Originally Posted by
amandasgramma
A friend has this idea for safely ordering thru the mail.
She opened up a free account at a different bank than her own. She got a debit card. She figures out how much she'll need for a purchase, puts that much money in that new bank account (always leaves $10.00) and uses THAT account to make purchase. They can not access more than she has in the account -- I believe there is a setting that won't let anyone charge more than what's in the account. That way, if she DOES have a fraud then they don't affect her living expenses.
It's a really good idea to use a separate pre-paid credit card or a separate bank account debit card for your online transactions.
However, as a seller who handles lots of these transactions, there is one condition that you need to be aware of when you're using this method;
When you charge something to a credit or debit card, in most cases its a two-step process.
First, when you place an order online, your seller puts an "authorize" transaction in for the amount you are charging, sometimes for more than the amount you are charging. This reserves the funds for the seller, but doesn't actually transfer them to the seller.
When the seller ships the order, she puts in a "capture" transaction, which completes the process and transfers the funds from your account to hers.
However! And this is a big However! If the amount of the transaction changes in any way, by even one cent, from the authorize to the capture, MANY banks and cc companies require a re-authorization on your account before the funds can be captured.
Well, you say, why should I care about this? Here's why.
Say you ordered something and the shipping cost was estimated a little high to start with, and the seller adjusted the shipping cost down when they went to ship. If you had one of these accounts, like Capitalone Mastercard among many others, the seller's system would be required to re-authorize the transaction when it attempts the capture transaction. Since it's for a different amount, the credit card company or bank's system treats it like a new transaction. However, the original authorization is good for up to a month, and the funds are already reserved by the original authorization. Thus, if you ONLY HAVE enough funds to cover the amount of the purchase, the capture transaction will be refused by the card company. Then the seller will have to contact you and get a different method of payment. It's very frustrating for everyone, since the buyer knows they have the funds available.
So, what I would suggest, is that you use this method of having a separate account for online purchases, but always have DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF FUNDS that you need to complete the transaction. That way you will be able to avoid situations like the one described, and your seller will be able to service your order more quickly and with less hassle.