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Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

equifaxbreachsettlement.com

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Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#191

Post by _bfhp »

tptacek wrote: post #163
stanmancan wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the important part of the parent post is "It's a stretch to call something opt-in when it's unavoidable in modern life."

Credit cards --- bona fide, revolving-credit credit cards --- are so completely avoidable in modern life that I'm a little mystified as to why people get them at all. I couldn't for most of my adult life (weak credit score) and feel like I've dodged a bullet. I have a (secured) card with a low limit now, just to rent cars, but it's gotten a lot easier to rent cars with debit cards now, too. Heading off a routine obje…

I feel similarly mystified sometimes as I've never needed one. When my mom mentions paying off a CC bill, I think "why not just use debit?" Maybe she'll have to delay purchases or occasionally miss out on something, but it ends up being the same money.

There are also people who are below the income line of paycheck-to-paycheck, people with addictions, people who have jobs or lives with risk of injury and thus medical bills or unpaid leave for recovery, people who have a big family with needs they have to pay or travel for... and I feel people can use CCs because rich people culture pressures them to cling to things and the idea of being "successful" to attract peers and love interests... but that's just my subjective analysis.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#192

Post by stanmancan »

_bfhp wrote: post #191
tptacek wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Credit cards --- bona fide, revolving-credit credit cards --- are so completely avoidable in modern life that I'm a little mystified as to why people get them at all. I couldn't for most of my adult life (weak credit score) and feel like I've dodged a bullet. I have a (secured) card with a low limit now, just to rent cars, but it's gotten a lot easier to rent cars with debit cards now, too. Heading off a routine obje…

I feel similarly mystified sometimes as I've never needed one. When my mom mentions paying off a CC bill, I think "why not just use debit?" Maybe she'll have to delay purchases or occasionally miss out on something, but it ends up being the same money. There are also people who are below the income line of paycheck-to-paycheck, people with addictions, people who have jobs or lives with risk of injury and thus medical…

Without a credit card, how do you buy anything online, or sign up for any SAAS? (the ones that don't accept Paypal, which is most). Using pre-paid Visa cards are possible sometimes (but not always accepted) but are also a hassle to manage as a primary payment method.

Booking travel online? All credit cards.

Renting a hotel or car can be next to impossible without a credit card to put down. Once I had to pay a $500 deposit to stay in a hotel for 1 night because I didn't have a credit card they could put on file.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#193

Post by stanmancan »

harryh wrote: post #118
soulofmischief wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So your financial history is being tracked and scrutinized. At 41, you might be able to live and die without this being a big problem. In my 20s, I worry about my ability to secure healthcare and other such necessities in my later life based on a social credit score which includes financial credit history I never opted into. Just getting on a lease is enough for a credit pull. It's unavoidable.

It's easy to sign a lease with no credit history. At most they'll just ask for a bigger security deposit.

Everything is easier when you have money in the bank. Unfortunately that's not the case for everyone.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#194

Post by stanmancan »

tptacek wrote: post #171
ticmasta wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> you can still do all those things without a credit card. It'll just be somewhat more complicated. You certainly can't show up at a hotel and check in without a credit card at any hotel I'd consider stay at You also can't rent a car from a major carrier without someone's credit card securing it

You can absolutely do both of those things. I book and check in with debit cards routinely, and there are major carriers that rent cars on debit cards.

Booking a hotel without a credit card requires a deposit. I've had to pay up to a $500 deposit on a hotel stay before. Yeah you get the money back after, but not everyone has that type of money laying around.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#195

Post by tptacek »

stanmancan wrote: post #194
tptacek wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can absolutely do both of those things. I book and check in with debit cards routinely, and there are major carriers that rent cars on debit cards.

Booking a hotel without a credit card requires a deposit. I've had to pay up to a $500 deposit on a hotel stay before. Yeah you get the money back after, but not everyone has that type of money laying around.

You can often (maybe even usually) ask to have deposits and authorizations waived.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#196

Post by tptacek »

stanmancan wrote: post #192
_bfhp wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel similarly mystified sometimes as I've never needed one. When my mom mentions paying off a CC bill, I think "why not just use debit?" Maybe she'll have to delay purchases or occasionally miss out on something, but it ends up being the same money. There are also people who are below the income line of paycheck-to-paycheck, people with addictions, people who have jobs or lives with risk of injury and thus medical…

Without a credit card, how do you buy anything online, or sign up for any SAAS? (the ones that don't accept Paypal, which is most). Using pre-paid Visa cards are possible sometimes (but not always accepted) but are also a hassle to manage as a primary payment method. Booking travel online? All credit cards. Renting a hotel or car can be next to impossible without a credit card to put down. Once I had to pay a $500 de…

We're talking about actual revolving credit credit cards, not debit cards. I understand that you need access to the Visa payment system to function in modern society, but you can trivially get access to that simply with a checking account.

It is absolutely not impossible to book a hotel room or rent a car without a credit card. This is a weird thing that HN seems to believe about consumer finance that has not all that much basis in reality. I book rooms exclusively on debit cards, and doubt there is really a hotel that will refuse to do that. You might not be able to book a car with Hertz, but who cares? Other major rental car companies take debit cards.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#197

Post by astura »

tptacek wrote: post #164
ticmasta wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just false. Lots of real estate organizations require a credit pull as part of your application. You aren't renting from the owner/landlord but from the property manager; there's no notion of just "pay a bigger deposit to make up for your lack of credit history". It's also pretty much impossible to get through modern society without a credit card if you want to do anything crazy like, rent a car or reserve a…

This has not been my experience, renting in Chicago, Ann Arbor, and San Francisco (around 2001).

2001, sure.

It's no longer 2001, we live in the era of big data now.

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#198

Post by astura »

jammygit wrote: post #183
scott00 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only does submitting a claim prevent you from suing Equifax, the only way to preserve your right to sue is to actively exclude yourself from the settlement. See FAQs 19 and 23. 19: https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/faq#q-19 23: https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/faq#q-23

That can’t be legally binding

Why not? It's totally standard for class action suits

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#199

Post by pcwalton »

tptacek wrote: post #163
stanmancan wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the important part of the parent post is "It's a stretch to call something opt-in when it's unavoidable in modern life."

Credit cards --- bona fide, revolving-credit credit cards --- are so completely avoidable in modern life that I'm a little mystified as to why people get them at all. I couldn't for most of my adult life (weak credit score) and feel like I've dodged a bullet. I have a (secured) card with a low limit now, just to rent cars, but it's gotten a lot easier to rent cars with debit cards now, too. Heading off a routine obje…

> Credit cards --- bona fide, revolving-credit credit cards --- are so completely avoidable in modern life that I'm a little mystified as to why people get them at all.

Cash back and other rewards. They can add up if planned for properly—they aren't a life-changing amount of money or anything, but they're nice. Effectively, if you aren't using a high-fee card like American Express, you're subsidizing those of us who do use them (much to the chagrin of merchants). It's better to be on the receiving end of that subsidy, not the giving end.

> I find myself wondering a lot how much credit scores actually matter

Here's a well-sourced WaPo article on how credit scores affect mortgage rates: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/get-there/wp/2016/11/17/...

Re: Submit Your Claim in the Equifax Breach Settlement

#200

Post by stanmancan »

tptacek wrote: post #196
stanmancan wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without a credit card, how do you buy anything online, or sign up for any SAAS? (the ones that don't accept Paypal, which is most). Using pre-paid Visa cards are possible sometimes (but not always accepted) but are also a hassle to manage as a primary payment method. Booking travel online? All credit cards. Renting a hotel or car can be next to impossible without a credit card to put down. Once I had to pay a $500 de…

We're talking about actual revolving credit credit cards, not debit cards. I understand that you need access to the Visa payment system to function in modern society, but you can trivially get access to that simply with a checking account. It is absolutely not impossible to book a hotel room or rent a car without a credit card. This is a weird thing that HN seems to believe about consumer finance that has not all tha…

The Debit/Visa cards work for lots of things, but last I tried most places wouldn't accept them to have on file for damage deposits and such (hotels/cars). I have to admit, I haven't tried for about 5 years. A debit/visa is no different than a prepaid visa. On an actual credit card, they can push the charge through even if you don't have the money available (pushing you over your limit if needed). Visa/Debit and Prepaid Visa's can't go over the available balance.

I'm not sure about the sentiment on HN, but I'm speaking from personal experience. Any time I've tried to use a Debit/Visa when checking into a hotel they've required me to pay a deposit that was returned on checkout.

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