A Better Way to Manage Your Everyday Money - Book - Page 66
spend more than you have in your checking account. The resulting overdraft fees can be more
than the interest charged on credit cards.
Merchants tend to dislike debit cards because they limit purchases to the balance in a customer’s
checking account. Credit cards are not so limited and, thereby, can encourage more spending.
Merchants pay the same processing fee for debit card transactions that they pay for credit cards,
but their potential sales with debit cards are typically lower than with credit cards.
When renting a room or car with a debit card, the money in your checking account could be
locked to cover unexpected charges. Often the lock on your checking account isn’t lifted until
several days after you check out or return the rental car. With a credit card, any unexpected fees
are covered with additional charges.
Debit cards are more vulnerable to fraud than credit cards, according to the Identity Theft
Resource Center in California, a nonprofit consumer education organization. The reason: account
monitoring isn't as thorough for debit cards because the transactions are processed through
different networks.
In addition, using debit cards at gas stations, deli kiosks,
and other unattended locations are vulnerable to
