desh ([personal profile] desh) wrote2007-03-08 03:57 pm

mo problems

Has it really been that long since I last posted a pointless poll? My, how time flies like an arrow. And how fruit flies like a banana.

[Poll #942679]

I just bought a CD from The Hold Steady and another from Sufjan Stevens. Ask me in a couple weeks if you want to know how they are.

JITW tomorrow! Whee!

[identity profile] smarriveurr.livejournal.com 2007-03-09 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not entirely sure what happens behind the scenes with my check card, to be honest. It's technically branded Visa, but it's very much a [bank name removed to protect the innocent] card, as there is a shop nearby that can process Visa fine, but has issues with cards specifically from that bank. All I knows is, I gives dem de card, de money is taken from my checking account when the transaction processes. I've found it generally much more efficient, timewise, at least, than the ATM transaction system.

Hm. That sentence, up there, doesn't work as well with the dialectical 'dems'. It seems to run rather counter to using the phrase "transaction processes." And yet, I'm investing a lot of time to comment on that fact here, rather than correct it there. Weird.

[identity profile] kyra.livejournal.com 2007-03-09 02:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I could give a long-winded blathery explanation about this, involving issuing banks and bullshit like that, but here's basically what you need to know: when your card is used as a debit, it deducts in real-time and settles up later. This is why you should not use debit for restaurants/hotels - if some goon double-swipes your card, they've just tied up a shitton of your money until the second transaction releases. OTOH, when a cc is swiped, the system calls out for an authorization, which sets aside a portion of your credit limit for use. The authorization can last from a few days to a month, depending on when the batch is settled. What this boils down to: you can go over your credit limit, but you're not tying up real time money.

There's a lot more that goes on in there which I dismiss as magical handwaving, but.