# Wal-Mart Sued Visa and MasterCard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-sued-visa-and-mastercard/175190 "2003-05-14T13:26:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-sued-visa-and-mastercard/175190/21 "2003-05-23T22:36:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Woodall \* > \*\*HOLD UP. Now it makes sense to me. > Your not quite right. They don’t mind you using a credit card. > Here are your options… > > 1. Credit Card, used AS a credit card > 2. Credit Card, used AS an ATM card > 3. Debit Card, used AS a credit card, meaning it acts like a real Visa, etc except it draws on real money rather than a line of credit > 4. Debit Card, used AS an ATM card. > 5. ATM card, used AS an ATM card. > > Wal-Mart appears to like 1, 2, 4 and 5. > However, when you use 3, they’d rather you use 4, since it costs them less, and they know that typically you CAN use 4 in any situation in which you can use 3. > In general, 2, 4 and 5 would cost them less money. Typical cost might be around 10cents per transaction. > 1 and 3 will likely cost approximately $.35/XACT plus .019 times the total amount of the goods and services purchased, depending on whether you use VISA, MC, Discover or Amex. > Small, low-volume merchants pay somewhat more for Credit card processing. Of course Wal-Mart will negotiate the absolute best possible price. \*\* So it’s just when I want to use the debit as a credit card they they’re none too pleased. But - and you can tell this isn’t something I give a lot of thought to, unfortunately - if I use my debit card as an ATM card, my bank charges me a little extra, right? So although 4 is cheaper for Wal-Mart, it’s more expensive for me, is that right? Heck, it’s not a big deal to me; I do not have a credit card to use, so it’s a question of using the debit card as an ATM card or as a credit card. I always tell 'em credit, because I thought I’d heard that using it as a debit would cost me a little more. I dunno anymore. You can see this confuses me of little brain. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-sued-visa-and-mastercard/175190/22 "2003-05-23T22:52:36Z")
—quote— So it’s just when I want to use the debit as a credit card they they’re none too pleased. But - and you can tell this isn’t something I give a lot of thought to, unfortunately - if I use my debit card as an ATM card, my bank charges me a little extra, right? So although 4 is cheaper for Wal-Mart, it’s more expensive for me, is that right? —end quote— You are correct on all counts. I will note, as I did previously, that not only may your bank charge you for the debit transaction, but the ATM network may in fact charge you ON TOP of that. It’s not a huge deal to me either. If any merchant insists my debit card become an ATM card I’ll instead pull out my American Express or Visa CREDIT CARDs. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-sued-visa-and-mastercard/175190/23 "2003-05-23T22:55:42Z")
I’ve seen Star POS charges on my bank statement, and I assumed (correctly, it appears) that those resulted from using the ATM card as a credit card. C’est la vie. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-sued-visa-and-mastercard/175190.md?page=1)