Credit card options considering the new merchant code?

[seez52]

Looks Iike the Algimated bank has successfully implemented a new merchant t code singling out firearms dealers. Discover card has announced they will begin tracking purchases and reportedly sending those to a government agency. 

I have had a Discover card since the late 80s, but I'm ready to cancel my account. Are there any cards that are not going to be implementing this reporting scheme? 

https://reason.com/2023/03/06/banks-increasingly-back-political-scheme-to-track-gun-purchases-by-credit-card/

[Garufa]

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/credit-card-companies-pause-implementation-of-new-gun-purchase-tracking-code/amp/

According to that it’s “paused”.
 

If you are that concerned pay cash.  

[seez52]

I'd say pause is the key word. And while I prefer cash, kinda hard to do online. 

[Frog4aday]

Cash it is.

The article was a good read. Looks like FL is already looking to pass laws to penalize credit card companies & banks that use the new MCC (credit card code) to track gun store purchases. Other states like MS & OK are considering doing the same.

The new code is a tool to be wielded by progressives to gradually restrict firearm purchases (i.e., Obama era "operation chokepoint" but applied more specifically to gun purchases.) It will start off doing nothing. Then some transactions will get flagged for investigation. Then, eventually, the woke activists will push for all coded firearm purchases to be denied "if it will save even one life" (ignoring how many will be lost due to denied purchases.)

It is just another brick in the wall to make the exercise of your constitutional right more onerous.

"Merchant category codes (MCCs) are an IRS-developed scheme for tracking transactions. Behind the push for the gun-specific merchant category code is Amalgamated Bank, which boasts that it "supports sustainable organizations, progressive causes, and social justice." It's basically a political operation that uses its presence in the financial industry to advance political goals, and it joined with Democratic politicians to urge adoption of the new MCC. Why? Because at a time when everything is politicized, an ability to monitor buying and selling is enormously important to those who want to restrict or control whole areas of life."

[runco]

I guess my wife was ahead of this credit card coding, hence why I haven't used credit cards to fuel my passion in decades.   She watches those statements with a microscope.  If I were to guess, a bunch of wives got together and made this new policy.....jokes aside, this is a dangerous slope, imagine if this is successful, what about other politics, and if you do not align no food purchases?  Hmmm where I have I read about that before........

[JayC]

Cash is king, I've only been making firearm purchases via cash since 2008. 

[Grayfox54]

Much ado about nothing. The new code simply says you bought something at a sporting goods store. It does not specify what you bought and certainly can't be used to trace guns. Such codes have been used for years for everything from hardware to groceries.  Its a simple market tracking tool. Nothing more. 

Always remember that the pro-2nd groups want your money and aren't above using scare tactics to get it. To them, everything is a threat. 

[Guest]

55 minutes ago, Grayfox54 said:

….To them, everything is a threat. 

And a fund-raising opportunity…

[Moped]

1 hour ago, Grayfox54 said:

Much ado about nothing. The new code simply says you bought something at a sporting goods store. It does not specify what you bought and certainly can't be used to trace guns. Such codes have been used for years for everything from hardware to groceries.  Its a simple market tracking tool. Nothing more. 

Always remember that the pro-2nd groups want your money and aren't above using scare tactics to get it. To them, everything is a threat. 

 

23 minutes ago, OMCHamlin said:

And a fund-raising opportunity…

You two are so right!!!

[Frog4aday]

The end goal, based on the groups pushing for the code, isn't benign. Step one was to create the new code. Check. Done. Step two will be to track purchasers. Step three will be applying political & social pressure to the credit card companies to stop processing payments for that code "to save the children" or whatever the cry of the day will be. 

It is not innocuous. And it won't be an issue...initially. But it must be stopped before it can ever be used as a defacto database of gun buyers and then used as a lever of the antigun groups to shutdown financial services to "gun dealers", a la Operation Chokepoint (Obama era-style.)

Edited March 13, 2023 by Frog4aday
Of of fixed

[JayC]

I'll just point out it's been reported that Bank's are already able to and have compiled lists of gun purchasers for the Government, and handed those lists over to the FBI without a warrant or request.

https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/outrageous-story-of-the-week-whistleblower-says-bank-of-america-gave-customer-gun-data-to-fbi/

It's NOT a theory that these changes will be used as a form of backdoor gun registry, here is an example of where it was used as one already.

[10-Ring]

This would be an excellent opportunity for interested vendors to start accepting cryptocurrency. 

[JayC]

I'm not aware of any dealer that won't accept cash   now that I've said that, they'll be some examples I'm unaware of.

[gregintenn]

16 hours ago, JayC said:

I'm not aware of any dealer that won't accept cash   now that I've said that, they'll be some examples I'm unaware of.

If you buy something online, do you mail an envelope of cash? It's getting harder by the day to find ANYTHING I want at a brick and mortar store. Not just firearm related....ANYTHING!

[jpx2rk]

Just use a prepaid card available from wally world, load it with $X and buy it.  May or may not work but worth a try if so inclined.

[seez52]

I try not to do business with BOA for this and similar shenanigans, although the car dealer of my recent purchase financed my new car through BOA. I'm going to pay if off shortly.

[bersaguy]

All the folks here are talking about using cash instead of credit cards. Biden has signed a bill back last Summer that will be doing away with cash and replacing it with digital dollars that are 100% trackable and they will know everything you buy and they can lock you out of your bank account just by pushing a button if you make a purchased they don't like. Has anyone else heard about this?

[jpx2rk]

Heard about it but it would take the goobermint a long long time to plan and implement a new digital currency.  Who would accept it a legal tender is another issue.  

[seez52]

I'm wondering how they would get greenbacks out of circulation? 

[Scotty]

11 minutes ago, seez52 said:

I'm wondering how they would get greenbacks out of circulation? 

 

Devalue it, Inflation….

 

[RED333]

7 hours ago, seez52 said:

I'm wondering how they would get greenbacks out of circulation? 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/when-owning-gold-was-ille_b_10708196

 

FDR Outlaws Gold
One of FDR's first acts as president, therefore, was to declare the fact that Americans were withdrawing their gold and currency from the beleaguered banking system "a national emergency." He ordered all banks to close from March 6-9 "in order to prevent the export, hoarding, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency."

 

Because he believed this action was not sufficient to prevent runs on banks and the resulting drain of gold from the system, on April 5, 1933, one month after taking office, Roosevelt used the powers granted to the president by the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 to make gold ownership illegal. He issued Executive Order 6102, which made gold ownership--both in coins and in bars--illegal for all Americans and punishable by up to ten years in prison. Anyone caught with gold would also have to pay a fine of twice the amount of gold that was not turned over to the Federal Reserve in exchange for paper money.

[seez52]

If they decide to start taking back greenbacks, they might also find they may take some lead as well.

[Scotty]

At the end of the day. That’s what the dollar is backed by. Lead. It’s the petrodollar. Our involvement across oceans. 
 

With China and Russia moving heavily off of USD since 2017 or so it’s not looking great… 

 

It’s late and I’m beat, but I remember reading about this years ago. Quick google showed something that wasn’t behind a paywall and not from a clearly biased news source. I don’t know anything about them so don’t shoot the messenger if it turns out they’re owned by “XYZ”. 
 

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/russia-and-china-have-been-teaming-up-to-reduce-reliance-on-the-dollar-heres-how-its-going/

[bersaguy]

According to what I have been reading they are going to begin putting it in effect in June 2023. All of the big banks have been getting ready to put it in the works. BOA , Wells Fargo and Chase and several of the others say they are close to being able to converts everyone's accounts into digital currency. All 401K and IRA's will be targeted first. A lot of the small banks depend on the big banks. I think that might be why those 3 banks went out of business. I think they may have refused to play along with Biden's plan......JMHO on that but one day they are open and the next day they are broke and closed down.