• Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    When I was younger I remember buying credit cards with a set balance on them to pay for subscriptions that seemed shady.

    If cancelling was anything except convenient, I’d just use up the balance on my next trip to the grocery store, then shred the fucker and forget about it. Company XYZ could then have fun trying to bleed a rock.

    Only downside is that was a pain in the ass too, but at least kept the control in my hands.

    Wondering if any banks have a way to set this up as a kind of partition on your account? Never looked into that approach but it seems like such an obvious solution.

    Anyone got tips for this kind of thing?

    • BandDad@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      Privacy.com is literally the digital equivalent of what you were talking about. As for bank services, I don’t know that I have heard of any personally.

      • Wogi@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        I used to work at an Internet provider that offers a discounted auto pay program.

        No, at least not there.

        Every once in a while we’d get complaints that a card wasn’t working and it was because they were trying to use a gift card, and the system recognized gift cards and declined them immediately. Needed to be a credit or debit card with your name on it. Or at least someone’s name on it. Who payed didn’t matter, but a real person would be billed every month.

      • squidspinachfootball@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        I’ve thought about using them like that as someone without access to privacy.com, but they do charge an activation fee and other random little fees I didn’t want to deal with. So I just… didn’t buy whatever it was I was considering at the time lol. Always keeping an eye open to see if there are any alternatives though.

      • verity_kindle@sh.itjust.works
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        10 months ago

        In the US, gift cards will often be declined for setting up ongoing transactions. Every transaction has a merchant code associated with it and many subscriptions and services will read the merchant code and reject it on that basis alone. Doesn’t matter how much of a balance the card carries.

    • semnosao@lemmy.eco.br
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      10 months ago

      here in Brazil it’s really common for your bank to provide an option on your bank app to make a virtual credit card that you can block and unblock for different types of pay or providers and independent of your physical one

    • Pantsofmagic@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Virtual card numbers usually work well. I always made sure to use them with stuff like SiriusXM and other clowns that make cancellations difficult. You can leave them active or cancel them arbitrarily. Some card companies let you set them up via their app or website.

    • Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org
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      10 months ago

      Bank of America used to have a way to make a temporary credit card with a set amount of money on it. I haven’t used it in a while, so I’m not sure if it’s there still.