Who hasn’t heard of the debit card fiasco at Target?  That story broke almost immediately after its discovery in December and still commands news space today.  Just as the most furious of the stories were waning about Target we heard that Neiman Marcus had a similar breach only this one was three months before its news release.  And just this past week we have heard that Michael’s card processing program was also a victim sometime last summer.  At least Target had the good sense not to hide its problem for six months.  We’re still not going to use our debit cards there ever again but we do appreciate their notice.

A couple of years ago we commented on how the lack of using real money has desensitized us to the true costs of many everyday items.  (See Paper or Plastic, Feb. 23, 2012.)  Then we said that money no longer seems to mean terribly much for many people.  Make your selections.  Swipe your debit card.  If you happen to swipe more times for more funds than you have money in the bank many bankers have overdraft protection pulling funds from savings accounts or automatically debiting lines of credit.  The bankers love that system.  What they collect in account fees and overdraft fees is more than enough to keep them from ever having to shop at Target.  In 2012 banks collected over 29.5 billion (with a B) dollars in overdraft fees.  That’s $29,000,000,000.00 charged to people who didn’t have enough money in their accounts in the first place.

There are certainly times when checks and debit cards are appropriate.  You could pay a bill with a money order if you could find someone who still writes money orders.  The banks still do for hefty fees.  Dropping a check in the mail is still the easiest way.  And if you want to do your banking by internet or through monthly auto-drafts, the debit card is indeed the way to go.  But maybe it’s time to rethink everyday shopping using money.  You remember money?  A funny shade of green, pictures of presidents and statesmen, can go through the wash relatively undamaged when you forget that it is in your pocket.   That money.  Real money.  Money that means something to you when you see it disappear into a cash register never to come back to you but that’s ok because you traded it in for something you really wanted or needed and you won’t have to keep one eye on your on-line bank account to make sure nobody else is using your money.

A couple of years ago we closed a similar post with, “Never actually seeing cash get handed over person to person has clearly kept rising costs out of sight.  Not recognizing the consequences of this lack of concern has clearly put us out of our minds.”  Today the rising costs aren’t just at the register.  Today we see the rising costs in losing control.  It makes one wonder who will be the next retailer to call a press conference over a security breach.  And how it will be our fault for not keeping better watch of our money.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?