Bank mistakes worth BIG $

[oogieboogie]

I will only use my debit card at places that offer this feature. I didn't used to (since you have to do the extra step of enterting in your PIN, which I didn't care for at first), but once I realized that it works like a regular, instant transaction that way, it's all I'll do now. Sure saves the hassle of $1 showing up for a few days, waiting for the transaction to go through. These days using online banking that can be VERY annoying.

N.E.D.

Unfortunately, many banks are moving towards charging you a fee for the PIN transactions (or Point of Sale in bank terms). Some banks will charge you 25 cents to $1 to use your debit card as debit trans.

Why? Because banks make more money when you use your debit card as credit. They receive what's called interchange income. When you use it as debit, they don't receive this.

The other issue with using it as a debit instead of credit is while the money gets taken out immediately, you don't have the zero liability protection from Visa/Mastercard for your purchases. Which means if anything happens to it, you're SOL. Using it as a credit purchase is much safer even with the annoyance of the $1 charge or double charges, etc.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Actually, the gas station you're dealing with decides how much to hold. Same is true for any merchant. The bank doesn't decide this at all. It only processes the transactions.

Hmmm... I don't know about that. Dh uses Wells Fargo for his commuting/work expenses and we use Citibank for our household banking. Wells holds $50 whenever dh fills up, Citibank only authorizes $1 whenever I fill up. We use the same gas station.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I use my debt card with the mastercard logo on it all the time for gas and have never had anyone put more than a $1.00 hold on it. I have also used this for trips, airfare, etc and the charge always goes through rightaway without any extra being held.