Comments on: Credit vs Debit Transactions with Your ATM Card

By: No1

No1 — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:24:56 +0000

Actually all credit cards and debit cards ran as credit transactions on the Visa or Mastercard networks cost the merchant the same amount for that network as specified in that merchant’s contract with the payment processor.

With the “incentive” cards, the financial institution just shares some of the loot that would go to the card issuer with the consumer instead of keeping it all fie themselves. In exchange, they usually have a higher interest rate. Just pay it off during the grace period and that is not a problem though.

And generally a small business will only care if it’s a small charge, under $10 for example where the per transaction fee really makes a difference for them.

By: Megan @ Education Cents

Megan @ Education Cents — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:28:28 +0000

Before we got our Rewards credit card (which we now use to pay for gas and groceries), I would always choose debit at the grocery store (so I could also get cash back if I wanted it) and credit at the gas station.

Chosing credit at the gas station makes the most sense because I’ve been told by numerous people (and bloggers) that it’s relatively easy for a thief to install a PIN reader on a gas pump, and I didn’t want to run the risk of that sensitive information being stolen.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 01:39:27 +0000

Actually you will need the money to be available in your account before you can use it. The only difference between credit and debit with your ATM card is which transaction network your purchase is processed through.

By: jeff

jeff — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:07:07 +0000

I have my debit/credit card through Wells Fargo and my direct deposit won’t go through until about noon Friday but I need to use it at 8am. Can I use my card in the am as credit and be ok since the money will be there by noon?

By: Zack

Zack — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:54:52 +0000

I like using debit because typically it post immediately and the funds are taken right out of your account. Credit transactions can take a few days to post. For those of us that like to keep a tight grip on our checking account balances, debit can be better. Otherwise, choosing “credit” works great.

By: Malfeasant

Malfeasant — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:16:11 +0000

generally, those “incentive” cards are paid for by the merchants in the form of higher transaction fees. if you only go to best buy/walmart/other big box stores, no big whoop. but if you go to small businesses, don’t be too surprised if they don’t jump at the chance to take your card. compare to going to restaurants and not leaving a tip.

By: Malfeasant

Malfeasant — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:09:31 +0000

merchants don’t directly withdraw money from your account, that’s what card processors are for. if an employee were inclined to steal your card number, they could do it equally easily if you chose debit or credit- but once stolen, they could only use it as credit- debit will not work without the pin and the card’s mag stripe. in reality, employees stealing card numbers is quite rare. i’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but the odds are pretty slim. actually, someone who is going to steal your bank account information will more likely send you an email urging you to click a link to a faked copy of your bank’s website and log in. if you fall for it, chances are you won’t even remember you did it, because it seemed so routine.

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:32:22 +0000

I never liked debit cards and never used them until I recently switched credit unions. My new CU has a high interest checking account and for every month that I use my debit card (credit transactions) 12 times, I qualify for 3.25% on my checking. Since switching, we keep all of our savings and sinking funds in our checking account and with an average balance of $7-8000, we pocket around $20 a month in interest.

By: John

John — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:27:10 +0000

I don’t think I even know the pin to my debit card. I get points on my Amazon-Visa card and every few months I get a $25 credit to my Amazon account that I can use toward any purchase from any retailer on Amazon. com. I’ll keep the cash in my checking account until *I’m* ready to part with it.

By: kitty

kitty — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:40:01 +0000

“I still don’t get the use of a debit card when you can use a credit card and get something out of each transaction. ”

I only see two reasons:
1) the holder has one of those new high interest checking accounts that pay very high interest (4 to 5%) but require a certain number of debit transactions a month
2) the holder is a credit-aholic who doesn’t understand the difference between credit and spending money. I.e. if you and I look at the price tag of an item we like that costs say $100, we may think “this cost $100, it’s expensive” regardless of how many credit cards we have in our wallet. A credit-aholic thinks “oh, I can just charge it so I am not paying real money”. These people should probably stay away from cards or at least have a credit card cool off period so that they can develop some disciplilne, learn the value of money and get a clear idea of what they can or cannot afford.

But for those of us who do understand the value of money and know that borrowed money aren’t really our own, credit cards provide nice advantages. Also – there is this wonderful feature called “automatic payment of the full balance” that allows to combine debit card’s feature of having the money taken from your account with all the advantages of credit cards like grace period and the ability to actually check all of the purchases, check that all merchants delivered everything as promised before the money actually leave the account.