\nIn some situations, using your debit card could put your bank account at greater risk. Here\u2019s when you definitely don\u2019t want to use a debit card.\n
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Swiping a debit card is an easy way to make a purchase when you don\u2019t have cash. But there are plenty of reasons you should be wary of using them, consumer experts say. \u201cThey\u2019re good for routine transactions and certainly if you\u2019re looking to keep your spending within limits, they do provide you a little bit better way to manage that,\u201d says Leslie Tayne, a financial attorney and author of Life and Debt: A Fresh Approach Toward Achieving Financial Wellness. \u201cBut for major purchases, credit cards are usually a better way to go because they will offer you more protection.\u201d\n
The convenience of using debit cards may be outweighed by the risk of fraud. \u201cI think it\u2019s always a bad idea to use your debit card to make a purchase,\u201d says Kimberly Palmer, the personal finance expert at NerdWallet. \u201cThe only reason you should use your debit card is to withdraw money from an ATM or a bank.\u201d\n
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Debit cards are linked to bank accounts. When you use a debit card at hotels, employees will often put a hold on the amount of time that you\u2019re staying, plus some extra money in case you have other charges. \u201cThat could definitely impact your ability to use the account for other expenses,\u201d Tayne says.\n
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Car rental services also place a hold on money in your account when you use a debit card. So you won\u2019t have access to those funds while you\u2019re using the vehicle, Tayne notes. That\u2019s not a problem if you have plenty of money in the account, but it could lead to bounced checks and overdrafts if you don\u2019t.\n
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People travelling overseas are often buying things in unfamiliar places. That\u2019s why Tayne recommended to her daughter that she get a separate debit card tied to a bank account with only a limited amount of money in it. \u201cIn case it somehow gets hacked, it\u2019s not tied to the majority of her money,\u201d Tayne says. \u201cBecause a debit card does tie right into money, versus a credit card that doesn\u2019t tie right into your usable cash.\u201d\n
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Using your debit card to buy from websites can also put you more at risk. And if you discover a fraudulent charge, it can be harder to dispute when the payment is made with a debit card instead of a credit card. \u201cEven though banks still have protections in place for you with your debit card, a fraudster could empty out your bank account before you even realize that your debit card has been compromised,\u201d Palmer says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a huge risk for people because people use their bank accounts to pay for all kinds of things, from utility bills to mortgages and rent.\u201d\n
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\u201cIf you use a credit card, you can earn rewards on all your purchases,\u201d Palmer says. \u201cThat\u2019s not the case with a debit card.\u201d So if you\u2019re looking to earn miles and rewards, get a credit card with those perks.\n
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Debit card purchases also don\u2019t count toward your credit score. When you buy things on your credit card and pay off your balance every month, however, that helps build your credit.\n
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While opinions may differ on this approach, it may be easier to organize your budget using a credit card because you can see all your daily expenditures in one place. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s easy to analyze my statements instead of pulling out my bank account and trying to do it that way,\u201d Palmer says.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In some situations, using your debit card could put your bank account at greater risk. Here\u2019s when you definitely don\u2019t want to use a debit card. The don\u2019ts of debit cards Swiping a debit card is an easy way to make a purchase when you don\u2019t have cash. But there are plenty of reasons you\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[30,46,6,31,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-20968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tie-life-style","8":"tag-household-hacks","9":"tag-life-hacks","10":"tag-life-style","11":"tag-tips","12":"tag-tricks"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/never-use-debit-card.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehorizon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}