USA People - What Are Your ATM Habits?

[Amarok]

Once a month I hit the bank $ take out $100 in twenties. Otherwise I use my debit/ATM or PayPal card for point of sale and online bill pay.

Same here. My roomie on the other hand would rather use cash than his bank card and so he makes frequent use of the ATM. I don't like paying in cash because paying in cash tends to result in pockets full of change which end up sitting around forever.

[Stetson]

Cash stinks, at least in the US. You give someone a nice crisp twenty dollar bill to pay for your lunch and you get back some old wrinkled bills and a handful of small change that's hardly worth dealing with. It's like increasing entropy. Cashiers are way faster at giving you a collection of assorted change than you are at giving them exact change back at the next store you go to. I end up with jars full of change. This is obviously common or there wouldn't be Coinstar machines to turn them back into useful money.

When possible I use my Debit card for almost everything. A few places have a $5 minimum but I only run into that on extremely rare occasions, in which case I just deal with using cash. Purchases made with my Debit card result in no piled up change. You don't have to deal with different bill sizes or feel weird paying for a $25 purchase with a bunch of $1 bills. The transactions are logged, and if stolen it can be deactivated with a phone call.

Cash would be more useful to me if they improved bill durability (look at the new bills being used in places like Australia and Canada), and if they dropped all coins except the quarter. If you look at inflation rates, keeping the penny, nickel, and dime around is just silly when we got by just fine 50-100 years ago without using hundredths of a cent.

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Not sure why anyone would ever use a debit card (unless credit is not accepted of course)...

• Because it's easy to get into debt using a credit card?
  
• Because you're using money that isn't your own?
  
• Because it's slightly harder / more work to keep tabs on what you are paying for, then ensuring you have enough in your bank account?
  

I don't see why anyone uses credit cards. Apart from the extra "protection"... which isn't that big really. My bank stops any strange transactions when I've used my debit card (IE, when I haven't used it but a cinema in Australia has used it for a ?0.03 transaction <-- strange amount + not out of the country = bank automatically stops it.

[soniqstylz]

Haven't used an ATM in about 10 years except to deposit money.

[Rohdekill]

I only hit an ATM when I know I'm heading to a place that requires cash (usually for parking). Everything else is on my debit card.

[jnelsoninjax]

in the US, the "exchange fee" for debit transactions is significantly lower than for credit card transactions (with Amex charging the highest credit card fees). Most businesses that give discounts for paying in cash will give the same discount if you use a debit card instead of a credit card.

Also, I don't use an ATM unless I'm in a bind because the fee is extremely high to withdraw cash (from 3 to 6 or more dollars depending on the arrangement, usually you get a fee from the bank that owns the ATM and another one from your own bank). Many people withdraw cash when they are doing a debit transaction somewhere else (grocery store, Target, barbershops will often give you cash even on a credit card transaction) so they don't have to pay a fee. You can usually take out cash from an ATM owned by your bank or sometimes from a network without a fee, but finding one can be a pain in the ass.

I will go to the ATM once or twice a month, but my bank (credit union) does not charge me to use any ATM, only have to pay the owner of the ATM fees (~$3)

[Darrian]

I never carry cash unless I have to, and then I might pull out $20-40. I also pull out about $450 once a month for rent. I rarely have more than $20 cash in my wallet. Most places accept debit cards these days, it seems silly to carry paper money now.

[Xilo]

I use an ATM maybe once or twice a year.

I pay for everything with credit card. Even if it's less than $10.

[Sir Topham Hatt]

See, our ATMs don't accept money... we don't get pay slips which we have to cash, the companies hold our bank details and the money is transferred / paid in automatically on the pay day.

[Xilo]

See, our ATMs don't accept money... we don't get pay slips which we have to cash, the companies hold our bank details and the money is transferred / paid in automatically on the pay day.

:rolleyes:

Love how the UK people on this board act so ignorant.

[Squirrelington]

:rolleyes:

Love how the UK people on this board act so ignorant.

and you do not help our image either...

See, our ATMs don't accept money... we don't get pay slips which we have to cash, the companies hold our bank details and the money is transferred / paid in automatically on the pay day.

It is common in the states for employers to offer Direct Deposit, like you had described, or in lieu of that, offer checks (Cheques) that we can deposit into our account at various ATMs or our financial institution.

[pack34]

I try to keep a few twenties on me in case of an emergency. So I tend to take out a hundred once a quarter-ish. Most of my purchases are on my credit card. I actually tend to spend less when I use plastic instead of paper bills. I always find myself to think about the amount of hours I have to work to pay for the purchase more when I use a credit card.

[Solid Knight]

Never carry cash unless I have to. I'll use my credit card for a one-cent purchase if they'll let me.

[Boxster17]

I rarely use cash, use my credit card for everything to earn points (was shocked how much quicker they build up when everything gets charged on credit). I rarely take out much money as I hate having cash (rarely carry more than like 20-40 bucks if any at all), hence the reason I use my credit card for everything. I just make sure I'm responsible and never spend more than I have in my bank account at the time.

With credit cards now a days working the exact same as debit cards where you just insert your chip and type in your pin I see no reason not to use it for me considering the extras I get from using it. Not to mention that my bank will charge me after so many debit transactions and there's quite a few places I know that will charge debit fees of their own.

[123456789A]

I never use those machines. I use credit card for everything. I carry about $20 cash with me in case of emergency. If I run out of my $20 cash, I embezzle some more.

See, our ATMs don't accept money... we don't get pay slips which we have to cash, the companies hold our bank details and the money is transferred / paid in automatically on the pay day.

I believe you're talking about direct deposit.

[Biotoxic_hazard_835]

I use mine everyday and almost everywhere. Safer than having cash in hand. I always have $20 or $30 cash stashed in my wallet just in case.

[DeadEndAccount]

I use online banking for all my bills, to top up my bus card with ATM withdrawals being a rare occasion such as when I catch the train rather than something I do regularly. I am pretty much an 'all electronic money' kind of guy :D

[TygrScott]

I use my AMEX for rewards points (free home depot $100 gift cards buys all my tools, lawn fertilizer, etc) every chance I get and pay it off monthly. I pull $120 from the ATM and split it with my wife once a month for the incidentals.

[Sir Topham Hatt]

It is common in the states for employers to offer Direct Deposit, like you had described, or in lieu of that, offer checks (Cheques) that we can deposit into our account at various ATMs or our financial institution.

Thank you for explaining :)

Is it usual for you guys to get paid by direct deposit then?

[cooky560 Veteran]

Why would it be silly, do they charge you a fee for usage of your debit/credit card for stuff under 10?

Some small shops charge for debit card transactions under ?5, usually around ?0.25

[choppa]

I have 3 bank accounts and I only go to the ATM once every week to get money for my haircut because my barber doesn't take bank cards.

[dancedar]

You have your hair cut every week? :p

Many places for small amounts where there's a queue having cash, especially the correct change, is much faster than using any card. Or a busy bar, any decent speedy barstaff will be times faster with cash than waiting for a card, pin, receipt etc.

[choppa]

You have your hair cut every week? :p

Many places for small amounts where there's a queue having cash, especially the correct change, is much faster than using any card. Or a busy bar, any decent speedy barstaff will be times faster with cash than waiting for a card, pin, receipt etc.

Yeah man, gotta look good lol.

[justmike]

I don't use one at all. Cash or credit only. I get cash via bank slip or check. I would have to hold a debit card from my bank that's giving me free checks/checking/account. Their terms, like many others in the US, are different for credit/debit purchases on "Debit"/credit cards. The protection is not the same on that type of card at my bank I was told, as it is on a standard credit card. I "could" be held accountable for any amount posted to the "Debit" card according to the Sharif's Dept at the time my moms card was stolen, then used in other countries. They told Her that there were close to 2,000 people with her, and that she should be prepared to pay the full amount, because of the type of card it was. Also, I get far more rewards on a credit card, than any debit card in my area, and I would need cash in the account anyway in order to use the debit/credit card without large penalties. Also, automatic payments seemed to work better with a credit card at times in the past where I had fallen behind on other payments. I always pay them off now, and I've made more money using credit cards for bill payments, than I make in interest on the standard accounts in the bank. And that alone should show how crooked our banks are. :/

[Calum Veteran]

No, but I agree with him. Using a card for anything under ?10 seems silly to me.

[. . .]

Carrying around cash and loose change when one can use their card for shopping worth under ?10, without any extra charge, seems silly to me :) I see nothing silly with using a card to pay for shopping worth less than ?10, if no extra charges are being incurred.