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@Anonymous wrote:@Anonymous wrote:
The difference with credit and debit card purchases is that you are protected by the credit card. You are not always protected by your financial institution.
I have had fraudulent activity on both a debit and a credit card. It was much easier to get the money back for the debit card than for the credit card.
For fraud you're pretty well protected with debit cards, but not for purchases that are ultimately disputed. Chargebacks are handled much better with credit cards than with debit cards.
We could argue all month on this. I think it all depends on the bank or the CC.
I have had fraudulent activity on both my Visa debit and my Orchard MC.
When someone unauthorized uses your debit card for purchases it is fraud. If you have charges on your debit card you did not make, it is fraud. I have had both and both times the entire disputed amounts were reversed and charged back to my card as a credit. End of story.
With my Orchard MC I had 3 instances, on two different occassions, of large purchases made to my CC. These charges caused my account to go over the limit which caused a snowball effect of fines against my CC. It took them almost a month to reverse the charges, then I had to argue with them to remove the OTL fee.
Not 3 months later these are back on my card. The business that says I made them said I had to physically swipe my card at the location in the letter they sent. Funny thing is I live in WA these were done in CO. Never been there. They also sent paperwork showing last 4 of card number, name, date and location of transactions, etc.
Any moron could see these were not mine. Not my name, not where I lived. The only thing they have is the last 4 digits of my card number, which a lot of people could have.
So, 5 months later I am still fighting to get these permanently off my credit card.
I know it doesn't fully answer the question, but I've have never had a chargeback on my debit card. Most of my disputed charges on my credit card have been recurring charges gone wrong or the rare double billing which could be characterized as fraudulent if necessary. I think the outcome of a debit card charge back would depend on the bank and the circumstances.
As seldom as I've had disputed CC charges and as specialized as the circumstances, I'll take my chance on my debit card for small, routine purchases. It's true that I don't use my debit card for major purchases, especially because I like the extended warranty and warranty against loss I get with my CC, so those points are well taken. I certainly wouldn't use my debit card for everything, since CC's do have their advantages. And the further result of using the debit card for small routine transactions is that I would't likely have a lot riding on any one dispute.
But as trouble free as mine has been for years, and as legally and practically immune as it is to the account-cleaning out fears that others have expressed, I tend to think that the outright rejection of their use is to some degree left over from the very early days when they were not subject to the protection of the EFTA and VISA's further protections. I do think there is a place for their use, just not as a complete substitute for CCs.
trulyb
Unfortunately, I have a larger income than I do CL on my CC
So, if it is a big item, I generally use cash or my debit card. I only use my CC for emergencies. I got them to help build my credit and really do not have enough money on them for much of anything.
Up until 1 year ago, I never had a CC.
@Anonymous wrote:We could argue all month on this. I think it all depends on the bank or the CC.
Actually, it doesn't.
For fraud, you have pretty much equal protection. But for merchant disputes such as product quality, failure to deliver and product significantly not as described, you have far greater protection with a credit card. It's all in the Visa / MasterCard / Discover / AmEx chargeback manual.
Well, the manual does not seem to be working. I stand by what I said about it depends on the CC.
I am talking about fraud and those charges are still on my CC. They are NOT mine, I have signed letters, affidavits, and threatened to sue them. It has changed nothing.
@Anonymous wrote:Well, the manual does not seem to be working. I stand by what I said about it depends on the CC.
I am talking about fraud and those charges are still on my CC. They are NOT mine, I have signed letters, affidavits, and threatened to sue them. It has changed nothing.
You must be confused.
1. For fraud, there is equal protection.
2. For chargebacks related to quality of goods and services, goods and services received that are significantly not as described and non-delivery of goods, debit cards do not offer the same protection as credit cards.
Google for Visa Chargeback Manual, MasterCard Chargeback manual or AmEx Chargeback Manual. There is also the special federal rule about not having to pay if there is a dispute involving quality of goods and services purchased with a credit card that does not apply to purchases with debit cards. That special rule is, by law, a part of every credit card agreement you have. You will not find it in debit card agreements.
@Underh20 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:We could argue all month on this. I think it all depends on the bank or the CC.
Actually, it doesn't.
For fraud, you have pretty much equal protection. But for merchant disputes such as product quality, failure to deliver and product significantly not as described, you have far greater protection with a credit card. It's all in the Visa / MasterCard / Discover / AmEx chargeback manual.
It's also in the FCRA, which spells out dispute resolution procedures for CCs. (The CCCs didn't just do it to be nice!) I don't believe there is anything comparable for debit cards under the EFTA. I couldn't find protection for anything but fraud or lost or stolen cards or numbers. You might call failure to deliver fraud, but just a disagreement about quality or suitability wouldn't seem to be. So I would tend to think that for signficant purchases, anything that you want the dispute resolution protection (and with many cards warranty protection) on, you'd be safer with a CC, as Underh20 says.
That's subject to the caveat that folks can still have a devil of a time with a bad actor on the other end of a CC "transaction" as guiness56 has. No matter how good the CC dispute resolution procedures are, you can still end up with real problems with fraud, that would not necessarily have been easier to deal with under a CC than a debit card.
And I'll still use my debit card for a quick lunch at my local diner, and other face to face transactions not involving goods that might require warranty or dispute resolution, as I have been. Stubborn I guess, but I don't choose to use my AMEX for a $7 lunch, when I can get the same Skymiles with my debit card.
I have fraud on my CC and they (the CC company) is not being very helpful in getting it taken care of. It is to the point I called them and told them to close the account since they are allowing the charges to post.
So, where is the equal protection?
I understand about the chargebacks and the law not being for a debit card. There are consmer protection laws that cover you for goods or services for the item itself.
At any rate, I have had all kinds of luck with my debit card, just not the CC.