cagiva, I’ve always been able to get cash back.
Well, you can do that with a check card. You just need to have 2 bank accounts. One to act as the “prepaid” system, and one to be your normal account. When you want to top it up, just transfer from real account to “prepaid” account.
Wow… I’ve started loads of threads that I THOUGHT would draw responses, but which died out promptly. THis one (a relative throwaway, I’d have thought) seems to have sparked some genuine interest.
Thanks to all who repolied.
My point was NOT to trash debit cards, by the way. I do use my ATM card at retail stores regularly, and I fully agree that it’s convenient. I don’t doubt that Visa check cards are convenient, as well.
I was just curious about the point of their (admittedly entertaining) commercials. The commercials seem to clobber us over the head, over and over, with the same message: “It takes forever to get a check approved! You’ll be asked for 50 forms of ID, and you’ll be waiting forever before the cashier finally lets you go.”
As I noted earlier, in Texas,
- Virtually EVERY retailer takes checks for virtually everything.
- Almost no retailers ask for ID, and when they do, a driver’s license is always enough.
So, while I’m sure the Visa check card is wonderfully convenient, I have yet to experience the horrors their commercials suggest are waiting for me when I try to write a check.
But… having read these posts, I gather it’s NOT so easy to write checks everyplace else. My question is answered- in some places, apparently, it CAN be a genuine nightmare. I’ll just have to appreciate Austin all the more.
But apparently, it’s not quite so easy everyplace else.
Well, while procedure varies by establishment, generally it’s a much bigger pain in the ass for the cashier to process your check regardless of how quick on the check-draw you are or how lazy the cashier is. Where I work, if your purchase is above a certain amount (not sure, probably around $20) then I need to type in your state, your driver’s license number, and all those little numbers at the bottom of the check. Then I wait for my register to decide if you have any money or not. If you -don’t-, I get to call the center to see if your check is approved. (It almost always is, whenever I’ve called.) Then I put it through the little whirry bit of the cash register, which can eat it, or not print it correctly (in which case I have to stamp it). (Also, I can screw up if your transaction produced other whirry-thing pieces of paper and accidentally print all your special order information crap on the back of your check, which I’m sure confuses the bank mightily.)
In contrast, if you hand me a card, I hit “Bank card”, I bug you about getting Entertainment Weekly, I hopefully check your ID, I scan it, you sign it, that’s it. If it’s declined, it’s declined, tough shit. No calling, no whirry thing, no misprinting, no printer jam. Now, at the end of the night I have to add up the checks and the card slips anyway, so although the checks go in the deposit there’s no extra work on the other end, but checks are a definite pain in the ass for your local retail slave.
Especially between Black Friday and January 10. Have you no shame? No sympathy? No kindness in your heart whatsoever?
And did you have to give the check to the new guy? The one with “Desperate Hiring Decision” written on his forehead? And now nobody’s getting rung up because I have to fix the horrible mess he’s made of things, and figure out why it crashed the register? Please! And then couldn’t you have refrained from drumming your fingers on the counter, tapping your foot, and looking at your watch? You know who you are.
Do any Canadian banks offer these cards?
2 checks in a year! Ludicrous!
The wonderful people at Chevy Chase didn’t even give me a checkbook. As it is, I’ve never written a personal check in my life. [sub]Of course, I’m not even 18 yet.[/sub]
For those worried about security, a debit card can only be used with the PIN number. So unless your mystery thief knows you well enough to know the PIN, there’s no way they can use it to clean out your account.
Yes, Super Gnat, but I’m not certain that a “debit card” and a “check card” are the same. It appears that a check card can be used with only a signature.
Exactly, which is why there are the security risks Reality Chuck mentioned. The compensation, however, is miles - I’ve already taken one free trip. And I keep my wallet on a chain (no joke!).
There are at least two - Visa Buxx and (I think) Master Money. I got my daughter a Visa Buxx precisely so she could use it online,in stores and at ATM’s in an emergency without having to open a separate, low balance bank account for her.
Who sold it? A US bank, or the Visa organization? What is the card’s offical product name, so I can ask at my bank for it?
The card’s name is Visa Buxx, Sunspace.
[quote]
Who sold it? A US bank, or the Visa organization? What is the card’s offical product name, so I can ask at my bank for it?
[quote]
Visa Buxx has a website (www.visabuxx.com) with links to banks that accept applications online, and so does the Mastercard site.
Thanks! I’ll contect them.
My bank charges for checks.
It doesn’t charge for a check card.
And swiping the card IS faster than writing a check and takes up less space. Plus I never had to worry about running out of checks.
Well, it says Check Card.
According to the instructions, I can use it as a debit card by putting in my PIN. This costs 25 cents a transaction, so I only do it if I want cash back. Alternately, I can use it as a credit card, which means I have to sign it or provide expiration date on the Net. This deducts the money directly from my checking account, though. There’s no charge for using it this way, so it’s what I usually use, but I can’t get cash back this way. I get a statement every month, though, so I would know if something were horribly wrong.