Debit card != prepaid cc

Post #385,332 by drook 1/15/14 7:06:28 PM Reply	Debit card != prepaid cc Just making sure we're talking about the same thing. So are you saying given the choice between a credit card and a debit card you'd prefer the cc? That only (maybe) makes sense if you assume you'll pay it off every month. Or did you mean something else? -- Drew
Post #385,336 by Andrew Grygus 1/15/14 8:59:38 PM Reply	The big problem with debit is . . . . . that a thief can instantly drain your bank account - and you have no immediate recourse. You're going to have no money for some time, your checks will bounce, etc.
Post #385,363 by crazy 1/16/14 9:07:49 AM Reply	also When traveling, renting cars, renting hotel rooms, etc, the vendor may put a hold on much more than is available in the account, but will be OK with a regular cc card. So they are useful but dangerous.
Post #385,377 by drook 1/16/14 2:54:15 PM Reply	Synchronicity The last couple of days my bank card has been working as a debit but not as a credit. I just called today to find out why. On the 10th I apparently bought $58.29 worth of something at a Winn-Dixe Liquor in Florida. No, I haven't been to Florida this month. The bank put a hold on the card for credit transactions, but it was still good for debit because I needed the PIN. They just deactivated the card and are sending me a new one. Damn, now everything I have set up with recurring payments has to be updated. What a royal pain in the ass. -- Drew
Post #385,346 by Ashton 1/15/14 10:07:14 PM Reply	Yes, I forget that few do (pay-off monthly) I get that not all debit cards are (pay ahead.) I thought that that was originally/maybe still an option, for reasons mentioned. I've been fortunately a sufficient non-consumer that I do that (with a few early-on exceptions: when you had to Use the 'credit' to prove you Would pay-off.) But as to 'teaching oneself 'thrift'--even with a running balance you can resolve that This-purchase I'll pay-off additional to whatever I pay on balance. (And I realize that the intentionally corporate-favorable 'interest' calcs aka fees--probably make this a Pyrrhic maybe worthless victory.) Do banks still do 'Chattel mortgages' ie "loans for non-real-estate Things"? I haven't looked at that in years. Seems to me that, if you intend to run a balance for more than a couple months (there's already a big debt with CC-holder) --couldn't most people negotiate lower rates than VISA et al? If it's practicable it wouldn't take a huge amount of planning ahead.
Post #396,995 by CRConrad 12/10/14 10:26:38 AM Reply	Credit card=Debit card you don't pay immediately, so why not "Debit card=(OK,~)prepaid credit card"? Quoth the Drook (a while ago): So are you saying given the choice between a credit card and a debit card you'd prefer the cc? That only (maybe) makes sense if you assume you'll pay it off every month. To use a debit card you have to have the funds in your account. If you have the funds in your account, you can just as well use them to pay off the credit card in full. The only difference is, you get a month (or a month and a half) of free credit... So, what's not to like? Yes, a debit card actually isn't exactly a "prepaid credit card"; it's a credit-less -- and therefore by necessity "an always-backed credit card": You don't have to pre-pay all the month's purchases, just make sure you have the funds in your account as and when the purchases occur. But the difference is so infinitesimal it's just quibbling. (Which actually means I should be using my CC, not my DC, all the time. YTF aren't I? Dang my parents and the stupid Puritan way they brought me up!) -- Christian R. Conrad Same old username (as above), but now on iki.fi (Yeah, yeah, it redirects to the same old GMail... But just in case I ever want to change.)
Post #397,000 by boxley 12/10/14 11:01:26 AM Reply	in amerika banks are happy to let you buy a $5 item with no funds on your debit card and charge you $35 for the privilege Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 59 years. meep
Post #397,006 by Another Scott 12/10/14 7:38:34 PM Reply	Another wrinkle are pre-paid debit cards. They're trying to weaken Dodd-Frank too. One can dispute credit card charges and not be responsible for more than $50 (IIRC). Debit cards have no such protections (in addition to leaving you vulnerable to having your bank account drained, as mentioned above). CFPB.gov: What is the difference between a debit card and a prepaid debit card? UPDATED 5/22/2013 Even though it’s called a debit card, a prepaid debit card is very different from a bank account debit card. A bank account debit card is linked to your checking account; a prepaid debit card is not. Instead, you pay in advance to load funds onto a prepaid card, and then use the money you have loaded onto the card. In most cases, you can’t spend more money than you have already loaded onto your prepaid debit card, but with bank account debit cards, if you opt into your bank’s overdraft service, the bank may cover the cost of a purchase that exceeds what you have in your account, and charge you a fee (as well as requiring you to repay the overdraft.) In addition, prepaid debit cards may carry fewer consumer protections in the event of loss or a disputed charge than debit cards. Credit cards are great for people who pay them off every month (assuming one doesn't pay an annual fee). For people who are struggling, there's the choice of paying 20+% annual interest rates or using a debit card with fees and fewer protections. Until the CFPB came into being, banks would often clear checks not by date but by ways that were guaranteed to generate more $35 returned check or "overdraft protection" fees. E.g. If you were $1 off in your subtraction of your balance, they'd bounce your $2 coffee debit card payment, charge you $35, then bounce your $40 phone bill, charge you $35, then bounce your $100 cable bill, then ..., then bounce your $1000 rent check, charge you $35, etc., etc. US banks make it extremely hard for poor people to keep their money. It's a racket. And the latest federal budget "agreement" proposes to remove some of the Dodd-Frank restrictions on the big banks. Grrr... Cheers, Scott.

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