Comments on: Credit vs Debit Transactions with Your ATM Card

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.

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:43:16 +0000

I never liked the idea of the debit card. Merchants being able to directly withdraw money from my bank account felt like a loss of control. What if an employee used my info to get money out of my account or they inadvertently cause a double charge (as happened when a gas station double billed my purchase)? At least with a credit card you can dispute a charge without worrying about lack of fund fees from the bank. Also, instead of a debit card I use old fashioned checks. I don’t use them often, but the gal who cuts my hair gets a check from me. And I use the check register to keep track of my balance.

Others live by the debit card. An ex used his debit card all the time, but he never kept track of his purchases. So if he wrote a check and it wasn’t cashed right away, he would end up with tons of overdraft charges.

So, it seems like a personal comfort level which dictates debit or credit.

By: Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:35:22 +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.

Why carry cash, a debit card, and a credit card in your wallet?

The combo should be some cash, and one credit card, and that’s it. Keep it simple.

By: Nip92

Nip92 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:48:35 +0000

Never knew of the differences and I always thought the visa logo on my Wells Fargo card was stupid. It’s another way that those institutions muddy the water to confuse customers and profit.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:52:09 +0000

If you bank charges $0.25 for each transaction, you should look for one that doesn’t (most don’t).

I’m not implying that some merchants need that cost to survive, but when small local businesses are thriving, that’s better for the economy than the big corporations getting all the money.

By: Daniel @ Sweating The Big Stuff

Daniel @ Sweating The Big Stuff — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:37:34 +0000

I used to have a card with a 50 cent charge for each debit transaction. This was before I realized it could also be used as a credit card, and I closed the account. I’m glad I didn’t know at the time, though, the bank had no redeeming qualities.

By: finco86

finco86 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:26:18 +0000

My bank charges me $.25 for every debit transaction so I always use credit. As far as hitting ‘Cancel’, it doesn’t make you swipe your card again. If the difference in cost between debit and credit is going to make or break a company, then they are not going to be around long. This should already be factored into their business model.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:46:22 +0000

I haven’t tried pressing cancel, but I may try it sometime just to see!

If you want to sign for it, the cashier needs to specifically say that it’s a credit transaction (even though it’s still a debit card). Once you are asked to type in your pin, the cashier already pressed “debit”.

Yes I mean credit. Thank you for pointing it out and it’s been corrected.