why is it stupid? it's trying to warn people the dangers of using your debit card instead of CC. as a matter of fact, i had some weird charges on my CC about 3 months ago where the CC company acutally contacted me because two charges from Denmark, where i have never been. now, i don't know if my bank would have contacted me, but my CC company immediately cancelled my card and removed the charges from my account. if that were my bank, i'd probably have to fight for my money back. i get rewards with debit card also, but the benefits and protection of a CC far outweigh the risk i would take by using a debit card.
I get what you're saying... I just find it hard to see how someone would steal your pin without you making a mistake by making it obvious what your pin really is... it's really a care on your part on how things can becoming fraudulent sometimes... but I can agree that a CC is more secure than a DC. I personally just don't see it as a big deal to use a CC instead of a DC everywhere you go, you have it for a reason. At least for me also, I look at my statements each week, sometimes twice a week, on both my CC and my bank account so I can make sure of any unusual charges that may occur.
My thoughts exactly. What the article is basically saying is "use your credit card for everything". One of the biggest financial problems we have in this country is people spending more money than they actually have due to the over-dependence on credit cards. How is using your credit card MORE going to be a big help with that?
I use my credit card for most payments because I get cash back, but I always try and pay off the balance at the end of the month. A lot of people forget that money is being borrowed, not given away.
Article should have said the ONLY 3 places you should EVER use a debit card. Since it eliminated all of life's uses for a debit card. I agree that using a debit card for EVERYTHING is unsound. A credit card does have uses besides just being the official Over-Your-Means debt accumulator. I've started drawing out the old paper cash again for some things to cut down use of the DC. Though its just way too convenient to use the debit card for the instant digital transactions over a credit card. If you're not on a CC with rewards, and are late on a payment or skip a payment, over the course of the year you're paying extra money if you dont immediately pay off the card balance. Especially for the costly hotel and "big ticket" purchases. Might as well get a $100 stolen from the DC anyway
That's a great strategy, but let's be honest: you're more the exception than the rule. Most people forget/neglect to pay their balances at the end of the month, which just lines the pockets of the cc companies. Encouraging those people to charge MORE is just suspect, IMHO.
I just broke my debit card in two and chewed it up and ate it. Apparently thats the safest place for it.
I only use my credit card. I have never paid any amount besides the full statement balance when the bill is due. Credit cards are great tools if you know how to use them.
Stupid question, but I've never had a debit card. Always use my credit card. What kind of customer base are debit cards geared towards and what are the major differences between debit and credit? Can you collect miles on debit cards?
From what I know... I think they're mainly for young adults, students, etc. It helps you manage how much money you have in your account when you buy something and most banks now have overdraft protection also. Everyone uses debit cards though... I mean nowadays every bank gives them to you for free if you open a new account. Debit has a pin, credit doesn't. Debit is actually using money from your bank account as opposed to Credit which is essentially borrowing money and putting it on credit for any purchase you make with a Credit Card so if you can't pay off the monthly bill, they'll charge you interest for your balance. Besides that, I don't really know many other differences. I don't believe you can collect miles on them, I may be wrong, but I guess it would depend on the bank. You can, however, collect reward points which some banks offer.
I don't know if I buy this. I have a Visa debit card that can be run as credit or debit, but comes out of my checking account either way. I don't really see any additional risk to using it than using a regular credit card if I'm using my debit card as "credit" at these type of places. If I lose my debit card (or a regular cc for that matter), I'm probably going to notice pretty fast and any purchases made on it by a finder/thief should get reimbursed either way. The only place I use a regular CC for sure is unique vendors online that I don't use regularly. I do pay off any balance I rack up at the end of the month- but I prefer to use my debit card for most purchases (or cash).
The obvious problem here is that with a debit card your money can be gone instantly from your bank account and you may have to wait through an investigation for it. Any other transactions you had pending may now draw against a cleaned-out bank account and cause further problems. With a credit card, you don't lose money instantly. I believe in some situations you are liable for more of the money lost with a fraudulent transaction when a debit card is involved than when a credit card is involved (I'd have to check if this is still true - it has been in the past). Also, you don't need to "lose" your credit/debit card in order for someone to take your money.
It's usually easier for people to get a debit card than a credit card (people with bad/poor credit) from what I understand. The main difference is that with a debit card, your money goes out instantly from the account its tied to. With a credit card, no money is involved (as far as you're concerned) until you pay your credit card bill. As I stated before, I believe your liability when someone else fraudulently uses the credit card is higher for a debit card than for a credit card, but this may have changed - I'm not certain.
If you make all your purchases essentially using cash (cash or debit) why would you not take advantage of a free loan every month?
Everytime I use my check card I tell them to process it as credit instead of debit. The reason I do that is because I get cashback rewards with my check card (Chase Lesiure Rewards), but I only earn points on transactions that are processed as credit.
CC industry paid her to write this. Paying debit on something over $20 is preferred for the merchant. Credit card merchant fees eat into large $2,000 purchases. I may be old school, but what happened to cash? Screw the points you get. Cash makes everyone happy except the banks.
I just avoid using both credit and debit cards at bars and hole in the wall gas stations other than that never concerned....
These articles come out abut every 6 months..and each time they're written by either a credit card company executive, a CC advocacy group (made up of CC company executives), or sponsored by a CC company. I've got a Visa Debit card attached to my bank account & it gets me the same protection that a regular credit card has.
