Debit Cards, who uses them and why?

[DOHC-LSR]

Debit Cards, who uses them and why?

I don't have one, and will never get one since I see no need for it. But I'm curious to who uses them? Is it for people who can't get a normal credit card?

I don't like them because even in today's day and age, you can get your credit identity stolen. Like it happened to me and I'm pretty sure the info was stolen from a vendor I purchased stuff with in the past who legitimately had my info... but just didn't do a good job protecting it.

My take on why debit cards are dumb, it pulls money right from your account. This will make you easily subjected to overdraft charges if you are that close to $0. You won't hit that with a CC, and you can chose to pay it when you want. If the account info gets stolen, again... it pulls money straight from your account. Then you have to fight to get money you may really need to pay real bills and rent and buy food.

With a CC, you may get charged... but as long as its in dispute... I would never pay anything thats not mine because I know they will clean it up and I'm not responsible for any lates charges related to it either.

I just don't see the point of debit cards really... especially if you have a CC already. If you are using a debit card to force budgeting on to yourself... I think its retarded too... because you'll probably run into overdraft issues and get charged anyway for not being able to manage your money...

Can someone enlighten me on the positive side of a debit card? To me its just below a standard check. I hate anyone who uses paper checks, I think you are just a scammer if I see you using a check... it offers no more protection than credit cards IMO... it has your name, address, bank account and routing number all on that shit....

[KHRISTINE]

I think usually people who uses debit cards are bunch of youngsters. When I opened my bank account (at 16), that's the closest I got to getting a credit card. So for awhile, that's what I use as a form of payment. You have the option to use it as a debit or use it as visa. I hardly use the card itself. Usually, I use it for the convenience of accessing ATM machine to deposit or withdraw.

But now, I use credit cards... and don't use the my debit card at all. Now we have the convenience of direct deposit and everything can be through online such as payments. The only time I use my card is to take out money out of the ATM... not like i take out hella money... so yea...

Advantage of using it:
im not sure... u dun have to carry cash...

iono.. bofa encourage the use of debit cards (and credit) and be in the "keep the change" program. What happens is they round your purchase to the nearest dollar, the excess goes to ur savings account and whatever that change is.. for the first few months they double that change then after they give a certain percent. So u don't have that spare change in your pocket that can be lost easily.

and like I said i think its meant for youngsters because if u use debit right away they see it in the account how much is left... they don't really balance their account... if u use debit, its taken out right away.. maybe they see better how much is left... haha

i personally don't like using it...

[hunnykiss]

I have a debit card...but I use it only for withdraws at the ATM. I never use the card to make purchases because I usually don't remember how much money I have in my account and I don't like that it deducts the money right away.

Positive side: Convenience? I had to use my debit card once when I was at costco because I didn't have an American Express Card.

[DOHC-LSR]

I have a debit card...but I use it only for withdraws at the ATM. I never use the card to make purchases because I usually don't remember how much money I have in my account and I don't like that it deducts the money right away.

Positive side: Convenience? I had to use my debit card once when I was at costco because I didn't have an American Express Card.

ah shit! I guess my ATM card is a debit card. So apparently I freaking have one! The visa/debit card is a option. You can request to NOT have it attached/be used as a visa.

But I talked to someone else... and I guess the best argument I heard so far is the cash back feature. So if you are broke in cash... you don't have to stop by a ATM specifically and then go buy crap... you can buy crap and do the cash back thing and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Being able to use it at Costco is a plus too... unless you are ordering a pizza.:thumbs_do

[ShermStyle]

The ONLY time I ever use it is at Costco. That also seems to be the most popular response. It's a Costco/Debit Card conspiracy.

[DOHC-LSR]

The ONLY time I ever use it is at Costco. That also seems to be the most popular response. It's a Costco/Debit Card conspiracy.

They take AMEX too... pretty much the only reason why I got a AMEX.

[fume711]

yeah..i mainly use the debit for atm...but in some cases..i can see how some people would like to use a debit to keep track of their money, cuz you would be able to check online everyday how much money you have left and not overdraft....versus gettin a credit card bill at the end of the month and say oh shit, i don't have enough in my checking account...also i don't know the answer to this but does the store also get charged w/ a finance charge for accepting a debit card (since it's like a check and they don't get charged for cashing checks do they?) similar to the % from a credit card...if not, then that might be why stores still allow/want debit cards...also...not that you mention the "gettin cash back" from a store does sound mighty convient....i should be doing that rather than driving to a freaking atm every time...

[DOHC-LSR]

yeah..i mainly use the debit for atm...but in some cases..i can see how some people would like to use a debit to keep track of their money, cuz you would be able to check online everyday how much money you have left and not overdraft....versus gettin a credit card bill at the end of the month and say oh shit, i don't have enough in my checking account...also i don't know the answer to this but does the store also get charged w/ a finance charge for accepting a debit card (since it's like a check and they don't get charged for cashing checks do they?) similar to the % from a credit card...if not, then that might be why stores still allow/want debit cards...also...not that you mention the "gettin cash back" from a store does sound mighty convient....i should be doing that rather than driving to a freaking atm every time...

I believe the % charge on debit is less than a CC, so sotre would prefer you use debit.

You can also check online to see what your CC balance is. I don't like the argument of using it a management tool to hit 0 and force you to stop. That just mean you are exactly the type of person that will get overdraft fees charged.

[andyl8u]

ah shit! I guess my ATM card is a debit card. So apparently I freaking have one! The visa/debit card is a option. You can request to NOT have it attached/be used as a visa.

But I talked to someone else... and I guess the best argument I heard so far is the cash back feature. So if you are broke in cash... you don't have to stop by a ATM specifically and then go buy crap... you can buy crap and do the cash back thing and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Being able to use it at Costco is a plus too... unless you are ordering a pizza.:thumbs_do

Yeah, that's what i thought. I think every bank will only give you a atm card that is a debit card. Don't know if the smaller bank have cards that's only atm cards.

[fume711]

You can also check online to see what your CC balance is. I don't like the argument of using it a management tool to hit 0 and force you to stop. That just mean you are exactly the type of person that will get overdraft fees charged.

it might just be me, but to check my cc balance, i have to go through hoops and hurdles to sign up with my cc online, and get verified and what not (which is exactly why i don't have an online acct w/ my cc and am not able to check my balance online) whereas my checking and savings acct, i already have online access (i don't know how hard/easy it was to set up online access) but the checking and savings imo has an advantage, i get to keep track of my physical money balance, checking a cc balance, i won't know exactly how much money i have at that moment, since it's not linked to my checking / savings acct. i would need to log in to my checking/savings regardless of what my cc acct says....so i guess it's easier, checking one acct balance (the checking acct), rather than checking my cc acct and subtracting that from my checking to find out how much physical money i have saved up....

also i have to disagree with the overdraft fee thing...i think that being able to find out how much money you have at that current moment will actually help you in asking yourself "do i really need to buy this item right now since i know my checking does not have enough money"...being able to ask yourself that and knowing that you do not have the physical money to pay for it, i would this this would actually help you reduce overdraft fees and in addition, also help reduce interest from overcharging on your credit card....versus a credit card you would not have asked yourself that question and would have bought it knowing full well that you can just pay interest....

yep....my 2 pennies...

-al...dang that was a long arse response hahaha....

[DOHC-LSR]

also i have to disagree with the overdraft fee thing...i think that being able to find out how much money you have at that current moment will actually help you in asking yourself "do i really need to buy this item right now since i know my checking does not have enough money"...being able to ask yourself that and knowing that you do not have the physical money to pay for it, i would this this would actually help you reduce overdraft fees and in addition, also help reduce interest from overcharging on your credit card....versus a credit card you would not have asked yourself that question and would have bought it knowing full well that you can just pay interest....

yep....my 2 pennies...

-al...dang that was a long arse response hahaha....

I understand the point of view of this argument, but I think that just comes down to who you want to manage your money and finances. You also had to sign up to be able to check your bank/debit accounts online, they didn't set that up automatically.

I've been using a old Quicken 2001 app to keep track of my finances since 2001 so I guess I'm used to not needing to see how low my balance is to stop spending.. I would always know how much I've spent and how much my bills are going to be. Assuming you need to see your balance on your debit card to see how much of a available balance you have, does that mean you do not balance a check/bank account at all?

There is one pit fall to this, if you do not balance your own books and just look at your statement. You write a check and someone sits on it for 4 months+, you forget that THAT money is spent already... and see it as a available balance and continue to use it 5 months down the line. If your balance is low enough and/or the outstanding check(s) written are big enough... when it gets cashed... boom, overdraft.

But I can see the reactive benefits of seeing a emptying account to curbs one's spending... without having to fuss over a bunch of accounting stuff.

But signing up to check CCs online also has a benefit, it helped me out a lot when someone stole my CC number. I was able to track down the vendor and start working immediately on it, instead of waiting 2-3 weeks later when a statement would arrive. Since then I've also setup daily text alerts of my CC balances. You can also do this for your bank accounts. Just a FYI if some didn't know that was available.

[fume711]

yeah....i have not set up my online cc acct viewing....and i do keep an up to date balance using the "registar booklet"....so i don't have a prog to auto calculate my cc spending.....

so i do understand the pitfall of overdrafting if someone sits on an old check that you wrote out, but then again in my situation, i keep an up to date registar so i look at that or if i'm not at home i can look at my statement online and get an approx idea of what i can afford.....but that's wat helps...being able to see what i am able to afford right now and not need to worry about the cc bill coming later and saying oh shit.....can't afford the bill....

but i can see the benifit of signing up online access for the cc, to know asap about identity theft...for that reason alone, i am interested in registering for online access since it was a hassle to wait for the statement to come via snail mail