Using your debit card is not like using your credit card. Debit card transactions are processed by Visa for instance, but its still not a credit transaction and therefore you are not protected under the federal credit card laws.

Like you just said, its up to the discretion of your bank to reimburse you. Very different than you not paying your credit card and disputing any fraudulent charges. I dont read the fine print on my bank account, do you? Some of the definitions around your liability are with how responsible you were with your debit card. Lets assume you left your bank debit card at a bar, and due to being drunk, you didn’t realize you left it until a day later. In the meantime, someone went out and bought thousands of dollars, cleaning out your bank account. Can you be held liable for this because technically you weren’t being responsible?

Numbers are often stolen while you are in possession of your card, compromised at big box stores, not to mention stolen directly by people who come in contact with your card. I personally do not want to discover that my checking account has been cleaned out with fraudulent “charges” that really aren’t charges but debit withdrawals.

I preach this to people who’ve had their debit card numbers stolen. I do not even have a Visa logo on my bank debit cards.

Using your debit card is not like using your credit card. Debit card transactions are processed by Visa for instance, but its still not a credit transaction and therefore you are not protected under the federal credit card laws.

Like you just said, its up to the discretion of your bank to reimburse you. Very different than you not paying your credit card and disputing any fraudulent charges. I dont read the fine print on my bank account, do you? Some of the definitions around your liability are with how responsible you were with your debit card. Lets assume you left your bank debit card at a bar, and due to being drunk, you didn’t realize you left it until a day later. In the meantime, someone went out and bought thousands of dollars, cleaning out your bank account. Can you be held liable for this because technically you weren’t being responsible?

Numbers are often stolen while you are in possession of your card, compromised at big box stores, not to mention stolen directly by people who come in contact with your card. I personally do not want to discover that my checking account has been cleaned out with fraudulent “charges” that really aren’t charges but debit withdrawals.

I preach this to people who’ve had their debit card numbers stolen. I do not even have a Visa logo on my bank debit cards.

Using your debit card is not like using your credit card. Debit card transactions are processed by Visa for instance, but its still not a credit transaction and therefore you are not protected under the federal credit card laws.

Like you just said, its up to the discretion of your bank to reimburse you. Very different than you not paying your credit card and disputing any fraudulent charges. I dont read the fine print on my bank account, do you? Some of the definitions around your liability are with how responsible you were with your debit card. Lets assume you left your bank debit card at a bar, and due to being drunk, you didn’t realize you left it until a day later. In the meantime, someone went out and bought thousands of dollars, cleaning out your bank account. Can you be held liable for this because technically you weren’t being responsible?

Numbers are often stolen while you are in possession of your card, compromised at big box stores, not to mention stolen directly by people who come in contact with your card. I personally do not want to discover that my checking account has been cleaned out with fraudulent “charges” that really aren’t charges but debit withdrawals.

I preach this to people who’ve had their debit card numbers stolen. I do not even have a Visa logo on my bank debit cards.

The law has changed. It used to be true that debit cards were not protected against fraudulent charges. Now the law is exactly the same for both credit cards and debit cards. Both offer zero percent liability. Meaning you’ll get a refund of reported/verified fraudulent charges.

But, more havoc can happen with a debit card – since the fraudulent charge, prior to being reported/refunded, reduces your balance. They don’t refund the bounced check charges that can happen if the fraudulent charge causes other, legitimate withdrawals to bounce.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/alpha-consumer/2009/08/18/fraud-protection-debit-versus-credit-cards.html

Unfortunately, many banks and credit unions no longer offer ATM cards that DON’T have the visa or mastercard logo on them. I had quite a discussion with the teller at SDCCU about this.

The law has changed. It used to be true that debit cards were not protected against fraudulent charges. Now the law is exactly the same for both credit cards and debit cards. Both offer zero percent liability. Meaning you’ll get a refund of reported/verified fraudulent charges.

But, more havoc can happen with a debit card – since the fraudulent charge, prior to being reported/refunded, reduces your balance. They don’t refund the bounced check charges that can happen if the fraudulent charge causes other, legitimate withdrawals to bounce.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/alpha-consumer/2009/08/18/fraud-protection-debit-versus-credit-cards.html

Unfortunately, many banks and credit unions no longer offer ATM cards that DON’T have the visa or mastercard logo on them. I had quite a discussion with the teller at SDCCU about this.

The law is not the same for debit cards. From the FTC. Again, it DEPENDS on how you report it and personally I do not want to be held to interpretation

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre04.shtm

The law is not the same for debit cards. From the FTC. Again, it DEPENDS on how you report it and personally I do not want to be held to interpretation

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre04.shtm