Re: OT: \243350 for three minutes

In article <eo1544leefvqsfb7cjobcutit36dde9h6d@xxxxxxx>,
Chuck Riggs <chriggs@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sat, 31 May 2008 09:57:28 -0700, SL560@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sara
Lorimer) wrote:
Same here. My bank gives me a few pennies back every time I use my debit
card as a credit card -- plus it makes keeping track of my spending
easier.

They pay you pennies now so they can charge you more later in
interest, but you keep track of your spending this way. Such a deal.

Um, no.

They pay Sara pennies now to induce her to pay with plastic instead of
cash; the fees to the merchant on this more than make up for whatever
they give her. There's no interest being *charged* here unless Sara
overdraws her account.

A different bank (presumably) here has a patent on the idea[1] of
rounding up debit transactions to the nearest dollar, and transferring
the difference to a paired savings account.

-GAWollman

[1] Unfortunately, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is no longer
capable of distinguishing "patentable subject matter", so many patents
these days are granted on ideas.
--
Garrett A. Wollman | The real tragedy of human existence is not that we are
wollman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx| nasty by nature, but that a cruel structural asymmetry
Opinions not those | grants to rare events of meanness such power to shape
of MIT or CSAIL. | our history. - S.J. Gould, Ten Thousand Acts of Kindness
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT See everyone in a week
    ... Free courtesy of my Credit card company. ... and pay for any soda that I drink. ... 9.99% with a bonus of 7000 miles to sign up and 1 mile for every ... since I was not spending on it. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: OT: Very well said:
    ... are bad for the Democrats. ... "Honey, we're maxed out on our credit cards, and we don't have enough money to pay our bills. ... We get another credit card so we can pay our bills, and we won't buy the mobile home we were planning on for next year. ... People have been hearing terms like "debt ceiling", "cutting spending", "quantitative easing'. ...
    (alt.smokers.cigars)
  • Re: OT: 243350 for three minutes
    ... card as a credit card -- plus it makes keeping track of my spending ... but you keep track of your spending this way. ... They pay Sara pennies now to induce her to pay with plastic instead of ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: OT See everyone in a week
    ... I know how the credit card deals work. ... and pay for any soda that I drink. ... The Credit Card company never saw me coming. ... cut my spending to a 1/4 of what it was since I was not spending on it. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: Announcing my new Sci-fi Book
    ... If they don't pay well, there's no surprise in not getting good ... the credit card every month, ... drunks take their clothes off is because the alcohol thins ... it will bother me enough to see the ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)