How safe is it to give checking account info for transactions?

[StageLeft]

I was going to sign up for an account at neflix.com and you can use checking as an option (I have no US credit card). How safe is this? I also wonder what is to stop somebody whom I've given a personal check to from using my transit & account numbers to withdraw extra money for themselves? Do you need to register with the bank for a special account or something before you can do that, thus offering a level of protection?

 

[Electric Amish]

It's just as safe as giving a debit card #.

Your fears are not unreasonable nor unfounded...

I don't know what the alternative is, tho, if you don't have a CC...

amish

 

[StageLeft]

So if they get hacked somebody can take this number and go have a ball with it?

 

[RossMAN]

So if they get hacked somebody can take this number and go have a ball with it?

More or less, yes.

Assuming you have a debit card with the VISA or MasterCard logo, here's a safer alternative. Send yourself a WebCert which issues you a custom 16 digit MasterCard credit card number via e-mail. This way you're not giving away your checking account info and it looks like you've submitted a MasterCard cc when in reality it's only a WebCert.

Even though you're a Canucklehead at heart and probably have no US credit history, I have an idea on how you can get a credit card. Can you PM me the name and location of your bank's branch?

 

[StageLeft]

Ah webcert I'll check that bad boy out.

In regards to why I don't have a credit card its cause I'm auto-declined by anybody. Until my SSN actually works in getting a credit report I don't believe I have any chance of getting a US visa. As it is my SSN is so new that none of the credit bureaus are able to receive a record for me and I have to wait possibly as much as half a year or more until they are able to retrieve a record for me!

 

[RossMAN]

As long as the credit bureau's recognize your ssn as belonging to you and you exist in their database there is still a chance to get a cc, albeit with a small limit but it's still possible. It's probably 4:21 PM over there right now or 5:21 PM?

PM me the name and location of your bank's branch, I won't tell them who you are (I don't even know who you are).