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TreeCard: The wooden debit card that plants trees

treecard.org

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Re: TreeCard: The wooden debit card that plants trees

#31

Post by chrisseaton »

capableweb wrote: post #29
chrisseaton wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in Europe, there is no reason to have a credit card instead of debit There concrete reasons to use one in Europe (at least where I live): It's a month's free loan - why spend your own money when you can keep it invested or otherwise working for you for a month first for free? Consumer credit law is still stronger for paying on credit than on debit. I used to fly transatlantic first class once a year for free based…

Yeah, where I live you have exactly the same protections using credit card vs debit cards. Credit cards here don't usually have good rewards either. If you spend 10000 euros you might get 10 back in the end of the year, hardly something to hurrah for. Sometimes they give you a free TV if you open up a bank account with the bank and change to the bank to receive your monthly salary, but that's about it. So don't reall…

What do you think about the argument about it allowing you to keep your money invested for longer?

Say you're ordering something large like a car. You can pay the deposit on a debit card, and lose access to the money immediately, or you can pay on a credit card, and keep your money invested for another month or so, still earning you money, until you need to settle.

A credit card gives a consumer liquidity. I don't think it's an unusual economic concept to say that liquidity is useful and helps you use your money more efficiently.

Re: TreeCard: The wooden debit card that plants trees

#32

Post by lol768 »

capableweb wrote: post #27
lol768 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is location dependent though Definitely true. > Meanwhile in Europe, there is no reason to have a credit card instead of debit Ehh, I'm not sure I'd agree 100% with this one. You can certainly get by with just a debit card (and enjoy the access to e.g. the chargeback scheme) but I find credit cards a useful tool to build credit (and my credit history built up by never missing a CC payment undoubtedly helped me…

Yeah, credit history is something I never really cared about as I don't have any interest in getting a loan or touch anything else related to credit histories, so I'm probably a bit biased in that. I also guess the cost of living is so low where I live so I (together with many others) don't need to be able to take loans, not even to be able to afford a house. Edit: not a complaint, just found it funny that someone th…

> Yeah, credit history is something I never really cared about as I don't have any interest in getting a loan or touch anything else related to credit histories, so I'm probably a bit biased in that.

Fair enough! I wish that were the case in my part of the UK ;)

Re: TreeCard: The wooden debit card that plants trees

#33

Post by odiroot »

capableweb wrote: post #18
chrisseaton wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't have the same legal protections for their use. There's hardly ever any reason to use a debit card over a credit card.

This is location dependent though. A easy way to see if someone is from the US, is if they advice you to prefer credit cards rather than debit cards. Meanwhile in Europe, there is no reason to have a credit card instead of debit. On the contrary, it's more risky to have a credit card rather than debit as on debit cards the limit for overdraft is usually way lower than how much someone could spend with your credit car…

> Meanwhile in Europe, there is no reason to have a credit card instead of debit.

Much easier to get your money back, e.g. in common 2020 situation of cancelled flights.

Re: TreeCard: The wooden debit card that plants trees

#34

Post by Swizec »

billfruit wrote: post #25
TeMPOraL wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better secured and you're using the money you have vs. taking a loan? I ditched my CCs as soon as debit cards could be reliably used for on-line purchases. And AFAIK, the no.1 personal finance advice is "stop using CCs". I'm in Europe, though. That may be an European thing.

The thing is CCs basically give a zero interest rate loan for upto 45 days. This means if you spent 1000£ through CC rather than a debit card, the 1000£ will sit in your bank account and earn interest, also 1000£ spent on the CC would have earned you reward points that could be redeemed as a statement credit. Thus in effect by using CC, one would have spend less for the same transaction. Also taking credit and closin…

> the 1000£ will sit in your bank account and earn interest

You typically use a non-savings account to back a credit card. 0% interest

Most savings accounts give in the area of 0.01% interest.

While you’re right in general that you’d wanna use credit and keep cash for many things, a typical CC transaction is too small for this to be worth considering.

Use a CC for the points and pay it off every month. Forget the interest gains.

Make sure you don’t not pay. The interest on a CC loan will kill you. And that’s far more common for most people.

Re: TreeCard: The wooden debit card that plants trees

#36

Post by Nbox9 »

Ecosia, the company backing TreeCard, has a search engine that plants trees. Ecosia has claimed to have planted 116M trees. Several environmentalists have come out in support of the product — and specifically in support of the way Ecosia uses partners to plant trees on Ecosia’s behalf and the way Ecosia keeps their partners accountable.

I personally will have a hard time saying good-bye to my credit card rewards. However I think the wooden card might have a viral aspect because people will want to comment on how unique the design is. This looks like another great product by Ecosia, and I hope that they continue to make competitive products that plant trees.

It’s also worth noting that while planting trees is very good for the environment, it is not a silver bullet against climate change.

Previous hacker news discussion about Ecosia. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19324766

Re: TreeCard: The wooden debit card that plants trees

#38

Post by jsjohnst »

codingdave wrote: post #26

I like the concept, but so many questions -- Who is behind this? As in, what bank? If it is a debit card, I have an account somewhere holding my money. Is it insured? Is this just a branded card from an existing bank, or is this a new organization? Is this even real, or just another "build a landing page to see if there is interest"? "How it works" needs to answer the financial side of this product, not just what per…

> Is this even real, or just another "build a landing page to see if there is interest"?

My guess is somewhere in the middle, but leaning closer to the latter.

The reason the backing bank isn’t disclosed is likely it’s not fully regulatory approved yet based on some wording they used. Simple did a similar thing if memory serves when they launched.

Re: TreeCard: The wooden debit card that plants trees

#39

Post by billfruit »

Swizec wrote: post #34
billfruit wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is CCs basically give a zero interest rate loan for upto 45 days. This means if you spent 1000£ through CC rather than a debit card, the 1000£ will sit in your bank account and earn interest, also 1000£ spent on the CC would have earned you reward points that could be redeemed as a statement credit. Thus in effect by using CC, one would have spend less for the same transaction. Also taking credit and closin…

> the 1000£ will sit in your bank account and earn interest You typically use a non-savings account to back a credit card. 0% interest Most savings accounts give in the area of 0.01% interest. While you’re right in general that you’d wanna use credit and keep cash for many things, a typical CC transaction is too small for this to be worth considering. Use a CC for the points and pay it off every month. Forget the int…

I don't know your country, but in many countries banks allow savings account with reasonable interest rates to back a CC. Sometimes they provide automatic gathering up of parked funds in the savings account into a higher interest rate deposit account of even higher interest rate.

Re: TreeCard: The wooden debit card that plants trees

#40

Post by jsjohnst »

chrisseaton wrote: post #14
Symbiote wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the EU, there are lower charges for the merchant when a debit card is used. Sometimes, this results in a small charge for using a credit card. (Note that TreeCard is an English company, where they have inherited this cost difference.)

> Sometimes, this results in a small charge for using a credit card. That's not the way it's been for years - it became illegal in the UK to do this a while ago.

> That's not the way it's been for years

If it’s a Visa or MC backed card, it’s always been against their merchant policies to surcharge a CC and merchants can lose their ability to process cards if they do. It definitely hasn’t stopped merchants from doing it though (in the US mainly, but have seen it elsewhere too).

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