I doubt any transaction processing systems got updated at any bank in the past 48hrs with the Brexit vote in the air.

Then again I found this: https://www.iggsoftware.com/support/articles/ibank-5/citiban...

Good find. An "extended major release" while they're onboarding 11 million new customers sounds painful.

It looks like they don't really care about distributed systems. With the current software methodologies planned global outages are not acceptable. It's still sad that banks like this can be one of the biggest because of their monopoly position.

We're switching away from credit cards as much as possible for that reason among others (e.g., we spend less when paying with something more tangible like cash). The only remaining use is for gas, hotels, and online purchases that I won't trust a debit card number to.

I use credit cards like a debit card but get rewarded for using them. I pay them off in full every month, I have never once paid interest on a credit card bill.

> get rewarded for using them

I understand why you want the rewards, and when I'm forced to use a credit card, I also want the reward. But we need to call out the bullshittedness of the system.

Everything in the world is 2-3% more expensive just so that credit cards can "give" you 1% back as a "reward". (Similar situation: People who are thrilled with a tax refund. The government takes money away from their paycheck, then later gives part of it back. If they don't think about it, they think they're getting free money.)

People get caught up in it as if credit card rewards are a good idea. It's not. It's a drag on the economy for the credit card companies to bake their costs into every transaction.

It very well might be, but not using a 1% cashback card doesn't mean you pay 3% less than someone using one. I can $1000 for a TV and get $10 or get $0 back - paying $970 and getting $0 back isn't an option

Sure, that's true so long as the reward system exists. But if the reward system didn't exist everybody (including YOU) would be better off.

I wish there was an economic expression to describe the situation with credit cards and their rewards. Tragedy of the commons[1] and the unscrupulous diner's dilemma[2] both come close, but aren't exactly right.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unscrupulous_diner%27s_dilemma

Me too, rewards plus the ability to easily contest and reverse fraudulent charges (which I have experienced multiple times) make a credit card infinitely better than a debit card.

Here in Australia you can just as easily contest charges on debit cards.

Bizarre that such a protection elsewhere is limited to just credit cards.