Interesting. I'm going to have to look into this a bit more now. The actual cardholder agreement is what ultimately counts, so I'll have to dig mine up. According to the Visa website, their Zero Liability doesn't apply to ATM and PIN-based transactions, which you can't do with a credit card in the first place. They say the bank must extend provisional credit within 5 days unless you have a history of being flakey.

Granted, they could "clean you out" and this would be more painful than if they cleaned out the issuer's funny money. I don't see why you would need to close your bank account, though. The crook doesn't have your check book, all he has is a card number that can be cancelled. I don't keep more than a month's worth of expenses in the checking account, but bounced payments would be a real pain to straighten out. On the other hand, I certainly would not be oblivious for a whole month, I normally check my account online daily.

I will need to explore the issue of temporary holds a little more, as although I no longer use the credit card for routine expenses, I've continued to use it for larger discretionary ones like hotels and vacations.