Debit Cards

I use my debit for everything and I do get reward points. The points build up faster because I use my card for everyday stuff. I also keep track of my money. I don't see why someone wouldn't want to track what is posting to their bank account--especially in this age of theft and fraud.

I worked in the credit card industry for 15 years and I will never have another one. One slip or a need that allows/makes you skip a payment can mess with almost anything and cause fees and interest rates to rise. That being said, debit cards can be as dangerous. The problem is our society really doesn't make it easy to go without one or the other or both. Choose which one you manage best. My debit card has no fees and even refunds me charges made if I use an automated teller from a different instititution. It's absolutely free and it's not attached to a checking account so I can't go over my limit and overdraw.

My bank is really different from most. I had to look for it. If you can find a different bank that wants your business, I'd switch too!

Reegards,

M.

credit cards are evil.
Credit cards are buying stuff with money you don't have.
Debit card, money comes out of your account and does not put you in debt.
Debit card keeps you from spending more money than you have it's like a checkbook only plastic and easier to deal with.

I dont have a credit card, I use my debit card. I balance my checkbook every day that I use my card, and it keeps me from spending more than I can afford to.

We use our debit cards for everything...we are also enrolled in a "keep the change" program from our bank where every time we swipe our card the bank rounds up to the nearest dollar and deposits that extra $ directly into our savings account, then at the end of the year they match our savings...we love it!

In this day and age it is almost impossible not to be able to keep track of where your money goes, it really is not that hard...with online banking and text banking (which I love) you can easily see all your transactions.

I prefer to use my debit card over the credit card option, which we also have, because debit purchases comes out immediately where as credit card purchases can take up to 3 days to post to your account, to me that is harder to keep track of how much money we have, or have spent.

Since you get rewards on the credit cards and pay them off every month, obviously that's the way to go. I also use cc's for just about everything, but keep track of all receipts when we do use our debit cards, so I'm on top of my checkbook as well.

Whatever works.

I have good credit (and a few CCs), but use my debit card most of the time. I suppose it might be inconvenient if I was always having to worry about not having enough in the account, but we keep enough to cover expenses, so I don't worry about that.

I like it for a few reasons: 1, you're never spending money you don't have (which can happen with CCs) and will never have debt with it. 2, it's a shared account, so my husband and I can see all of our purchases in that one account, rather than having to look through multiple CC statements and add them up to see our expenditures. 3, it's a very easy way to withdraw money without having to go to the bank or use an ATM (which has fees) because you can just get cash back when you make a debit purchase just about anywhere.

If you pay off your CC every month, that's fine, and you are accumulating points, but I've actually never redeemed my points, so it's pretty useless for me.

I would switch banks if they were going to charge me a fee just to maintain the account, but personally, I wouldn't change banks if the fee is just for not using the debit card. In that case, I'd just use the debit card. The reason is that every time someone checks your credit score (like the bank will do when you open a new account), your score goes down a bit. I try to avoid having my credit score checked unless I really need to.

Well, I pretty much love my debit card and never write checks since I do online banking. Check writing is very rare for me, I only use checks for odd and end things that arent reoccuring bills, such as paying my car tags or buying some avon, etc.
If you use online banking it immediately shows any debit card useage and alerts you to when it's been used if you so to choose being alerted and it debits your account the minute it's been swiped so it's very easy to keep up with. I've been doing this for a little over 5 years now, took me awhile to convince myself of the security of online banking but I have never, ever had a single problem occur yet. My husband hates all of the new technology. I'm 8 years younger than him and suspect that he's just a tad to "old school" to embrace it, however he loves the fact that I can keep everything in order and print out our statements or our current financial reality to him at the drop of a hat. Checks are easily stolen and forged.... I have had that happen to me before. So, my advice would be for you to go for it. Once you get your online banking bill pay account all set up you will wonder why you didnt do it long ago. It makes it so fast and easy to pay your bills and you will find yourself never standing in line at the post office buying stamps ever again.

I would definitely switch banks give the monthly service fee, there is so much competition.

As for the CC issue, I NEVER use a debit card, I am with you don't want to have to keep track. I do, however, pay off my CC every month so I don't have to pay interest, which is key. I also get rewards I use, important in choosing which CC, and I don't pay an annual fee for my CC. I just think it is easier.

Good luck with your decision.

This isn't really your question, but if you decide to switch banks I would look into a credit union. You'd be surprised at how little in fees you get charged.

I love my debit card. I can't get a credit card because of limited credit (whole other rant there... lol). With my bank & can check my account online. I can check it all day long and see how much I have available. It gives a balance and an "available balance." The balance is based on what has posted (you can see when, where & how much from each transaction), then the available balance is subtracting any purchases made that have not yet posted (takes a day or 2 to post).

So, it's easy for me to keep track of it. Easier than checks for me lol

I got a debit card when I went to college on a checking account I'd had since I was 14.
I loved it during college, because my parents could still put money in my account if I needed it (Don't harp about my parents giving me money-I got a full scholarship to college!).
When I got married, it wasn't an issue because my husband and I have always had seperate checking accounts. We split the bills 50/50 most months.
I've never has a problem with it until about 9-10 months ago when I went to the gas station to fill up. It would only let me pump $14.00 of gas, which I knew was not right. I immediately went home and pulled up my online banking and saw tons of fradulent charges.
The bank was great about handling it. They canceled my card immediately, granted me "credit" to cover the missing money and contacted all the companies involved to dispute the charges. Once the fradulent charges were dismissed, they closed my checking account and opened me a new one with a brand new debit card. They even wiped out my online banking associated with the old card and started a new one for me.

They did tell me though, that credit cards are easier to dispute than debit cards.
I never discovered how my card information was taken. The bank told me it could have been something as simple as having it out in line and someone snapping a photo of it with a camera phone.

I have to agree with you! My hubby and I also live well within our means, but NEVER use debit cards! Our bank charges 60 cents per debit after a certain amount of uses per month. For us it makes sense to use our credit cards which we get rewards back with. There are also cards that will put $ into a college account for your children, which is one we are using. We each have two personal cards and one business card (which we only use for business expenses) and we pay them off at the end of each month. We even put our property taxes on our credit cards, just to get the rewards!!! Credit cards are NOT the devil, if you are able to use them responsibly. We are not "living beyond our means" or "buying things we don't have the money for"! I think whatever works best for you- go for it!

totaly agree-never had on,never will!cash or charge---usually charge-too worried to cary cash---keep 10 for pizza place tat doesn't accept card!!!

We have a debit card, but really never use it. We do the same with credit cards, enjoy the rewards for free dinners and printing shutterfly pictures and pay the cards off each month. Some companies are not as good at reimbursing you if something happens to your debit card and the money is just gone. Sad that they will require you to use it or pay a fee.

Good morning
First let me applaud you for paying off your credit cards in full every month!!!!
If your system works for you I would stick with what works and switch banks.
I do use my debit card for shopping. I do not use credit cards.
A year ago my bank told me after the first 2 ATM withdrawals I would have to pay a fee to take my money out of the bank. Needless to say they no longer have my business.
Good luck
J.

Laws were enacted to protect others from what happened to US... but here's our story:

We had about 20k in debt that we paid off yearly (school fees/tuition for 3 people, living over the summer... essentially we just got cash a couple of months *after* we needed it every year... and waiting a year doesn't work... because you don't get the grants, loans, & scholarships unless you're enrolled, etc). For 5 years we'd accrued between 12 & 20k each year, and by each May, it was paid off. Anyhow. 20k was on our cards.

We had over 130k in free/available credit.

Crunch hit... and the CC's dropped out limit to BELOW our balance. ALL charged us fees. In total over 10k in "penalties". The 10k had to be paid in full THAT MONTH or we'd be considered not having met minimums. We had to borrow more money (took out a loan through the bank), but not fast enough for one of the cards. Because one was not paid off in full, through universal default, ALL of our 4 cards (previously at 4.9 - 8.9 interest -we had near perfect credit), jumped to 29.99 percent interest. In 3 months time we had over 60k in debts WITHOUT SPENDING A DIME. (usurious interest + even more penalty fees). ((the 4 cards, btw, were mine, dh's, school expenses, and "emergency"... school held the most, emergency was for things like a new $800 radiator when the engine overheats, mine was for my personal credit and ditto H's)).

60k in debt. We hadn't spent 40k of it. Not a penny. Not a dime. Over $2500 a month to meet a "minimum". More fees and penalties when we couldn't meet the minimum.

Sounds illegal, doesn't it? It wasn't. And months of phonecalls, no one would work with us. Not at all. Nor would they work with a lawyer. (Debt consolidation would only have lowered it to 2k a month, still soooooo not doable. We HAD been paying 500 a month, more double our minimums)

We were forced to declare bankruptcy (ch13, so we wouldn't lose our house).

So credit or debit? Debit. 100%

Find a new bank. I live in NY, use M&T bank, have totally free checking and no debit card.

I use my checking account debit card a lot of the time. I just log it in the check book register when I use it just as if it were a check...it's just the same. If you don't log your checks in how do you keep track of them? A charge on the debit is an electronic check, you have to treat it like a check. Log it in the register.

My hubby and I are JUST like you...we earn up to 5% from using our Amex...so they pay me to use the card, I earn interest on my money in the bank...we ONLY use the debit card to get cash out for paying for work lunches otherwise our CC gets up to 3k per month pretty easy. I HATE debit cards and never use mine. Tell your bank that you will be leaving IF they charge you for not using the debit card...they would probably change their mind about loosing you as a custmer.
And also hubby and I's credit scores are well over 800...we have no problems with finances or paying for our cc every month...we just make sure we do not live beyond our means.

Are you joking? Your bank is going to start charging you for not using a debit card? I'd switch banks. I don't get charged for a debit card, but then I always tell the bank I don't want one. I too use credit cards, without annual fees, that give rewards.Those free Home Depot cards come in handy when I need to fix something in the house or as Christmas presents. I feel more protected with a credit card, because I can call them up as soon as I see an unfamilar charge, and they will hault payment for me without any extra charge to me. If someone get a hold of your debit card, they can wipe out your entire savings. One time a plumber tried to charge me 3X for the installation of a new water heater. I called up the cedit card company and they agreed that he can't do that, so they charged him back for the extra amounts he was trying to get and I didn't have to pay anything except the original cost. As long as you have the ability to pay the amount in full before it is due, there are no extra charges. I will admit that I have 2 credit cards, but one is for buying onine only and the other is for using around town so it's very easy for me to see if someone stole the number.