and it's been....about 12 years or so...at least ....

i still like it better than supplying my info directly to online purchase site. it's just a comfort thing for me and i guess it's what i'm personally used to.

[catleg]

Let me just say one thing about online security. Most of us have the tendency to use the same email+password at many sites. Many sites (like Amazon) like to store your credit card info. This combination makes you very very vulnerable if someone gets a hold of your credentials from a loosely guarded site (e.g. chat board) and then goes into your other accounts online this way and buys stuff. This actually happened to me with Amazon. Amazon wants you to buy stuff, so stuff like 1-click buying and buying without prompting for a CVV2 number on your stored credit cards makes Amazon accounts very vulnerable to hacking. In my case Amazon fortunately noticed that a large order of electronics shipped to Eastern Europe was not my normal spending pattern, and shut down my account hard. Unfortunately I lost the feedback reputation I had built up in the Amazon marketplace.