I don't know for sure what you mean by "bank card."

I have a card issued by my bank (credit union, actually) with my name, address, phone, and account number on it which was issued to me for my reference, so I don't forget my account number.

Neither my wife nor I have debit cards. We do have credit cards, however. It's one account in both of our names, we each have a card with our own names on it, and they both bear the same number. On a couple of occasions, someone has made fraudulent purchases using our card number, but the credit card company spotted it right away, took appropriate action, and issued us a new card number. Apparently the fraudulent purchases were made by someone who had broken into the records of someplace we (and many others) had made purchases from. Other than having to notify places we regularly deal with of the new number, it hasn't been a problem for us.

We simply don't use ATMs, we just plan ahead.

I love it when some financial institution calls us (despite the fact that our telephone number is on the Federal Trade Commission's list of "Do Not Call" numbers) and offers to help us refinance our mortgage, to which I respond, "We don't have a mortgage. We own our home outright." [Actually, we own a share in a cooperative apartment building, part of which is an open-ended lease on the apartment itself. We pay a nominal monthly maintenance fee, covering such things as property tax, insurance on the building in general, some utilities, and occasional repairs in the building's common areas.]

This response yanks the rug out from under the sales pitch. More often then not, the caller switches to "Well—we can help you with your credit card debt."

At which point, I respond—truthfully—that we have no credit card debt. We pay off the full amount due every month. The credit card company may not like it much because they don't make any money off us for carrying charges, but that's the way it goes sometimes. At this point, the caller is completely flummoxed. I get the impression from what some of them say next is that Barbara and I are pretty rare birds.

We pay cash for small purchases. Pay by check a fair amount. And we use the credit card mostly for purchases like groceries (easy to keep track of sometimes variable monthly expenditures) and from off the internet, such as Amazon or Elderly Instruments.

As I say, we plan ahead.

I was flabbergasted to hear some time back that most Americans carry about $3,000 in credit card debt and make the minimum monthly payment. Getting oneself into that position is just plain stupid!

Don (feeling smug) Firth