credit card

Ruth Aldrich

We are looking for ideas for a credit card for my dad. He needs a low limit. He has given his card number out to phone scams Currently we took his card away, but he needs something.

terei

There are secured credit cards that have a limit of what you have on deposit with them (like $100).

lilacgirl

That is what I was thinking — get one of those Visa gift cards and load it up with a small amount of $$. It looks like a credit card. You should be able to add money to it as needed.

caregiving daughter

Our credit union offers a prepaid card that you load $150 onto

eaglemom

Even on bank cards you can set a limit on what can be charged. If he has a bank card or any card, make certain it is NOT tied to any other card. For example for overdraft protection. You do not want the car he has to have that feature. If someone were to get the card, they could drain / charge up the card then drain the auto draft card. (I've seen it happen.)

Does he really need a credit card? Maybe just $20.00 cash in his wallet will make him happy? Ask yourself what is he needing to purchase with the card? If its not much, see if cash will work.

eagle

H1235

You might try one that you can get at the store for gift giving. If you want him to have a card just for comfort, spend the money on the card and give him an empty card. I always struggled with giving my mom money. I’m kind of a cheap scape, so the idea of her spending money on nonsense she doesn’t need makes no sense. Im also trying to clean out her house that is absolutely full (she probably already has many of the things she wants to buy). I purposely don’t bring her these things because she has no room and doesn’t need them. As her DPOA I also feel very strongly that her money is managed properly and $20 on material, craft paint, glue and pipe cleaners she will never use makes no sense. Someone here suggested I consider if the money is worth it to pacify her. Unfortunately for my mom seemed to always want more and was never satisfied.

Emily 123

I guess the concern would be that if he's getting scammed like that, what's to say he won't share his SSN or other information?

ltbub0418

I was able to set up an alert on my Dads credit cards that would text me anytime a purchase over $50.00 was made. So far that’s been working.

harshedbuzz

At the end of the day, if your dad is falling prey to scammers he shouldn't have access to a credit card, a phone or the internet unless he is being 1:1 supervised.

If you haven't locked down his credit with the 3 major bureaus, do that today.

HB

notequipped

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/274584#Comment_274584

You can set the alert number very low. Several years ago I was fed up with my own credit card info being stolen, I set all of my credit cards to alert at $1.00. I also have one credit card with a very low limit that I requested at that time to use for internet purchases.

ltbub0418

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/274595#Comment_274595

Thank you. I froze his credit at all 3 bureaus. He hates spending money so he’s not a shopper, if he wants or needs something he tells me and I order it or go get it and I put alerts on his 2 credit cards. If he does fall for a scam I will know and I will have to change his access at that point. I also put fraud protection on his accounts. They said if he does get scammed I will be able to recuperate the money because of that protection. I pray that is true.