Comments on: Answering Mail: Using Debit Cards as Credit Cards

By: rita

rita — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:25:17 +0000

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF DEBIT CARD AND CREDIT CARD

By: Flexo

Flexo — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:32:53 +0000

Hey Francis: The first sentence of my response to the question, in the text of the article, says that merchants pay less for debit (PIN) transactions than credit (signature) transactions, even when using a debit card. That’s why better debit card rewards often require the transaction to be in credit (signature) mode. Merchants might pay 2% to 3% of the total cost for a credit transaction while ten cents or less for a debit card transaction.

Regular credit cards are almost never used in debit (PIN) mode.

These merchant fees are often passed onto the consumer in the form of higher prices for everyone.

By: Laura

Laura — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:34:53 +0000

I’m hoping I’ll get my debit card from Chase soon. Do they charge you fees for debit transactions?

By: Francis

Francis — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:00:01 +0000

Flexo

long time reader and I’ve noticed that this question comes up a lot. It seems though that it is only the commenters that are bringing up the fact that using the “charge” mode of any card whether it be a card linked to a checking account or credit account will result in higher fees charged to the merchant ( about 2-5% ). for a small businesses these fees can add up! please remind the readers of this hidden cost of credit card transactions!

By: LaDonna

LaDonna — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:39:55 +0000

Chase offers 3% back on groceries & gas if you use your debit card as a credit card. Everywhere else, I use it as debit to help the business owners.

By: SingleGuyMoney

SingleGuyMoney — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:31:59 +0000

And don’t forget, if you have one of the “high yield” reward checking accounts, one of the requirements is usually 10-15 credit transactions. Debit transactions usually don’t count toward the monthly requirement. Make sure you meet your minimum amount of credit transactions before you let the cashier run your transaction as debit.

By: Barb

Barb — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:32:37 +0000

My bank also charges me a quarter for every debit transaction, so I always use my debit card in credit mode. If you want to save businesses money, don’t use AmEx; their fees are insane.

By: Flexo

Flexo — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:32:46 +0000

Just to clarify, credit cards, including those that offer rewards, are always used in “credit” (signature) mode. Debit cards, which if they carry a Visa or Mastercard logo, including thise that offer rewards, can be used in “debit” (PIN) or “credit” mode. Some debit cards offer different levels of rewards depending on the purchase mode.

For example Citibank offers rewards when you use their debit card, linked to their ThankYou network, at the rate of 1 point per $2 if you use “crdit” mode but only at the rate of 1 point per $3 if you use “debit” mode.

By: MyJourney

MyJourney — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:39:52 +0000

I always use the debit option at small businesses. Mainly because I feel bad they are getting hit with higher fees.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:36:47 +0000

Some banks (I’m looking at you, Wachovia) will charge you for debit transactions. Check your cardholder agreement and monthly statements.

By: Erica Douglass

Erica Douglass — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:10:15 +0000

Many rewards cards only give you rewards if you use them as “credit” (or they give more rewards if you use as credit.) If you have a rewards debit card, make sure to read the fine print to figure this out.

-Erica