Credit Card Safety

Use The Safest Credit Cards

Safety should be a major issue when deciding what credit card you carry.  All of our good credit to excellent credit cards has exceptionally made the test in terms of consumer safety.  But there are still a few cards that lead above the pack.

The Bank of America Visa Platinum Card was the top rated card according to Javelin Strategy & Research in California.  The bank’s card security services and technology, and its practices for secure handling of consumer information sealed this safety rating. 

American Express Blue comes to no ones surprise that it lists as a top contender.  Blue is rated as the number two card while it has a built in chip and is backed by the same company that brings you the American Express Traveler’s Cheques.

Is your card on the list? The others included Discover Platinum, First National Bank of Omaha’s Platinum Visa, Citi Platinum Select, and Navy Federal Credit Union’s Platinum MasterCard.

Some safety features you find in a credit card can vary from cardholders being able to place limits on cash advances or make it so that you do not have to give your full social security number hen interacting with representatives by phone, email, or mail.  One of the biggest hassles lately in security is having to remember so many security questions for each website you log-into. 

Another hassle but safety precaution is when you fill up gas in different cities on a road trip and you get a phone call from the credit card company thinking the card was stolen and the thief is on the run.  That happened to me once several times with Chase Bank’s line of cards.

Here are a few tips to a safe credit card:

1. Make sure you can sign up with card alert services to get emails or text messages to notify you when your balance reaches a certain maximum or minimum. 
2. Get a photo ID on your card
3. Do not use your Social Security ending numbers in your PIN
4. Monitor your account online everyday or at least once a week to make sure all the charges add up to your receipts and that you do not notice any fraudulent numbers.  TIP:  Using CTRL F works great for this to find numbers from your restaurant receipts and such.
5. Keep your credit cards that you have a 0% balance transfer on in a safe, locked place.  Possibly a filing cabinet.
6. Destroy and shred all checks that come in the mail with your credit cards that you do not use.  Also shred all expired or canceled credit cards.
7. Do not let your friends, co-workers. Or anyone carry your credit card or let them have access to the numbers on the back of the card unless you are doing a secure transaction over the phone or online.  If it is over the phone make sure you called them and never give your credit card numbers out to someone that called you.
8. Make sure when you make purchases online that you see a https:// instead of a http://.  The extra “s” means the transaction is secure and if you cannot get the application or form to be secured then find an alternative way to do the transaction