American Credit Cards are the Worst in the World
You know those chip cards that everyone's still trying to figure out? Turns out that the entire rest of the world has been using those for decades. And even now that we've moved into the sort-of present, we've kept one of the biggest weaknesses of our credit cards: the magnetic strip. It turns out that you don't need anything fancy or too high-tech to duplicate those. You can buy the equipment to do it for about $25. Out of all of the G20 countries, we're the only one still using the magnetic strip. (G20 is a group of 20 of the top global economies; together they drive 80% of world trade.)
The move from stripes to chips should help prevent large-scale breaches of credit card information. Chip cards carry a cryptographic key that makes it harder for people to steal your information at a card swiper, or by duplicating the magnetic strip. It also generates one-time codes with each transaction instead of giving your card number to the retailer. This should prevent retailers from storing your credit card info in a way that can be stolen.
Unfortunately, though, we still have those weak magnetic strips. And we have signature cards, instead of PIN-only cards, which are more vulnerable to fraud. So we've basically wound up with the worst of the old cards, and the worst of the new. Not to mention that for all their improvements, the chip cards have their own set of weaknesses. The whole thing's a mess, really. The United States accounts for only 24% of the world's credit cards, but a full 47% of the world's credit card fraud. This is the worst country on the planet to use a credit card. We even account for over a third of the U.K.'s credit card fraud. And since the new cards have all the weaknesses of the old ones, that's not likely to change anytime soon.
Did you know...
- It's an understatement to say that the odds when playing the lottery are not in your favor. You are statistically three times more likely to die in a car accident while driving 10 miles to buy a lottery ticket than you are to actually win. Even more astounding, over half the tickets in an average lottery draw are bought by only 5% of the participants.
- The most expensive hotel room in the world (the Royal Penthouse Suite at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland) costs $83,200 a night. That's $58 per minute for a stay! Good thing it has 12 bedrooms, 12 baths, a wraparound terrace, a Steinway piano, and an assigned private staff (including a chef)!
- Once you've handled all your money, you should probably wash your hands. Money is some of the dirtiest things that we own. In fact, it's been found to be dirtier than a household toilet! During flu season, the virus can live on a bill for up to 17 days. That's just plain disgusting!
- When it comes to counterfeiters, North Korea are pros. They have gotten so good at counterfeiting American currency (particularly the $50 and $100 bills) they their fakes are known as "superdollars." They require specialized Federal Reserve equipment to be identified. There are $45 million worth of North Korean fakes…that we know of.
- Paper money is actually pretty heavy. One pound would be worth $454 in $1 bills. That means $1 million comprised solely of $100 bills would weigh over 20 pounds. Those suitcases filled with money in movies must be hefty to lug around all that paper money. If you plan on robbing a bank, you better bulk up!