Brex CEO Pedro Franceschi gets bonus points for using the phrase “maximize founder mode” in a press release sentence that also includes “mainstream economy.” Really, it's an elite-level vibe straddle.
Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
351–360 of 374 posts
Re: Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
#352Earlier quoted context omitted.
That has not been my experience at all. I've been using debit cards for all my everyday non-cash purchases for about thirty years now, and it's worked just fine. I expect to keep doing it indefinitely. I have had exactly one encounter with fraud: a vindinctive ex-girlfriend stole my card info and had herself a little shopping spree, emptying my checking account. I walked into the credit union branch, filed a report,…
> All the stolen money was restored within a few days. It was not a big deal. You just agreed with my premise but that in your case the dollar amount was low enough to be inconsequential. If someone ran up $5k of charges on your card right before you needed to pay rent/mortgage/whatever, this would have been far more annoying. Also - credit card protects you from this scenario, for free, or in fact pays you money wit…
The $300 I mentioned was just walking-around money, meant to get me by while they investigated. I don't remember the exact amount that was stolen, but it was not far below your hypothetical $5k. The fraud was inconsequential not because it involved a small amount of money, but because the credit union took care of it promptly, with minimal fuss.
> credit card protects you from this scenario, for free
Sure, but using a debit card issued by my credit union also protects me from this scenario for free, with no risk of getting in debt or having to pay interest. That feels safer to me: fraud is rare, but debt is common, so I'd rather protect myself against debt.
Re: Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
#353Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's like asking "what does rent have to do with property prices?". Just because you've managed to be on the top of this perverse social summation of usury doesn't mean it isn't predatory and a net negative for society. Credit cards are one of the most insidious ways that banks extract money from those living closest to the margins of poverty. The benefits you gain are a fraction of the profits gained from raking t…
No it's actually like asking what cars have to do with debt. You can have a car without going into debt just like how you can have a credit card without debt. Since you have such high moral standards I hope you don't invest in any index funds because lots of companies in those would probably not live up to your standards
I don't invest in index funds, and yes, many companies don't live up to any reasonable moral standard.
Re: Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
#354Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a friend that got a call/notification that her card was being used suspiciously. It may not have been from the bank. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but then very shortly after, someone else got her newly issued debit card and then used it at an atm in her area. The bank didn't believe that she wasn't involved. And despite filing a police report and giving them all the information that she could, she was o…
Every atm has a camera... So they could just check that. Also, that means the person had the PIN too? That becomes harder to defend
They got her new card and activated it, so they set the pin. I wish I had details because it seemed very sophisticated. So she couldn't have been the only one hit by the scam.
Re: Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
#355Earlier quoted context omitted.
No it's actually like asking what cars have to do with debt. You can have a car without going into debt just like how you can have a credit card without debt. Since you have such high moral standards I hope you don't invest in any index funds because lots of companies in those would probably not live up to your standards
> You can have a car without going into debt just like how you can have a credit card without debt. Technically this is actually impossible. You have debt the moment you swipe/dip/tap that card and make a transaction with it. That you settle the debt before it incurs interest is absolutely not relevant to the types of folks who do not want to carry debt as a matter of principle. I was one for some time while I figure…
"well ackchyually"
Re: Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
#356Re: Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
#357Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there any reason to think the cost of money is going to improve at all in the foreseeable future?
well, yes, if Trump gets his way and gets a crony as the FED chair, interest rates will probably go very low
The federal funds rate is not directly tied to commercial interest rates. If Trump actually does get his way and begins cutting the over night rate, I would actually expect investors to demand higher yields on US treasuries and commercial bonds, given it indicates the federal reserve is likely to allow inflation to increase, possibly by quite a lot
Re: Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
#358Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Retailers(in the US) typically eat the cost This is what I really have a problem with. It feels so incomprehensible to me that, assuming you're an adult, you can think this. It's just a cost, if that cost didn't exist then either the price would be lower or the margin would be higher. In the end you're paying for it. You're the one exchanging money for a good/service. This is proven by your other comment about how…
> In such transactions you're basically just inviting a company to take a cut for 0 added benefit Simply not true. Every transaction with a card carries some risk of those cards details being leaked or even an innocent error being made by a cashier or clerk fat-fingering things. Some more than others, and you could maybe argue the risk is minimal - but it's there. Especially in the US where card transactions are less…
> If you're a "valued customer" you tend to get a few freebies before they start to really demand evidence of fraud for such things.
Just saying, your 'few freebies' is where you rip off a merchant. That's pretty much theft at that point
Re: Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
#359Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When someone steals my debit card and spends all my cash, I dispute it. You gave them your PIN too? Yes, then you have something you explain. Without it no one is spending anything beyond the tap to pay amount which would typically be low amount (double digits)
Not all debit transactions require PIN inputs here in the US. Many can also just go through the credit card networks. For example, all my debit cards in my wallet right now have a VISA logo on them and can run through as if charging a VISA card. I've had other accounts and banks in the past which went through the Mastercard network. However, I do not get any of the extra protections, the money comes straight out of m…
So that's the worst of both worlds.
Still a cc company involved, so they'll take a cut without any of the advantages. Not even sure why that's a product
Re: Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B
#360Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every atm has a camera... So they could just check that. Also, that means the person had the PIN too? That becomes harder to defend
They got her new card and activated it, so they set the pin. I wish I had details because it seemed very sophisticated. So she couldn't have been the only one hit by the scam.
Yikes... That's an interesting angle. Not sure how you would intercept both, I would assume/hope they would be sent separately preferably using different methods