Charge and Debit Cards
Author: weissheiss
Not all credit and debit cards are the same. They are all plastic but that is where the similarities end. There are differences between credit cards and charge cards. American Express Green Card and Gold Cards and Diners Club Charge Cards are charge cards. They require you to pay your monthly purchase balance every month without allowing any carryovers with the balances. Credit cards do not encourage their members to pay their balances off every month since they like to charge interest, which is where they make their income…
Charge Cards include travel and entertainment card such as American Express and Diners Club are not credit cards. You pay the balances every month. You do not have interest added to the balances of the card purchases. If you do not pay the balance in full when you receive the statement, you will receive a large penalty. They have a membership fee higher than bank issued cards. They may have a higher spending limit but they are not as accepted as widely as the Visa and MasterCard with many businesses.
Credit cards are a balance carrying form of credit by financial institutions with interest charged on the remaining balances. You can use the cash advance features but pay a higher fee for this service. You may have a fixed interest rate or a revolving interest rate. The credit cards such as MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted by many merchants. You can use the credit card for online purchases as well as many gas stations and drug stores. Anywhere you see the logo posted is where you can use the credit card.
Debit cards work similarly to other cards yet they are connected to your bank account without a balance each month or the interest. The amounts of the purchases are deducted from your bank accounts so you basically spending your money from your bank account with each purchase. The debit card is sometimes called a paperless check since it does not have a grace period for the time of the purchase and the time it clears your bank account. The major problem with the debit card is users fail to note the deductions in their bank registers thus having overdraft fees and possible issues with their written checks being returned to the place of business as NSF. This then causes more additional fees from both the bank and the place of business.
When using a debit card remember to write the purchases in the bank register. Remember that balance showing on the ATM receipt does not include any outstanding checks you have written. When using an ATM make sure to use one that is in your financial institution’s network or there will be a processing fee.
Posted in Debit Cards | 
Tags: Bank Accounts, Card Purchases, Carryovers, Debit Card, Diners Club, Gas Stations, Green Card, Membership Fee