# Credit card vs. debit card **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297 "2006-12-15T15:39:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/21 "2006-12-16T19:02:55Z")
I use a debit card for all my online purchases, I don´t even have a credit card at all. Call me whatever you´d like but I don´t like to borrow money and I almost always pay in cash, if I really need something I have the time to get the money for it. I just paid for 3 air tickets with my DC (Paris-Cologne-Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur), I put the money on the account, waited a few days for it to be updated and bought the tickets. I feel it´s safer to use a DC for online purchases, I see something I want, put the money on the account and then buy it; the chances that I may be scammed on the day or two that the money is on the account are (I think) negligible, and if I´m ripped off anyway I won´t lose more than the money I had on the account, that is, I won´t find myself in owing money to anyone. One handy use I´m thinking to give my DC is that, after relocating in January, I´ll keep working remotely in BKK in the same job I have now, so I can arrange my employee to put my pay on my card account and draw it from there with a very small charge. I haven´t thought it up much yet but it´s a possibility I´m looking into. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/22 "2006-12-16T20:17:19Z")
I wouldn’t ever get rid of my credit card. Its a Shell Mastercard that gives me 5% back in the form of gasoline on all my Shell gasoline purchases and 1% back on all others. Over the years I’ve gotten thousands of dollars back in “free” gas. When everyone was paying $3.00 a gallon, I was paying $2.85. Between this and my paying off the balance each month and no annual fee, I’m sure they hate me! They also “go to bat” for you if there is some kind of dispute with a company you bought something from. If you had paid by personal check, good luck getting your money back, but if you paid with Mastercard or another CC company, you’ll probably get your money back. I don’t know if this is true with a debit card. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/23 "2006-12-16T21:58:04Z")
Thanks for all the advice. I’ll definitely keep the credit card. I’ll respond to some points raised: When I said I’d never used a debit card I wsn’t referring to my ATM card. I’ve used one of those for over thirty years. But never used the ATM card when I went to Walmarts or anyting like that. We’ve never paid any interest…and we have received a lot of free miles. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/24 "2006-12-17T00:04:49Z")
There’s another problem with debit cards that hasn’t been mentioned here. If you have trouble with impulse purchases or you can’t keep up with your account balance, overdraft fees could easily ruin you. In fact, here’s a link to an excellent PDF – it’s a paper that shows tht overdraft fees have gotten so high that payday loans are a better deal than a bank account for some consumers. Basically, banks set it up so it’s very easy to get overdraft, and so that if you do, you get dinged with a LOT of $29 fees. Credit card interest is NOTHING compared to a pile of NSF fees. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/25 "2006-12-17T00:06:26Z")
By all accounts (heh) your best bet is to set up an account with a credit union … they tend to be the best about not trying to trap you with overdraft fees and such. Also, watch out for credit card fees as well … some of them are pretty damned ridiculous … I believe a few banks have “non-usage fees.” ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/26 "2006-12-17T00:47:29Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] The only drawback to a debit card (other than it not extending credit, of course) is that you can’t generally use one to rent a car. [/QUOTE] Huh, talk about coincidences! I returned a car this morning as a woman was coming in to rent. The agent had told her on the phone that she needed a driver’s license and a credit card. She showed up with a debit card, and was angry that they were going to temporarily deduct a $300 security deposit. [QUOTE=Uzi] Welcome back! So, what’s the dark side of the moon like (which is where you’ve must have been living not to have a debit card yet)? 😛 [/QUOTE] It looks just like home. 🙂 I don’t have a debit card and can’t see the point. I have an ATM card for cash, and a credit card for most of my purchases. I pay off the card in full every month. I get rewards and security protection. If I have the money in my account for a debit card, then I have it to pay off the credit card. And with electronic payment of bills through my bank account, it’s not like I’m even out the $0.39 for a stamp when the bill comes due. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/27 "2006-12-17T01:46:45Z")
[QUOTE=Renee] One thing I hate about using a credit card is that I feel (irrationally) that I’m paying for something twice. I pay for it, and feel like I’ve paid for it on the card, then get a bill a few weeks later and feel like I have to pay for the damn thing again. [/QUOTE] This is, as you note, a trifle irrational. But it sure beats the opposite approach, whereby lots of folks act like a credit card is free money, and then are shocked by the statement they receive each month. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/28 "2006-12-17T02:22:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted By **Common Tater** > > Do most credit card holders pay their balance off in full each month, though? I’m gonna go out on a limb and say “no”. I pay mine off in full every month. I think a majority of people do, or at least pay off enough to keep their balances and finance charges to a minimum. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/29 "2006-12-17T12:37:40Z")
The retailer has to pay a percentage fee on Credit cards, but generally not on Debit cards, consequently if I buy something hefty from a retailler that I like (UK Dopers, a dishwasher from John Lewis) then I use a Debit card. Skimming is when someone uses a small (think very small) credit card reader to store the numbers on the magnetic tracks. It is pretty easy to set up a mag card writer to clone the card. In the UK people have been putting skimmers on ATMs, which in conjunction with a pin hole camera for getting the PIN, gives people perfect access to your account. One should be very careful with both Credit and Debit cards - Credit cards are a lot safer as you can fight with the issuer over fraud - as I have had to do in the past. Actually I keep three Debit cards on three bank accounts (personal, bills, business) and one Credit card. I would **never** use a Debit card online and much prefer to use PayPal. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/30 "2006-12-17T12:52:57Z")
[QUOTE=pbbth] I pay mine off in full every month. I think a majority of people do, or at least pay off enough to keep their balances and finance charges to a minimum. [/QUOTE] Yes, but that’s hardly definitive. Given the notoriety of American’s spend’n’spree mentality, I really doubt this. According to American Consumer Credit Counseling, (2004 figures) the total U.S. credit card debt in the first quarter of 2002 was approximately $60 billion. The average credit card interest rate is around 18.9%. Approximately half of all credit card holders pay only their minimum monthly requirements. There are a total of 1.2 billion credit and retail cards in North America. Total consumer credit: $1.7 trillion. Credit card debt carried by the average American: $8,562. Total finance charges Americans paid in 2001: $50 billion. Percent of U.S. households deemed credit worthy by the lending industry: 78%. Number of credit card holders who declared bankruptcy last year: 1.3 million. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/31 "2006-12-17T13:36:54Z")
[QUOTE=Uzi] Anyway, with debit cards you don’t have to get foreign cash before you go out of country. Just go to a local ATM machine when you arrive and get cash there. You usually have to pay a flat fee of a couple of bucks, but you get the bank rate for the transaction. No more nasty travelers checks that no one wants to cash. [/QUOTE] You could do this with a credit card, too, and you’ve got much better protection if your card is lost or stolen, or if someone steals your card number and racks up fraudulent charges. I found this out the hard way. I went to Ecuador about a year and a half ago. Being the dumb American that I am, I carried my wallet and everything in it–including my debit and credit cards (both from Visa)–with me. Within 4 hours of arriving in Quito, my wallet was stolen. Luckily for me, I realized that it was stolen within a day. I called the institutions that had issued my debit and credit card. Luckily for me, I made those phone calls before anyone could use the cards. I found out from my bank, though, that if there had been any fraudulent charges on the debit card, I’d be responsible for the money spent; with my credit card, though, I’d have no problem being stuck with charges I didn’t make myself. Furthermore, I found out that Visa International will replace lost or stolen credit cards worldwide. They don’t do that for debit cards. I managed to live on wire transfers until the credit card got replaced. If I had been relying on my debit card, I would have had to rely on expensive–and theft-prone–Western Union transfers of cash until I got home. And that would have really, really sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/32 "2006-12-17T13:47:51Z")
[QUOTE=Scribble] I found out from my bank, though, that if there had been any fraudulent charges on the debit card, I’d be responsible for the money spent; with my credit card, though, I’d have no problem being stuck with charges I didn’t make myself. [/QUOTE] I just realized what bad phrasing this was. What I wanted to say was that, if a thief had racked up charges on my debit card, I would have been stuck having to pay them off, since there was no way to file any sort of even vaguely reliable or useful police report in Ecuador. If the thief had used my credit card, though, I wouldn’t have been held responsible for anything he or she had charged. I would certainly have had a problem with having to pay off fraudulent charges, no matter what card they were on! ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/33 "2006-12-17T14:00:55Z")
[QUOTE=Scribble] You could do this with a credit card, too, and you’ve got much better protection if your card is lost or stolen, or if someone steals your card number and racks up fraudulent charges. [/QUOTE] IIRC, cash advances on credit cards are expensive as interest is charged as soon as you take the money out even if you pay within the month. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/34 "2006-12-17T14:18:45Z")
[QUOTE=Uzi] IIRC, cash advances on credit cards are expensive as interest is charged as soon as you take the money out even if you pay within the month. [/QUOTE] That’s true, but you can cut down on that interest by doing an electronic transfer from another account. And I’d rather pay the interest charges, in any case, than lose my shirt (or my ability to buy anything!) when I travel. But, hey, that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/35 "2006-12-17T14:20:23Z")
[QUOTE=Uzi] IIRC, cash advances on credit cards are expensive as interest is charged as soon as you take the money out even if you pay within the month. [/QUOTE] That’s true, but you can cut down on that interest by doing an electronic transfer from another account. And I’d rather pay the interest charges, in any case, than take a chance that I’ll lose my shirt, or find myself unable to get cash when I travel. I never thought I’d say that I preferred to use my credit card. I was a real fan of using debit cards until I got pickpocketed in Ecuador. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/36 "2006-12-17T14:21:38Z")
Ack! That first post wasn’t supposed to be there. Could someone please delete it? Thanks a ton. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297/37 "2006-12-17T14:34:42Z")
Interesting - I was checking online to make sure my payment was debited or whatever to my account. I (again) noted that the CC issuer had bumped my APR to 10%, at some point, without any notification. I rooted around and saw a link for “How can I lower my APR”, and clicked on that. "Congratulations! You qualify for 8.25%, click here… " etc. So, I dutifully clicked, and my APR is now lower than when I got the card. What’s up with that? Are they just squeezing the cardholders, and then see who squeels, or what? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-vs-debit-card/384297.md?page=1)