Having one credit card that's just for bills can reduce your fraud risk
The first time my wallet was stolen, I had left it in the trunk of my car at a trailhead while I went for a hike. Rookie mistake, I know. By the time I called my credit card issuers to report the theft, more than聽$400 in fraudulent charges had already piled up.
As it happened, I wasn鈥檛 held responsible for those charges. I quickly placed聽a on my credit file and set about the arduous task of changing my account numbers聽with all the service providers that billed me online.
The second time my wallet was stolen, it disappeared from my house in broad daylight 鈥� along with a television, a computer, a checkbook and my childhood coin collection. While the聽police dusted for fingerprints, I got on the Internet and the phone once again, to聽tell everyone from the car insurance company to the wireless service provider that my credit card account numbers had changed.
The downside of聽online bill pay
Having聽my聽bills paid聽automatically online, which had seemed so convenient when I set it up, became incredibly inconvenient after聽my credit card was stolen. But then I had an idea.
Most of us have anyway. If you already have multiple accounts, it鈥檚 the easiest thing in the world to designate聽one credit card exclusively聽for automated bill payments.
I now keep that credit card at home 鈥� well-hidden and protected by a burglar alarm 鈥� and carry a different credit card for daily spending. That way, if my wallet takes a walk without me a third time, I won鈥檛 have to change the payment information聽on my Netflix account yet again.
Of course, the credit card I use for paying my bills might still be compromised, if one of my service providers聽gets hacked. But keeping at least one card out of my wallet can reduce the risk that the card itself will聽fall into the wrong hands.
Best practices
Using a credit card to pay regular bills like the cable or electric bill reduces the amount of time you spend on paperwork聽each month. It鈥檚 also nice to earn extra credit card rewards. Some issuers are even starting to offer consumers .
But consolidating your bills means you鈥檒l get one giant statement at the end of the month instead of a whole lot of little ones. Some people prefer聽to pay the bills聽one by one instead of all at once.
Either way, don鈥檛 forget to safeguard the credit card you use for paying bills. If your card does get stolen, you won鈥檛 have to do as much work to get your finances back on track.
Virginia C. McGuire is a staff writer at , a personal finance website. Email: virginia@. Twitter: . This article first appeared in .
