Charlie and the Credit Factory

Debit Credit Card

What can you say about a debit credit card? Plenty! But you have to be careful of debit card fraud.

The Convenience

In today's world, we lack patience.We all want what we want when we want it, which is usually NOW! Just like toddlers. To that end, a debit credit card is a convenient replacement for writing checks. It certainly makes things go a lot smoother in check-out lines. Rather than taking the time to write a check, possibly get your ID out and get check approval, you simply swipe your card, type in your PIN number and you're done. It's even faster than using a credit card because you don't have to sign your name.

Also, there are times when you need a credit card to hold a reservation for a rental car or hotel room. When it's time to pay the bill, you have the option of whether you want to put it on your card or not, but regardless, you need the card to make the reservation. Lots of people don't carry credit cards, and in this case, having a debit credit card works to your advantage.

When to Use It

Debit credit cards are convenient, that's true. But there are times when you definitely should not use your debit credit card. It may be tempting to whip out your debit credit card to pay your portion of a bill when you go out to dinner or lunch with friends and didn't have time to hit the ATM first. No matter how tempting this may be, don't do it. There's a scam that's being used by some waiters and waitresses where they run your debit credit card through a machine that records the number, then later they are able to use that machine to use yourdebit credit card to make online purchases. Not only that, but if you use your debit credit card online, someone can steal your card information to make online purchases. And since debit cards don't protect you as well as credit cards, you can be liable for more charges, especially if you don't report the theft as soon as you find out about it.

All that being said, the best time to use your debit card is when you're at a store. Never use it online or at a restaurant. Or, to simplify your life entirely, put all of your monthly purchases on a credit card and pay it off in full at the end of each month. A Visa debit card will help you out.