Credit card use in Mexico

[siesta]

I do not use debit cards. Credit cards are much more secure. The only reason I even have a debit card is to withdraw money at the ATM on rare occasions I need cash for something.

And if you drop it on the ground or your wallet gets stolen, your card number, cvv, and expiration is on the card for someone to easily use online without fear of ID check during in person use. That’s why it is more secure to not have the information on the physical card. But at this point it appears I am beating a dead horse.

 

[dioxide45]

And if you drop it on the ground or your wallet gets stolen, your card number, cvv, and expiration is on the card for someone to easily use online without fear of ID check during in person use. That’s why it is more secure to not have the information on the physical card. But at this point it appears I am beating a dead horse.

Well, if you drop your wallet or card, you have the issue of the person who finds it just using the physical card. The lack of information on the card wouldn't matter.

 

[siesta]

Well, if you drop your wallet or card, you have the issue of the person who finds it just using the physical card. The lack of information on the card wouldn't matter.

Most debit cards used in person require PIN numbers to be entered, unless it’s a negligible amount. So the real risk of losing a debit card is online use, and that fraud is more effectively prevented when the physical card has no numbers on it.

 

[dioxide45]

Most debit cards used in person require PIN numbers to be entered, unless it’s a negligible amount. So the real risk of losing a debit card is online use, and that fraud is more effectively prevented when the physical card has no numbers on it.

I don't know why you keep referring to debit cards, we are talking about credit cards which in most cases just require a signature that no one ever looks at.

 

[jwalk03]

Most debit cards used in person require PIN numbers to be entered, unless it’s a negligible amount. So the real risk of losing a debit card is online use, and that fraud is more effectively prevented when the physical card has no numbers on it.

Debit cards can just be ran as credit and would not require a pin for any purchase. The amount makes no difference. A pin is only required for cash, not a purchase.

 

[siesta]

I don't know why you keep referring to debit cards, we are talking about credit cards which in most cases just require a signature that no one ever looks at.

You quoted a comment that was responding to a comment about debit cards, so my response to you was about debit cards …

 

[siesta]

Debit cards can just be ran as credit and would not require a pin for any purchase. The amount makes no difference. A pin is only required for cash, not a purchase.

Whether you can run a debit card as credit is entirely up to the merchant and some don’t allow it.

 

[dioxide45]

Nm

 

[jwalk03]

Whether you can run a debit card as credit is entirely up to the merchant and some don’t allow it.

A very very small minority don’t allow it. Most do.

 

[moonstone]

Debit cards can just be ran as credit and would not require a pin for any purchase. The amount makes no difference. A pin is only required for cash, not a purchase.

Not in Canada. We have had chip debit and credit cards for years and need to input our PIN for many purchases. There is a amount threshold where you can just tap to pay with no PIN required for anything below that. The amount varies by merchant and many of them increased their limit during Covid to avoid touch contact. We have also had the portable card reader machines in restaurants for years so our credit cards never leave our hands. DH gets so nervous when we are in the US and the waitress walks off with his credit card. A debit purchase it taken out of the bank account immediately where as a credit purchase lets you have your purchase and not pay for it for possibly weeks. We never use a debit card and have most of our household payments (utilities, insce. ...) as well as almost all other purchases on the credit card so we can get the AirMiles/Points. We have not paid the full amount of our monthly bill (by <$20.) once in our 47 years of having credit cards.

We have used our credit card (a special travel one with just a $2500. limit and immediate purchase notifications) in Mexico and in Belize with no problems -yet.


~Diane

 

[jwalk03]

Not in Canada. We have had chip debit and credit cards for years and need to input our PIN for many purchases. There is a amount threshold where you can just tap to pay with no PIN required for anything below that. The amount varies by merchant and many of them increased their limit during Covid to avoid touch contact. We have also had the portable card reader machines in restaurants for years so our credit cards never leave our hands. DH gets so nervous when we are in the US and the waitress walks off with his credit card. A debit purchase it taken out of the bank account immediately where as a credit purchase lets you have your purchase and not pay for it for possibly weeks. We never use a debit card and have most of our household payments (utilities, insce. ...) as well as almost all other purchases on the credit card so we can get the AirMiles/Points. We have not paid the full amount of our monthly bill (by <$20.) once in our 47 years of having credit cards.

We have used our credit card (a special travel one with just a $2500. limit and immediate purchase notifications) in Mexico and in Belize with no problems -yet.


~Diane

Yes, Chip & Pin cards are much more common in other countries. The US does have Chip cards now- but they do not require pins. The US standard is Chip & Signature and very unlikely to change anytime soon.

 

[byeloe]

Yes, Chip & Pin cards are much more common in other countries. The US does have Chip cards now- but they do not require pins. The US standard is Chip & Signature and very unlikely to change anytime soon.

And still on the Imperial system as well

 

[TUGBrian]

I always use a low limit/separate rewards card for regular day to day purchases out and about.

my main fear is not so much losing money to fraudulent transactions, but my main card is used to auto-pay a ton of bills, and id be extremely frustrated if that card were compromised and cancelled or a new card/number issued that required me to re-setup all those auto payment features!

debit cards are the devil! something linked directly to your bank account is just a bad idea all around IMO especially with how many options exist for rewards type credit cards.

 

[TUGBrian]

an interesting point on the "cards with no numbers"...as until recently id never seen one however the newly issued HSA card (which is a debit card, meh) has no numbers on it at all.

im sure this is a super awesome safety feature, however it prevents me from actually paying medical/lab/etc bills online or over the phone due to not having any way to input the credit card number. very frustrating.

 

[moonstone]

my main fear is not so much losing money to fraudulent transactions, but my main card is used to auto-pay a ton of bills, and id be extremely frustrated if that card were compromised and cancelled or a new card/number issued that required me to re-setup all those auto payment features!

That is our fear too! We got the secondary card years ago just for buying stuff on vacation as almost all of our household bills are on autopay to our Mastercard.

~Diane

 

[moonstone]

debit cards are the devil! something linked directly to your bank account is just a bad idea all around IMO especially with how many options exist for rewards type credit cards.

We have also had our bank disable the tap & pay on both of our debit cards in case we loose them or they are stolen. Since we rarely pay for anything with debit it isn't a problem needing to insert the card and put our PIN in the machine.

~Diane

 

[jasavak]

I found an interesting tip about withdrawing pesos with your debit card. The banks often ask on the display: "Use this coversion "? Click no and you get a favorable rank
For example, 18 instead of 16.5

 

[Ken555]

I found an interesting tip about withdrawing pesos with your debit card. The banks often ask on the display: "Use this coversion "? Click no and you get a favorable rank
For example, 18 instead of 16.5

We have discussed this for almost ever… never accept the local currency exchange from any ATM or when purchasing using your credit card. Let your bank do the conversion and you will always get a better rate.


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