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Archive for the ‘Debit Cards’ Category

My first time overseas, I had to exchange cash in $200 of travelers checks to pay a mountaineering guide who hadn’t heard of American Express. The bank charged me $8. During the same trip, I used my debit card at an ATM to get $200 from my checking account. Once home, I saw that the charge for this was one dollar, and that was the last time I used traveler’s checks.

Debit And Credit Cards When Traveling

I usually carry a debit card and a credit card when I travel now. I keep them well-hidden in two separate places. If they are stolen, which has never happened yet, they have either zero liability, or a fifty dollar liability limit for any unauthorized charges. Ask your bank or credit card company about this.

When an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) won’t take one of the cards for some reason – and this will happen – I use the other card, which usually works fine. Credit cards may be less trouble than debit cards. Your liability could be zero on your stolen debit card, but you probably won’t have access to your account until the matter is sorted out.

Of course, on longer trips it’s a hassle to pay the credit card bill on time, which isn’t a problem with debit cards. Carry both, and on longer trips you can wait until you’re a few weeks from home to use the credit card. That way you’ll get there before the bill does.

An important advantage credit and debit cards have over travelers checks, is that when you need the local currency, you’ll almost always get a better exchange rate with your cards. Also, the cash you get from the local ATM will truly be accepted everywhere, something even American Express Travelers Checks can’t promise.

I have nothing against American Express. Once, when I was robbed in Mexico, they quickly and curtiously replaced my stolen traveler’s checks. Also, at times it is appropriate to carry money in several forms, including theirs. However, times change and ATMs are everywhere now, so my policy is : Travelers checks; don’t leave home with them. You can take an American Express credit card instead.

Prepaid debit cards are the wave of the future folks. Get used to it. They make sense in this tough economic climate and they’ll also make sense when the economy rebounds. More and more people are discovering that spending money that you have is a better way to go than spending money that you don’t have (credit) and prepaid debit cards are the best financial tool for doing just that.

Now there are a lot of reasons why these prepaid Visa cards and prepaid MasterCards are useful, but let’s just look at three.

No Credit Check

Prepaid card companies are selling you a product, not credit. So there’s no need for them to do a credit check before they issue you a card. That’s great news to the many people who have no credit or very poor credit because it means they’re guaranteed approval. And that means they can acquire a card and use it to make all of the same kinds of purchases anyone with a normal credit card can make.

No Monthly Finance Charge

Credit card companies make a lot of money by charging you a finance charge on the balance that you have outstanding. That charge can be calculated any of several different ways and the terms can be changed just about any time the credit card company wants to change them. But prepaid debit cards carry no credit balance so there’s no finance charge. Instead there’s a monthly maintenance fee which is usually pretty low and which doesn’t change from month to month. That saves you money in the long run and makes it much easier to manage your finances each month.

No Long-Term Contract

Once you’ve charged up a balance on a credit card, you have virtually no control over your relationship with the credit card company. That is of course unless of course you can pay off the complete balance. Most people can’t do that, so they’re stuck with whatever terms the credit card company wants to throw at them. And those changes are almost always made to benefit the credit card company, not you.

But with a prepaid debit card, your relationship is different. You’ve pre-loaded your card; the money is already yours, and the prepaid card company is in no position to change terms on you. If they were to do that, you could simply spend or withdraw your money and take your business elsewhere. You’re in the driver’s seat not the company so you can end your relationship with them whenever you want to. That’s a powerful position to be in.

If you’re starting to come around to the idea that paying as you go is a better way to manage your finances than using expensive credit cards, then you’re a prime candidate for a prepaid debit card. Do yourself a favor and learn more about this popular and powerful budgeting and financial tool.

Over the years the UK has become a nation that pretty reliant on paying for purchases on plastic, whether debit or credit card, saving us the hassle of having to carry cash around, make countless withdrawals from cash machines, or write out one cheque after another to make purchases.

Paying by card for purchases is a very convenient and easy way to shop, and save you both time and hassle. Paying by card also makes it easy to make purchases online or by phone, both of which have become popular ways to shop for anything from groceries and holidays to clothes, gifts, and more.

When it comes to which card to use for making purchases preferences can differ from one consumer to another, and there are pros and cons to using both debit and credit cards. Both offer ease and convenience, but there are some points to consider when deciding whether you are better off shopping with a credit card or a debit card.

Credit cards

Credit cards enable the consumer to enjoy credit up to a specified limit, and depending on the card can also offer other benefits such as extended interest free periods, purchase protection, rewards points, cash back, and more.

Pros of credit card use

Being able to pay for purchases without carrying around cash or writing cheques Being able to shop online or by phone Being able to purchase items and enjoy interest free credit for a specified period Being able to spread the cost of purchases over a long period Being able to enjoy credit up to your specified limit making it easier to buy the things you want without having to wait and save up Being able to benefit from rewards (subject to card used) such as cash back, rewards points, or air miles Great choice of cards to suit most needs and circumstances, including for those with poor credit to help them to rebuild their credit
Cons of credit card use

The risk of getting into high levels of debt that becomes unmanageable Risk of credit card fraud Being charged often high interest rates on balances that are not paid in full each month
Debit cards

Debit cards are usually issued by your bank, and these enable you to enjoy the convenience and ease of using plastic to pay for purchases, but you must have the necessary funds already in your account before you can spend on your debit card. You can enjoy some benefits with your debit card such as extended purchase protection and emergency card replacement, although you should check the terms attached to your particular bank in order to see exactly what sort of benefits you have.

Pros of debit card use

No risk of getting into debt, as you have to have the money in your account in order to use the card Ease and convenience of paying by card without the need for cash or cheques Being able to shop online or by phone Extended warranty on purchases with many debit cards
Cons of debit card use

No credit facility so you cannot spend unless you already have the funds Risk of debit card fraud No facility to spread repayments on purchases No additional benefits such as rewards or cash back

As a merchant accepting plastic from your customers, you will take a mixture of actual credit cards and debit cards, also known as “check cards”.

Prepaid debit cards have advantages over credit cards, as well as some limitations. Both kinds of “plastic” let you make purchases safely and conveniently without having to carry cash. Both are widely accepted by stores, restaurants, and other bricks-and-mortar and online merchants. The main difference between the two is that spending using a credit card is a form borrowing while with a debit card you are spending your own cash that you have already deposited to your card’s account. Thus you have “prepaid” for your purchase.

What Debit Cards Can Do that Credit Cards Can’t

Debit cards let you deposit your money into an account and spend it as you see fit. In contrast, you can’t deposit money on a credit card; you can only use credit that you then have to pay back. Even a “secured credit card”-for instance where you have to put $500 down as collateral to cover your charges-does not allow you to add your own money and withdraw it interest free. Rather, your deposit is only securing your line of credit and is not accessible to you until you close the credit card. Your line of credit could be increased beyond your initial collateral deposit as you develop a good payment history.

You have many ways to add money to a prepaid card, such as using a money transfer agent or purchasing a Greendot MoneyPak at a broad swath of participating retailers nationwide. You can even set up a direct deposit to your debit card for all or part of your payroll or benefits payments.

Debit cards can curb your impulse spending. The reason for this is simple psychology. It’s your money, and you can only make purchases on the card if you have enough funds in your card account to cover your purchases. Unlike writing a check which might bounce, you can’t get overdrawn. And unlike paying with a credit card that only limits your spending, based on the spending limit of the card, you can’t borrow money that you don’t have. You don’t have to worry about going further into debt and having to make monthly installment payments to pay back the charges. Odds are you will think twice about every purchase and will be more mindful of your budget.

Some debit cards let you check your purchase history and balance online, by calling a customer service number, by using an ATM machine, or even using text messaging on your mobile phone. In today’s economy, more and more people are finding it harder to get a credit card. But it is easy to get a prepaid debit card with a Visa or MasterCard logo on it. All you have to do is pass an identity check which helps prevent fraud. An identity check basically establishes your name, birth date, and address matches your official identity usually matched against your social security number. With a debit card, you’ll have the flexibility of a credit card yet peace of mind that you will not be going into debt.

What Debit Cards Can Do that Checks Can’t

If a retailer does not accept personal checks, it likely will accept a debit card as a form of payment for products or services. Just ask or look for a sign that reads that MasterCard or Visa cards are accepted. While debit card purchases technically run on a different network than credit cards, these networks are still run by MasterCard or Visa. If you write a check and don’t have enough funds in your bank account to cover the amount of the check, you can get overdrawn. This can mean hefty overdraft fees for every bounced check, sometimes as much as $30 per check. A check card (a debit card that is tied to your checking account) can still put you at overdraft risk depending on the bank. Most reloadable prepaid cards, however, will not allow you to become overdrawn and thus can’t hit you with an overdraft fee.

Writing checks, or even using a check card, does not help you build credit. That is also the case with prepaid cards, unless they are tied to credit building program like the iAdvance(R) Line of Credit from MetaBank. This program lets you take out small loans on your card, for example $20, and every time you pay them back that fact gets reported to one or more of the major credit bureaus.

Debit Card Limitations

Credit card consumers generally speaking have more leverage against merchants than debit card consumers in disputes over charges, given current Federal regulations. MasterCard offers a zero liability coverage for unauthorized use of a Prepaid MasterCard, which do not apply for PIN transactions (which is why it is important to protect your PIN number).

Perhaps one of the biggest limitations is the consequences of not reporting a lost or stolen card to the bank issuing your card within 48 hours. The level of protection differs from state to state. If the lost card is never found, or the cardholder reports the theft within 48 hours, the FDIC-backed funds will remain safe, and can be moved to a new account when the original account is closed. But a cardholder who fails to report the lost or stolen card in a timely fashion could wave goodbye to his or her money that was once on the card but spent by the thief. The amount of liability will depend upon the policies of the bank issuing the card as well as the state laws governing any such limits.

Debit card loans can be availed by those who have debit card with them. Individual can out his/her debit card against the mortgage to get the finance in time. Then one does not have to put any other assets to get the money. These mortgages are simple and quick and secure the debit card against the mortgage.

Debit card loans are short term loans but provide the full time assistance to the individual for temporary needs. Unwanted expenses can come anytime and can make the situation unbalanced. By these mortgages one can get the cash in time and pay off the old debts easily. The main thing is that the bad credit holder can also apply for these finances easily. If any person has got some bad records like arrears, defaults, bankruptcy, late payments, missed payments, CCJs, IVA, etc. These bad records will not become hurdles for the bad credit holders to get the loan.

Before applying one has to fulfill some of the prerequisites of the debit card loans:

o Applicant must be the citizen of UK;
o Applicant must attain the age of 18 years or above;
o Applicant must possess a valid bank account in the bank of UK;
o Applicant is doing a steady job and earning a sound source of income.

After fulfilling these criteria one can apply for these mortgages easily. One of the best ways of applying is the online method. Online methods are simple and easy accessible procedure. Borrower can get the finance within 24 hours of application after providing the necessary personal details such as name, age, gender, contact information, address proof, account number, etc. These details are important for the timely approval. The amount that the borrower can avail from the debit card loans ranges from