My debit card gets no more love

[scottwagnon]

welcome to the club. i use my debit card maybe once a year and that is to pull cash out of my banks atm, so no i don't carry it with me. the only time EVER use ANYTHING other than credit cards to pay for virtually everything is: vending machines, cash tips for baristas and delivery persons, and spare change to fill air in my tires, and infrequently cash for a small business owner if he or she says no credit under ten dollars. i don't feel any guilt for using my visa or mastercard for any purchase even if is a penny. i will gladly use my amex for any purchase over 10 dollars, unless it is a big business then i don't care i spend a penny on an amex.

[Anonymous]

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@roughdraff wrote:
I prefer the debit card over the debt card, yes even if your rich and pay off ur balance every month debt is debt and people who filed for bankruptcy use to pay off their balances, too!

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I pay off my credit card balances, all 3 secured credit cards, in FULL every month but, I did not know this makes me rich-- mercy!  Maybe I am better off than I thought.  

My husband and I still use our debit cards along with our credit cards but, I notice us using the credit cards more and more and the debit less and less. 

[Revelate]

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@jasimae wrote:
Not sure where all of the negativity comes from towards debit cards. I use mine everyday and prefer to use it over credit cards. For me, credit cards are for emergencies or very large purchases that I want to float to pay off. Everyone goes on and on about "rewards" this and "rewards" that. Yes, its always nice to get something for nothing or something for doing nothing; but credit cards and these tinky rewards programs aren't the end all be all to me. Cash is king and always will be. My debit card will always have a place in my wallet.

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I have to disagree with Cash being King these days: there's a number of people who work in retail in my apartment complex, and they've all reported being surprised when anyone pays by cash these days.  Restaurants are similar... who wants to deal with all the loose bits of shrapnel?

As for debit vs. credit card, having been a debit card user for nearly two decades before embarking on my credit building journey, I simply want my expenditure patterns to be reported to the credit bureaus.  Running my life through a debit card did absolutely nothing to build my credit history, and demonstrating not only use, but active, and responsible use of the credit cards I do have, is going to be nothing but beneficial later when I attempt to acquire prime cards.

While I applaud anyone who manages to spend responsibly, whether via debit card or credit card, I simply can't agree that using a debit card extensively is optimal.

[Ron1]

I usually don't use my debit cards except RBFCU and Firstmark CU. It gives 10 cents back for every purchase. I use it to rent video at Redbox.  My BofA used to withdrawn cash from ATM. I don't use my USAA at all.  Most of the time, I use my credit cards for everyday purchase.

Ron.

[FloridaState12]

I pretty much never use my debit card anymore. I keep it with me in case I ever need to get cash, because I seldom ever carry cash.

It makes much more sense to use credit/charge cards instead...it's safer and they offer rewards. If you PIF, you pay no interest, and you get money/points back for free, regardless of how miniscule they may be. Even if I get $1 back at the end of my statement...that's $1 I didn't have last month. 

It's really easy to use your credit cards as a debit card; just write down all of your purchases. That way when the bill comes, there are no surprises.

[Thorin]

I used to have a debit card, which I was actually happy with.

But when I moved to the next state over, all of a sudden all the stores would initially tell me they couldn't accept it because they don't take food stamps  I was always able to get them to put it through anyway after showing it was a real credit card, but it was still annoying.

Turns out Sovereign's old gold cards were the exact same color as my new state's EBT (food stamps) cards.  That was what initially got me to start applying for a CC in the first place, so I guess it all worked out in the end.  I now have a bright blue USAA debit card I use as a last resort (X-mas presents ran over my initial Cap One credit limit) which looks nothing like a food stamps card 

[clocktick]

Cash is king if you're a Dave Ramsey follower (I used to be!).  I've earned hundreds, maybe a couple thousand, the last 2 years using credit cards.  Not everyone carries a balance.  I tend to lean more towards the Kiyosaki way - mortgages and other people's money. 

[Anonymous]

Last time I used my debit card for a purchase was to pay rent 2 months ago. From now on I only use credit cards for purchases, or cash if it is a small purchase or the business doesnt take credit cards.

So my debit card is now a glorified ATM card, and I use both my credit cards as debit cards. It feels great.

[FrugalRican]

Using cash doesn't give me points to use towards discounts on airfare.

Debit cards are pretty much useless since the points for them have been taken away.

They are just lifesavers at an ATM, but other than that... for safety issues, I'd rather take a $50 hit on a credit card for fraud than have my bank account emptied out.

[tinuviel]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

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@improvingmycredit wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 Why would I want to expose MY money to potential fraud and excessive authorizations when I can let the credit card companies worry about it?

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+1

This sentence in a nut shell is the reason why one should use charge/credit cards over debit cards.  Once someone has access to your personal funds, it's a pain in the you know what to get everything straight again.  I use my rewards cards to get rewards on top of keeping my personal bank accounts safe.  Identity Theft and electronic funds theft are the new wave of criminal activity now and in the future. 

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+ another 1

If my debit card is compromised, MY money is stolen.

If my CC card is compromised, it's the bank's money that's stolen.

I'm guessing they'll work a lot harder to recover THEIR money than mine. 

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+1 again

I used to use my debit card for everything, and at one point my account info was stolen. I'm maniacal about checking my bank balances every morning. One day, I found that my checking account had been drained! The bank showed that there were holds on my funds from pending charges on transactions made by someone in a foreign country. There were a couple of tiny transactions followed by a large one that completed the draining of my account. I immediately filed a fraud report and they were able to reject the pending charges. If they had gone through as settled, however, it would have been a more difficult process. Fortunately, I didn't have any checks try to clear that morning, so nothing was returned as a result. But, I could have had a big problem on my hands.

Now I use my credit cards for just about everything, and I only keep my debit card in my wallet as an ATM card. Frankly, I haven't used it in months, as I'll take out cash for miscellaneous transactions when I go to the bank to make my deposits. I PIF my cards, so I pay no interest, I get rewards, and I don't have my checking account exposed to theft. For me, this has been a no-brainer.