Understanding how credit cards really work can be confusing. In this episode, we discuss every question we can think of when it comes to navigating this complicated piece of plastic. From timing your payment schedules to making better spending habits, we’ll break it down and make credit cards easier to manage. 

Have a listen or continue reading the transcript below. Was this podcast helpful? Send your feedback and questions to [email protected]. 

Eric Rosenberg:

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Payactiv Podcast. As always, I am your host, Eric Rosenberg. And I am very excited about today’s episode. Rather than do our typical thing where I interview someone else, we turned the table around, and Sydney from the Payactiv team interviewed me asking questions about credit cards and credit scores and how to use them best for your finances. So without any further ado, let’s dive into the interview.

All right, everyone, I am so excited to be here right now with Sydney. She is a member of the Payactiv team. She was very instrumental in making this podcast happen. And we are here, as I just briefly mentioned, for her to ask me questions and talk all about credit and credit cards. But before we dive in, Sydney, could you say hello and let us know a little bit about your background and your role at Payactiv?

Sydney:

Absolutely. Thanks so much, Eric, for that intro. Yeah. So I’m part of the marketing team over here at Payactiv. And I also just happen to be a 20 something who has no idea what I’m doing with my finances. So I just wanted to take it upon myself to ask Eric some of these questions that I feel like a lot of people my age, or in general, people who are just learning about money, have. To have access to someone like Eric, who’s just so knowledgeable about all different kinds of financial topics, that’s a pretty rare opportunity to just sit down and grill him.

Eric Rosenberg:

It’s like our coffee brain-picking session, right?

Sydney:

Exactly. Yeah. That’s how I like to think about it, too. Just a casual conversation about topics that I think, unfortunately, we’re just not taught about in school. A lot of these things, you have to Google it later in life, then we forget what we Googled, and we’re just Googling forever. So to actually learn some of this stuff and have conversations that stick a little bit longer, that’s why we created this podcast. Yeah, just to pick Eric’s brain a little bit.

Eric Rosenberg:

So Sydney has put some questions together all about, as we said, credits and credit cards, and these are things I’ve been using for a long time. I actually got my first credit card, it’s a funny story. My uncle, who’s now sadly passed away, but he was a bank manager at a Wells Fargo for a really long time. And it was right when I started college, I was about 18, I asked him to sign me up, to get me a checking account and a savings account and the whole package you need to be a grown up with your money. And in that he signed me up for or credit card, even though I hadn’t asked. And my dad was like, “Oh, you got a credit card in the mail.” And it had a pretty low limit, but that was how I got my first credit card of my own. My uncle signed me up without me really realizing he was doing it.

Eric Rosenberg:

But it put me on a really good path. I learned a lot from it. I maxed that one out one time, but I paid it off. I never paid any interest on it. I was ready to pay it off by the due date. So, I have some fun stories with credit over the last almost 20 years. Yes. I feel like I’m the old guy now. You talk about your twenties. I’m only in my 30s. I’m not that old.

Sydney:

No, yeah. I guess just generally speaking, so you’re talking about how your uncle set up all these accounts for you, and that’s what most people are just trying to do on their own. They’re just trying to figure out what they need to get through, the day to day. Do I need this credit card, or do I want to use a debit card? And what’s the difference between the two? So just generally speaking, in layman’s terms, what is the difference between just your regular checking account and then this credit card, and how do they operate and work together?

Eric Rosenberg:

Sure. So a checking account, which for Payactiv listeners, if you’re a user, the Payactiv account is not technically a checking account, but it works really, really similarly. So whenever I talk about a checking account or a debit card here, it will all apply to the Payactiv account too, just so you know.

Eric Rosenberg:

So a checking account in general is a place that you can deposit money, and the bank will keep it safe there. It’s way safer than having it at home under your mattress or in a coffee can buried in the backyard, like in that old, funny movie about the guys in Vegas. So we don’t want to do that because if you lose cash, as you know, it’s gone forever. Fires happen, mold, lots of things can happen to cash. So when it’s in the bank in a checking account or the Payactiv account, it’s FDIC insured, which means that even if the bank goes out of business, you are going to get your money back.

Eric Rosenberg:

That actually happened to me once. When the 2007, 2008 financial crisis happened, I had a CD at a bank in Northern Colorado, just an hour or so from Denver, because they had a really good interest rate. And they went out business, and I got a check from the FDIC. I got a check from the government. 

Sydney:

Savings account, right? That you had?

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. A CD is a type of a long term savings account. So a checking account has that same protection, except you can put money in and take money out as many times as you want in a month with no limits. And a debit card is a card that gives you access to those funds. So you might use it at an ATM to get cash out, or you go to the grocery store and you swipe it or tap it or dip it. There’s so many ways you can pay these days.

Sydney:

Dip it.

Eric Rosenberg:

Whenever you pay, it will always come right out of your bank account. So if you have $100 and you use that debit card then buy something for, let’s say $50, instantly you will now have $50. That $50 was take and out of the bank.

Eric Rosenberg:

So credit cards don’t have that bank account behind it. So where does the money come from? So that is called a line of credit. So when you apply for a credit card, the credit card company, it could be a bank, it could be a company that only does credit cards. There’s a whole bunch of different companies that make credit card type products, but they’re going to look, for the most part… There’s some exceptions to this, but most will look at your credit report and your credit score to see your history of paying back money you’ve borrowed. Your credit report, you can think about it like your transcripts from high school or college, where it has a list of every single class and grade. Your credit report has a list of every credit card, every loan, if you’ve ever had student loans, car loans, mortgages, anything like that that’s related to borrowing. Payday loans are generally not put on there, for better or worse. Payday loans aren’t good anyway. We should try to avoid those if we ever can. So those aren’t usually on there, but credit cards and similar products are.

Eric Rosenberg:

And those details are all added up together, and you get a number and that’s your credit score. And a higher number means to a lender that generally, you are good at paying back the things you’ve borrowed, and a low score says you’ve probably been late or missed payments, or maybe had a bankruptcy or a judgment against you, something like that in the past.

Eric Rosenberg:

So a bank or a lender, whatever the credit card company will look at that credit report and score when you apply and say, “Okay, we’re willing to give this person this much money as a loan at any point in time and trust that they’ll pay it back.” So that’s where the money comes from, to make a long story long, with a credit card. A lender says, “We’ll let you borrow $1000 or 5000 or whatever the limit is they think you are able to pay back, and they trust that you will pay back.”

Sydney:

Right.

Eric Rosenberg:

So that’s basically where the money comes from. They’ll let you borrow it. And as long as you keep paying it back as agreed, they’ll let you keep borrowing. And that’s what credit cards do.

Sydney:

Yeah. So, so the different credit card companies, do they all follow the same rules? So if I come to them and I say, “Hey, I want a credit card,” if I’m looking at three different companies, are they all going to go through the same checklist and offer me the same product? So if I have an okay credit score, maybe a lower credit score, will they all say no to me? Or you know what I mean?

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah, yeah. 

Sydney:

Or does it fluctuate, depending on the company?

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah, that’s a great question. So every company does it a little different, so they all have a similar process, but everyone is unique. They’re proprietary, is the fancy industry term. So that means that they don’t tell any other companies exactly how they decide to approve someone or not. But generally, they’ll follow that similar review process. But some companies, like American Express I’ll call out, they’re generally targeting people only with really, really good credit. So if you have an excellent credit score, if you’ve never made a late payment or missed a payment, they have some really good rewards cards that they’re willing to give people who have good credit. And then you look at… There’s a lot of other banks, I’m not going to pick any up by name, but there are a lot of banks that have cards for people who are new to credit or who have just average credit or who are happy to take someone who’ve made a mistake or a missed payment once or twice in the past-

Sydney:

Credit building.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah.

Sydney:

Credit building cards. Yeah.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah, exactly. So there’s a couple different categories. So in the credit building world, there’s cards called secured credit cards. Those work like a bank account and a credit card combined. So with one of those, let’s say you have a $1000 credit limit. You would have to put down a $1000 deposit at the bank, and they just keep that money in an account in case you don’t pay your credit card back. But otherwise, it works just like a regular credit card. It reports to your credit report, just like any other one. The credit report doesn’t care if it’s a secured card or a not secured card, it treats it the same. So if you have a secured card and pay it as agreed and use it well for six months, a year or so, you should see your credit score start to go up, and then you might be able to qualify for one of those cards that doesn’t have that secure requirement.

Sydney:

American Express.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. Moving your way up.

Sydney:

The points.

Eric Rosenberg:

Those travel cards, right?

Sydney:

Yeah. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.

Eric Rosenberg:

Free trips. I took my family to… A little fun story. I’m a big points and miles guy. I took my whole family, five of us, we went to Hawaii in May last year, right after we could get vaccinated. So I got vaccinated, my wife got vaccinated, we masked up our kids. We went to Hawaii. And I paid out of pocket probably about $1000 for the whole trip, which it’s a big chunk of change, but I looked at what it would’ve cost without miles and points. It would’ve probably been 10 times that. We wouldn’t have been on a trip that expensive.

Sydney:

Wow. 

Eric Rosenberg:

Miles and points let us go on this amazing trip for a fraction of the cost. So there are some benefits to good credit.

Sydney:

That’s awesome. There’s this guy called what, the points guy?

Eric Rosenberg:

I actually know him. 

Sydney:

You know him?

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah.

Sydney:

No way.

Eric Rosenberg:

I don’t know him well. We’ve met.

Sydney:

I’ve read some of his articles and heard him on a podcast or too. This guy, he started this whole… Why don’t you tell me about the points guy real quick?

Eric Rosenberg:

Sure. Yeah. So his name’s Brian. It’s a great website. If you are into miles and points and have good credit already, I totally recommend it. It’s an awesome resource. And they give you all of the tools and knowledge through blog posts and mobile apps to help you make the best choices when you’re signing up for new cards, to earn the most or points possible, and then use them to go on the best free trips possible. And if you’re into cash back, they’ll help with that too. So there are some huge benefits, again, to having good credit, but it all starts with… When I was 18, I didn’t have any credit. We all start from scratch. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t have an 800 credit score, most people don’t. We all start somewhere, and we have to build up. And that’s an important thing to remember.

Sydney:

Totally. I’m one of these people who, I like to look into this stuff because it gets me excited to pay off my credit card bill. Because I’m working toward getting to that point where I can also go pay for a trip to go to Hawaii just off of my points.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah.

Sydney:

But yeah, I just got started too. So it’s cool to talk about both ends of the spectrum and what that can look like for anyone, at any point in the journey.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. Yeah. Whether you’re getting, trying to build your credit with a brand new secured card for the first time, or you’re excited for one of those high end cards with a lot of miles and points, don’t be discouraged if you are not at the point you want to be. Look at it for inspiration.

Sydney:

Totally.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah.

Sydney:

Well, hey, so we’ve been talking a lot about the bright side, the positive, wonderful side of credit cards. Let’s flip the coin and talk more about the harder, darker side of credit cards and why they’re so difficult. So one of the reasons why I’m still struggling to build my credit was because I got this college kid credit card when I started school. It was supposed to help me build my credit, but I just didn’t what I was doing. I didn’t understand all these due dates and when things were due, and I would just spend more than I probably would if I was just using my debit card, because it didn’t feel like real money. That delayed gratification, if you will.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. You could go get the TV or the pair of shoes or the purse right now, but you don’t have to pay a for a while. Right?

Sydney:

Yeah. So it didn’t feel like real money in my mind. And I think that’s what a lot of people struggle with, with credit cards. So growing up, my mom used to freeze my dad’s credit card in the freezer, in a block of ice-

Eric Rosenberg:

That’s a great trick.

Sydney:

When she saw his spending go up. Yeah. So, speak to that a little bit.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. So, credit cards, yeah. So far, I’ve pointed to the rosy and fun parts and the way I use credit cards as a tool to help my finances. But if you don’t use credit cards that way, it’s really easy to get into a lot of financial trouble. Now that can wreck your credit, and it can cost you a small fortune. As we mentioned earlier, you’re probably not going to learn about this stuff in school. And unless your parents taught you about it, you probably don’t know anything about credit cards. And if they did, there’s probably a 50/50 they taught you something wrong. So, we’ll go ahead and tell you how they really should be used. And that student credit card is just how I started. When I was 18, my uncle signed me up. So I was just lucky that my dad said pretty much never use this thing and keep it in the back of a drawer.

Eric Rosenberg:

When you think about your spending with a credit card, remember every dollar you spend, you have to pay back. When you sign up for a credit card, you’re signing a really, really long legal document. Most people don’t really read the whole thing. Maybe you should one time, just to see what’s in there. But it’s a really long thing that pretty much says if I don’t pay this money back, I’m going to be in a lot of trouble. So you want to make sure if you’re going to put a purchase on a credit card, it’s something that you can afford to pay back.

Eric Rosenberg:

And there’s a few important ways to think about it when you’re making those purchase decisions. So for me personally, I always like to make a rule, and this is something I’d suggest anyone do, that you never make a purchase on a credit card that you can’t pay off in full by the due date.

Eric Rosenberg:

So what happens if with that, if you pay off the credit card in full, by the due date, you never have to pay interest. So you can use the card more or less for free, even borrow money for two, three, four weeks until your next payment’s due for free. But then you have to pay it back by that due date or it becomes not free. And that’s what interest kicks in.

Eric Rosenberg:

So if you carry a balance from month to month, you’ll have to pay a percent of however much you borrow. So if you have a $100 balance versus a $1000 balance, your payment will be different. You’ll have a higher payment with a higher balance. But the more you borrow, the more interest you’ll pay. So it’s always best to keep those balances as close to zero as you can and pay them off in full by the due date, if you’re able.

Eric Rosenberg:

Now sometimes it’s good, if you have an emergency, financial emergencies, people have that happen sometimes. You lose a job, your kid breaks their leg and you have to go to the ER, there’s expensive things that happen. Cars break down, furnaces… there’s a long, long list of financial emergency. And hopefully, you have cash in an emergency fund. The Payactiv account’s great for that, too. We have the savings feature in there to automatically put a little bit of money away every payday. But if you don’t have an emergency fund, that’s when I would say it’s maybe okay to use a credit card if you know you can’t pay it back in full because that’s an emergency. And we’re not talking an emergency like I got invited to go to the club tonight, and I need an outfit. We’re talking about an emergency like I need to yeah. Not a fashion emergency. We’re talking keeping the heat on and keeping yourself

Sydney:

Survival.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yes. Actual needs that feed yourself and your family and stay housed.

Sydney:

Yeah.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. 

Sydney:

We call that livelihood, being able to just take care of those basic needs. But yeah, ideally you’d have that in an emergency fund, because if then you’re paying for that survival, whatever it was that you needed to pay for, you’re paying for that for the next several months. Maybe say you another emergency happen, and then bill just skyrockets, right?

Eric Rosenberg:

It’s a snowball. It can happen. Yeah. And we saw at the beginning of COVID, we saw so many people have that exact thing happen. In our lifetimes, we’ve never seen half the country all be pretty much laid off in a day. So when that happens, it makes sense people would go to their credit cards to pay for groceries and water bills and gas and utilities, things like that. But it’s important to not… If you’re in that situation, don’t go splurge with your credit card. And if you’re in a situation where your money is doing okay, keep that card, as we were saying in the beginning, just for the things you can afford to pay off. And if you have the personality type, it’s important to know yourself and what kind of spender you are. I know in my family, we have some spenders. It sounds like your dad is spender who,… your mom would take his credit card.

Sydney:

And unfortunately, I inherited that from him.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. Sydney, you got the spender gene. It’s a thing that some people have, and by knowing yourself, you can make the best decisions about how you use credit cards. Some people might not want to carry one with them because if it’s in their bag or their wallet, and they’re at the store and they see something cool, they have bad impulse control. And that’s just something you have to know about yourself. I’m the kind of person where if I see something that costs over $100, doesn’t matter what it is, I always freak out for a second before I buy it and think, “Do I really, really, really need this?” I take my time before I do a purchase like that. But if you’re the kind of person who is a quick spender, you have to be very careful with credit cards, or you could end up in a ton of debt without realizing it. And that’s really hard to pay off sometimes.

Sydney:

Absolutely. Absolutely. One trick I heard, not sure where, but person said to… If you have a monthly budget for whatever it is, the survival things, the clothes, whatever it is you want, you’ve got your monthly budget, spend your first say $500 on your credit card. But once you’ve reached that $500, stop. Stop. And just switch over to your other cards, your debit cards, so you just know that’s what I’m doing every month. And you’re still building credit, but you’re not putting yourself in that risky situation.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. That’s a great plan. And that’s like… The there’s a budgeting technique called the envelope budgeting technique. And that’s a cash-based budgeting idea. A lot of our grandmas probably did it and didn’t know it was called the envelope budgeting technique. But basically the idea is you get your paycheck in cash, and then you have an envelope that says groceries, an envelope that says clothes, an envelope that says gas. You have an envelope for each budget category, and you put actual cash in those. And when the envelope’s empty, you’re done spending on that for the month. So that’s creating a rule like that with your credit card, which is a great way to do it.

Eric Rosenberg:

If you’re just looking to build credit, there’s a common myth that you have to carry a balance and use the card every month to build credit. And that’s not true. That is a myth. You can have your card sitting in the back of your drawer and still be building credit. And it will still count as you’re being responsible with it. So something that people who are really bad-

Sydney:

Wait, I’m sorry. You just blew my mind.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah.

Sydney:

It can just be sitting in your drawer, and you’ll be building credit.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yes. You won’t necessarily get as much credit as an on time payment, but you are showing the credit card company that you can have a credit line open and keep it for emergencies, keep it for needs, and not be maxing it out and using it all the time. And that shows you’re responsible with it. So just having a credit card open and not using it can help your credit. The trick is if you don’t use it for way too long, the credit card company might close it. They might say it’s inactive.

Sydney:

Still want to use it occasionally.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. So there’s one… I have some cards that I don’t use that often, that are older cards with no annual fee. And because they help build credit, I want to keep them open. So about every three months, I have a little mark on my calendar, and I’ll pull those cards out, and I’ll carry them around with me, and I’ll buy lunch. Or if I’m running into the store, a convenience store or something small, up to $10 purchase. And I have all those cards on auto pay, so I’ll never forget to pay it off. Because paying on time is important, both for interest and for building credit. So if you do that, if you just have one or two credit cards that you buy lunch with every three months, that’s going to help you build credit. You never have to use them for anything else and having them on standby for emergencies. That could be a good strategy for you.

Eric Rosenberg:

And if you get really good at the budgeting stuff and feel really comfortable with managing your income and spending, then you can get to the more advanced levels of trying to get the cashback rewards and the miles and points, like I am always trying to do. But you should always start with the basics. Make sure you can have the card, pay it off in full by the due date. You don’t have to use it that often. And if you’re doing that and you feel comfortable, then you can take those baby steps up and use the card more and more. Make sure you’re following the budget, though. That’s always key.

Sydney:

Always key. Gosh, that’s awesome. I don’t know. I’m getting great insights right now that I’m just so excited to just take home and run with. So I guess just to wrap things up because I feel like we’ve covered so much about credit cards, as you’re talking to your kids, as they get older and old enough to use credit cards, what are some of the major things that you want to make sure that they know, maybe even before they’re the age to start using credit cards? What is it that you’re going to be teaching them?

Eric Rosenberg:

Okay. I’m already teaching my kids about money because I’m a money nerd. I’m actually wearing a tee shirt right now that says, “I’m a money nerd.” So you guys can’t all see it while you’re listening, but I’m wearing it, and I am a money nerd. And I think it’s so important that we look at our money as the thing that we often blame for not being able to do what we want to do or the thing that lets us do what we want to do. So I want my kids to feel empowered and understand how money fits into their life and how their education and career choices fit into their financial future.

Eric Rosenberg:

And when it comes to credit cards, I want to teach them to hopefully use them the way I do. If you use them and pay them off in full by the due date… I know I keep saying it again and again, but it’s really the single most important thing with a credit card. If you use it and pay it off by the due date, that’s rule number one. If you don’t do anything else and you do that, you’re probably doing better than most people and using credit cards in your benefit.

Eric Rosenberg:

So if they do that, then they’re doing okay. And if they can’t do that, then I teach them to not use those credit cards, like we talked about. If you don’t have the willpower to not go buy the new Xbox or iPhone or whatever it is when it comes out, if you can’t afford it. If you can’t afford it, great. Use the credit card. But if you can’t afford it, you shouldn’t let the credit card trick you into thinking you can afford it, because you will be paying for it for a while. So those I’d say are probably the biggest lessons I’d want to teach my kids.

Sydney:

I love that. What we’re talking a lot about, too, is just understanding how you spend as a consumer is so important. And a credit card should not be the vessel by which you learn about yourself.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yes, you don’t want to make… That’s an expensive way to learn your spending habits. It’s much better to… There’s some really great debit cards with no fees. And that’s an important feature if you have a problem with overspending, as some people get nervous about using debit cards, because they see overdraft fees. But thankfully, there are many cards without those big overdraft fees. And if you have that spending problem, sticking with a debit card that doesn’t have those fees is probably the best way to start. And a card, a plastic card looks the same. It doesn’t matter if you know the Visa, MasterCard logo, it doesn’t matter what the rest of it is. It all works the same. No one cares other than you. People are self-conscious of their own cards, but the cashier doesn’t care.

Eric Rosenberg:

Use the card, whether it’s a debit card, a credit card, or cash. I’m not a cash guy, but for some people that is the right way to go. It’s important to understand your person needs. That’s why it’s called personal finance. It’s personal. Everyone’s is different. I like having open conversations like this. I don’t like money being a taboo because that helps people learn how other people manage their money and pick up their best tips and tricks.

Sydney:

Absolutely.

Eric Rosenberg:

So you don’t have to keep up with the Jones, you don’t have to keep up with your neighbors. The Jones probably have $10,000 in credit card debt. So rather than dealing with what your neighbors have or trying to get the coolest car, just look at your personal needs, the things that matter most to you, and the places you want your money to go. And if you can focus on that, then as we say at Payactiv, you can live the life you’ve earned and feel like you are living a rich life, even if you don’t have a Russian oligarch bank account.

Sydney:

So there was this one time I was in college math class, and the teacher just decided to stop class, just mid-sentence. She’s like, “Guys, we’re just going to have a little talk right now. We’re just going to talk about credit cards.” And clearly, something was on her mind. She was very distracted. She goes, “You know why you need a credit card? So when inevitably someone online steals the numbers, you’ll get reimbursed like that.” Because she had had someone steal thousands of dollars off of one of these cards that she had, and it was a credit card. And she said, “I was reimbursed like that.” So is this true? Is this a myth? Is there a safety component to using credit cards that people should also be aware of?

Eric Rosenberg:

Yes. That is a great story, and that has happened to me. And I can verify if someone steals your credit card number, actually by law, it’s in your credit card agreements also, but it’s also the law. So the banks… They act like they’re being your best friend, but they have to do it. There is a zero fraud liability with credit card. So that goes to pretty much every major credit card in the US.

Eric Rosenberg:

So if someone steals your credit card number and uses it at Walmart in Puerto Rico, that’s what happened to my parents one time, or you’re on a vacation and someone tries to buy a plane ticket with your card, something that is clearly not you, most of the time the bank will figure it out before you do. And they’ll send you a text message or an email and say, “Hey, is this you, or is this fraud?” And I actually used to work for a company that helped make that happen, so I know a lot about how credit card fraud works. And there are really, really, really good computers that figure out where you are likely to spend and not spend. And if they notice something that’s not in your pattern, it will flag it. But even if the computer doesn’t notice, as long as you tell the credit card company right away, you are never liable for any charges that were not authorized and made by you or one of your authorized users. So that is a really important protection.

Eric Rosenberg:

Debit cards, you get similar protection, but it’s not as good. And it can take some time to get your money back. It can take months, and you might not get it all back. With credit cards… that’s one thing that scares me with debit cards. If you go to, let’s say, the gas station, and someone has one of those credit card skimmers on the gas pump, which happens. We see it in the news. And you put your debit card in and they steal your debit card number, they can steal all of your money in your bank account. They can drain your account down to zero or close to it. They don’t know what you have. So it’s a guess, but they can spend until it gets declined.

Eric Rosenberg:

With a credit card, they’re not draining your account. You call up the bank, say “This wasn’t my charge.” You call the number on the back of the card or go on the website, say, “This wasn’t me.” And it will just magically disappear from your statement. And you will get a letter in the mail saying… You might have to sign something saying that this was really fraud. But if someone steals your card and uses it without your permission, you do not have to pay. And that is something you don’t get with other payment methods.

Sydney:

Thank you so much, Eric, for your time. I really appreciate you answering my questions, letting me grill you a little bit about credit cards.

Eric Rosenberg:

Yeah. Well, thank you for taking your time to come and chat on the podcast. I have a feeling our listeners really enjoyed this. And if you have any questions, you can send us notes on the Payactiv Twitter. That’s a good way to reach us. Or the Facebook page, any of the social media channels for Payactiv. We’re all a team together, and we’ll get a hold of those notes. So if you have any questions about credit cards or anything else, send us a note and tag us at Payactiv. Yes. Payactiv without an E.

Eric Rosenberg:

Well, I hope you had as much fun listening as I had fun chatting with Sydney. This was a really cool conversation to talk all about credit cards and answer questions that could apply to a lot of people just like you. If you heard about any Payactiv products you think are interesting, be sure to download the app. You can go to the Apple App Store or Google Play to download Payactiv and get started right away. Thanks so much for listening with us till the end, and keep on living the life you’ve earned. Talk to you next time. Bye.