Smith's Supermarket(Kroger subsidiary)

[Barbaraok]

Maybe because you two are talking about different AmEx Cards?   Carlos as I read the site, the 6% is for "preferred" blue cash care with an annual fee, white the other one is the everyday card with no annual fee.

[Carlos]

Ah, good catch.  I do believe I have the preferred.  I didn't notice there were two.  It's certainly worth it, I make many times more than the fee plus get the purchase protection at no cost.

[2gypsies]

6% on SELECT subscriptions - only for the Blue Cash Preferred Card which has an annual membership fee of $95.

[SWharton]

I have always been curious as to how much we all save between our cash back cards, senior discounts, campground discounts and whatever else. Must be in the thousands.

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, docj said:

Therefore, if the card is present at the merchant terminal and it hasn't been reported as lost or stolen then there's a high probability that it is a legitimate transaction and not a duplicated card. 

Our family geek does agree with that and I seem to have misunderstood what you were saying. He also says that chips are immune to skimmer type of equipment, as they can't be read except via a request from the terminal and that requires electrical contact with the surface contacts of the chipped card. However nothing is different in the processing or data kept. He also indicated that most of the sales tracking is done by the card processor which may or may not be the bank issuing the card as only the largest issuers do their own data processing. Most of the information kept about purchases are not specifics of your purchases but just categories, like groceries $10, hardware $20, sporting goods $5, etc. but not the specific items. The purchases are also tracked by merchant so they could know what we spend at which stores, but not that you bought some Jockey brand underwear and Folgers coffee. Interesting enough, he also recommends having text alerts turned on as many card companies that he has worked with will sometimes hold approval for a text response, while email alerts do not do that. 

[Carlos]

None of my cards do that.  Discover, Chase (two cards), Amex (the cards), Apple-Goldman, Capital One, and more.  Never heard of it.  Holding the approval while you stand there makes no sense.  Also I'd never give a company my cell number, that's how SMS spam happens.  No way.

 

[sandsys]

26 minutes ago, Carlos said:

Holding the approval while you stand there makes no sense. 

That happened to us once many years ago. We were buying a stereo system. The clerk put through our card and the response came back to call a certain phone number. He did and they asked him to compare the name on the card with Dave's driver's license then compare the photo with the guy standing in front of him. He did and they allowed the charge to go through. It was an interesting experience but we'd rather do that than have them approve a sale to someone else using our card.

Linda

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, Carlos said:

None of my cards do that.  Discover, Chase (two cards), Amex (the cards), Apple-Goldman, Capital One, and more. 

Actually, the case that I mentioned was with a Citibank card that also pay 1% when you use it and another 1% when you pay the bill. The text came to my phone within a minute or so if the merchant terminal sending it to them and almost instantaneously upon my reply to that text the merchant got approval. The entire process took less than 5 minutes. I later went to the Citibank card website and using the "Contact Us" feature I asked about the incident. The reply was that card issuers share lists of merchants who have a high rate of stolen or bad cards used and do that as a security check. The reply didn't say what happens if you don't reply and I didn't ask.

2 hours ago, Carlos said:

Also I'd never give a company my cell number, that's how SMS spam happens.

 I have not received any spam from Citibank to date and the last time I looked, nearly all (if not all) credit card applications ask for a phone number. 

[Randyretired]

I also had a sale where they held approval until I contacted the card company.  It was a rather high amount at an out of the way place.  Left my phone in the truck and didn't get the message.  I couldn't figure out why the transaction failed so I used a different card. Once back to my phone the answer was clear.

[Carlos]

"Contact the merchant bank" is a different and specific result than just not approving the transaction or not responding.

 

[Barbaraok]

3 hours ago, Carlos said:

None of my cards do that.  Discover, Chase (two cards), Amex (the cards), Apple-Goldman, Capital One, and more.  Never heard of it.  Holding the approval while you stand there makes no sense.  Also I'd never give a company my cell number, that's how SMS spam happens.  No way.

 

Carlos, we only have cell phones.   And I had Discover hold a purchase of a computer (this was a few years ago) until they talked to me and verified I was standing there in the store.  We had never put a computer on the card before, just loads and loads of fuel (during 5% reward time) as well as RV maintenance/repairs.

[Blues]

On 10/6/2019 at 9:54 AM, Barbaraok said:

I am amazed at the number of people who don't have alerts set up on their credit cards.  

And I am amazed at the number of people who have their financial accounts intermingled with their cell phones.

[SWharton]

Our cards send us an email within seconds of the charge. I generally have the email within feet of the register.

[Carlos]

1 minute ago, Blues said:

intermingled with their cell phones.

What does that mean?  Getting an email alert is somehow bad?  Running an app so you can quickly manage and verify your banking is somehow bad?  What does "intermingled" even mean?

Anyway I was just revisiting this thread because I talked to a manager at the local Kroger.  He said he's not allowed to comment on Smith's, but acknowledged it's been controversial.  He said he's not aware of a change for the whole chain and expects cards to be taken at Fry's "forever."  Sadly, he said they might get rid of the self scan system, which I love.  This lets me just scan stuff, bag it in the cart real time, and leave, no human interaction.

[SWharton]

Sams has Scan and Go. It is part of their app on the phone, works great. I tried the Kroger scan system and really didn't like having to juggle the unit and the cell. On the phone is the way to go.

You need to have your bank app on your phone, assume that is what he meant by intermingled. Only way to deposit checks unless you want to scan and email them in.

[Carlos]

Fry's lets you use both methods.  I go back and forth on the scanners versus phones.  On the one hand, I've already got my shopping list open on the phone, so the phone is unlocked.  On the other hand, I'm not sure if it's faster to swipe back and forth between the list and the scanning.  Also our store carts have holders for the scanners, but not for phones. 

Sam's alcohol policy makes self scanning worthless.  I nearly always get beer there.  They won't let you scan it at all.  At Fry's you can scan it, then just have to get approved on the way out at self checkout.  With Sam's you have to do another transaction.  Stupid.

 

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, Carlos said:

Sam's alcohol policy makes self scanning worthless.  I nearly always get beer there.  They won't let you scan it at all.  At Fry's you can scan it, then just have to get approved on the way out at self checkout.  With Sam's you have to do another transaction.  Stupid.

Better than having to go to a separate store to buy your beer. I remember being shocked to find grocery stores selling liquor when we went full time in 2008.

Linda

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, SWharton said:

Our cards send us an email within seconds of the charge.

Same here except that mine is by text. 

1 hour ago, Carlos said:

I go back and forth on the scanners versus phones.  On the one hand, I've already got my shopping list open on the phone, so the phone is unlocked.  On the other hand, I'm not sure if it's faster to swipe back and forth between the list and the scanning.  Also our store carts have holders for the scanners, but not for phones. 

We sometimes use the self-check scanners but haven't shopped where there are scanners that can be taken with you as you shop. Is that only at Frys, or does Kroger have that as well? I think that it is something that we might like to try. One of our son's uses a phone to scan as he shops and then to pay as he leaves but we have not yet done that. A scanner on the cart sounds much more convenient.

[Carlos]

There are no Kroger's here, so I don't know.  At Fry's, they are right by the entrance, along with larger/heavier bags than normal.  And those are GREAT for RV use because they are tougher and slightly larger.  You scan and bag, which is great because I can pre-segregate stuff for the fridge, house freezer, garage freezer, outdoor stuff, etc.

 

[Barbaraok]

If only Fry's had Apple Pay available.

[Carlos]

2 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

If only Fry's had Apple Pay available.

Yeah, that would be a plus in some ways.  I'm shocked at how many places are still resisting it.  I actively seek out places that use it.

[Blues]

21 hours ago, SWharton said:

You need to have your bank app on your phone, assume that is what he meant by intermingled. Only way to deposit checks unless you want to scan and email them in.

I deposit checks by putting them in a postage paid envelope with the bank's address on it. 

There's always a rush to use the newest technology, and then later you find out what's really going on.  It's mainly in the privacy arena (that we know of), but what's going on there doesn't give me any confidence in the financial arena.  I'm still not 100% convinced that my money is safe and will always be available whenever I want it in accounts that have online access, but it's the only way I can function as a fulltimer, so I accept that.  But I'm not going to compound the risk by putting it all in a device that gets carried around all over the place.

The thing about alerts is that regardless of whether you find out one second or one month after your card is compromised, the card will still be cancelled and you'll have to figure out how to get another one sent to you (always a hassle if you're a traveling fulltimer).  You're not going to have to pay for the fraudulent charges, so the early alert really doesn't do anything at all.

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by Blues

[Barbaraok]

Yes, we still have slides rules just in case electronic calculators turn out not to work correctly. 

[Randyretired]

1 hour ago, Blues said:

I deposit checks by putting them in a postage paid envelope with the bank's address on it. 

There's always a rush to use the newest technology, and then later you find out what's really going on.  It's mainly in the privacy arena (that we know of), but what's going on there doesn't give me any confidence in the financial arena.  I'm still not 100% convinced that my money is safe and will always be available whenever I want it in accounts that have online access, but it's the only way I can function as a fulltimer, so I accept that.  But I'm not going to compound the risk by putting it all in a device that gets carried around all over the place.

The thing about alerts is that regardless of whether you find out one second or one month after your card is compromised, the card will still be cancelled and you'll have to figure out how to get another one sent to you (always a hassle if you're a traveling fulltimer).  You're not going to have to pay for the fraudulent charges, so the early alert really doesn't do anything at all.

 

I have a bank app on my phone but it still requires one to input a password.  I have a friend who swore he would never do online banking.  One time he wrote me a check and I used my phone to deposit it.  He was not happy.  Now his daughter is a bank executive and he uses online banking.  Even has the bank app on his phone!

[docj]

1 hour ago, Randyretired said:

I have a bank app on my phone but it still requires one to input a password.  I have a friend who swore he would never do online banking.  One time he wrote me a check and I used my phone to deposit it.  He was not happy.  Now his daughter is a bank executive and he uses online banking.  Even has the bank app on his phone!

The Wells Fargo app on my phone requires either a password or a fingerprint.  I routinely use it for depositing checks.   It's so convenient to have someone scan and email me a check which I print and deposit.  I've deposited many thousands of dollars worth of checks over the past several years without any problems.

IMHO it's all too easy to think of all the things that could go wrong and use that list as reasons why to not adopt new technologies.  If that's what you want to do, it's fine with me.  OTOH I use my phone to pay for purchases; I routinely use online banking, etc.  I've even used my phone to make an ATM withdrawal from a Wells Fargo ATM without using my debit/ATM card! (That one even showed my son and D-I-L something they've never done).   

The only cards I've had compromised occurred when the gas pumps at my local Sam's Club had "skimmers" placed on them.  The fraudulent charges were caught by the "alert system" before they ever reached the account.  The cards were replaced in a few days.  

When we were in Canada this summer, our Canadian checking account (yes, US citizens can have one) had "tap" capability for its debit cards. That was even easier than using my phone.  I think some cards in the US have it, but not the extent they use it up north.  Tap doesn't even require that a PIN be used, but, to reduce the risk, it can only be used for purchases <$100.