Never, ever use a debit card,' warns fraud expert and ex-con artist — here's what to do instead

[Anonymous]

I haven’t used one in forever, but as I recall if you choose credit you do not have to have a PIN I believe, is that correct? Or am I misremembering?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I haven’t used one in forever, but as I recall if you choose credit you do not have to have a PIN I believe, is that correct? Or am I misremembering?

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that is correct, you can choose credit woth a debit card. That piqued my curiosity....wouldn't that give the same protections? I guess it depends on the checking account scenario if you are required to utilize x number of pin based purchases to get certain benefits, but some state pin or signature based purchases. Inguess it depends in the situation, but I will check my terms because if it is a MC or Visa based debit card, selecting "credit" (or I frequently have it predetermined as credit or debit at certain retailers based on their agreements with the banks and given zero choice), you may be afforded the same "credit" protections.

Thank you for bringing that up!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Wait. You cannot use debit card without PIN.

Does not it make it 9999 times safer than credit card?

In europe you cannot pay with debit cards without PIN or online verification with the bank.

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it depends. I feel like sometimes my transactions are ran as pin-less debit (POS?), but I could be wrong, and it was simply processed as credit or "signature" based, instead.

[Anonymous]

You’re right they do have pinless debit as well. I had forgotten about that

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Wait. You cannot use debit card without PIN.

Does not it make it 9999 times safer than credit card?

In europe you cannot pay with debit cards without PIN or online verification with the bank.

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it depends. I feel like sometimes my transactions are ran as pin-less debit (POS?), but I could be wrong, and it was simply processed as credit or "signature" based, instead.

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I've seen this at a Hallmark store I frequent. I always try to use cash first, debit second at this store. I think the cut-off is $25+ and then the signature will be required. Probably remembering that wrong....I know there's a threshold somewhere for that.

For years - before Dec 2017 when I started building a credit file from nothing - I used my Bank of America debit card for everything!  I average around $3000-4000 a month on it. Just running all over the city, using it with reckless abandon. lol Nothing bad ever happened, though. Just lucky, I guess.

Apparently, the liability protections on the debit card were the same as with BofA credit cards. At least I remember going over that when I first got it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
I haven’t used one in forever, but as I recall if you choose credit you do not have to have a PIN I believe, is that correct? Or am I misremembering?

---

that is correct, you can choose credit woth a debit card. That piqued my curiosity....wouldn't that give the same protections? I guess it depends on the checking account scenario if you are required to utilize x number of pin based purchases to get certain benefits, but some state pin or signature based purchases. Inguess it depends in the situation, but I will check my terms because if it is a MC or Visa based debit card, selecting "credit" (or I frequently have it predetermined as credit or debit at certain retailers based on their agreements with the banks and given zero choice), you may be afforded the same "credit" protections.

Thank you for bringing that up!

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The protections of a credit card come from the fact it's the bank's money. Debit cards pull funds from your money. Overall consumer protections are similar but the bank can take ages to actually give you back your money. It doesn't matter if it's run as debit or credit, money is gone until the bank returns it which can be months down the line and sometimes doesn't happen at all if they decide that you're at fault.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous    back around August 1, 2015 (if memory serves me) MasterCard, Visa, AX and Discover all removed the requirement of Signatures on transactions. It was left as a Merchant's option in collaboration with their financial services provider.

Even today many places I frequent still required signatures. The best part of the Chip & Signature is (in most cases) no where is there an actual signature on file to verify/approve against so what is the point?!

Going back 20 plus years or more when a person applied for credit cards you actually completed a paper application and were required to provide a real signature. Also, many credit cards required the signature on their credit cards to be valid. Times certainly have changed.

One good thing that has come out of our living the secluded life is the elimination of the Signature when checking out (at least in most of my geographic area) so as to minimize contacting the check out equipment. Got'ta love JP Morgan Chase Cards as they work for me every where as contact less and various Mobile Apps work!