Debit Card Changes on the Horizon?

[eliza61]

The DW and I have been discussing the potential impact of this to us DIS'ers. Things like new tires, emergency car repairs, Disney tickets, gas and hotels if we're driving to WDW, airfare if flying...

Imagine all of those diners at Le Cellier and other restaurants who will be expecting to pay for their family's dinner on their debit card because the cash is in their account. Heck, you can barely buy a medium Mickey plush under a $50 cap.

Yes, it will make people a little more financially responsible, but it will really cause us to rethink how we handle expenses while on a trip.

So basically like a previous posters said, it's simply an adjustment. It doesn't change "if' you can pay, but simply the convenience of how you pay. Remember financial institutions are for profit institutions so if they think they are losing money on fees, whatever vehicle that is losing the money is going to go.

Truthfully I think they will offer some thing else, some thing with a fee

 

[disneychrista]

Since you can run your check card as a credit card, can't you just use the "credit" option, in place of the "debit" option?

 

[mhsjax]

This is all over banks charging each other fees. Personally I hope we do return to a more cash society. I am sick of these large banks charging me to use my money.

So this is happening because chase is no longer allowed to charge merchants outrageous fees for accepting a debit card. They claim they are losing millions which I find as total bull because of all the other outrageous fees they charge on your debit card. Some banks here have a monthly usage fee for your debit card already. Your checking account has fees, use some one else atm, you get a huge fee, fee here, fee there.

Sorry but I'm am sick of these greedy, mega large banks. Chase wants to impose a limit. No worries, I'll adjust. Like Bill I survived using cash, in fact I survived during the good old days when you didn't have atms and you actually had to budget your money from friday to monday.

My dad never did have a credit card or an ATM card. He carried cash or wrote a check. He refused to give anyone access to his acct and he hated Credit cards with a passion. Yes you can pay them off, but he realized, like I do (because I worked for one) that they don't want you to, this makes you a bad customer. They don't make money that way.

It makes me realize why some old people just put their money under a mattress. Banks are really becoming obnoxious.

 

[mhsjax]

This is not correct at all. When you run your debit card for any transaction there are two ways to run it, debit using your pin and credit where you sign.

When you select debit and use you pin your transaction is run through the banking systems ATM network. When you select credit its run through the credit network ie Visa, Master card, …

When run as credit you have the EXACT same protections as any credit card. Most all bank will also provide a $0 liability protections for fraudulent charges on their debit / ATM network. As long as you promptly report the fraudulent charged your bank should credit your account back.


As for the rest of this issue, I don’t see banks limiting the debit card to $50 or $100, people will drop it like a rock and yes go back to cash, checks or credit.

It costs the banks more money to process checks vs. debit transactions.

I can see them charging more fees for things, like and end of free checking accounts and what not… Again I will leave my bank for CU and or go to cash.

I remember when no one write a check for small things, gas groceries, people paid with cash. The world didn’t come to an end, people weren’t robbed at gun point every time they left the house…

We had both out debit card and our credit card info stolen. Same bank, cards never left us, they got the info from a computer chip in an ATM , according to the news. Same amount was taken from us, $2000.00 form each. We got our debit car resolved before the credit card was resolved.

 

[mhsjax]

I'm with you... but the fact is those people spending more than they have are a constant source of revenue. Overlimit fees, interest, finance charges, cash advance charges, higher default rates, annual fees, etc. Those of us living within our means, paying with money we already have or paying off credit cards as soon as the bill comes in, are bad for the banks' bottom lines. And if they can't "get us" by charging high fees to retailers (that the stores of course pass on to consumers), they're going to look for another way.

Thank you, I have been saying this for years, yet no one seems to believe me.

When I worked for a very large credit card company, very well known, people that revolved and never paid off their balance but paid on time, got much bigger line increases than the ones that paid off their bills every month.
Credit card companies, don't like you people that pay off your bills, you don't make them any money.

 

[ConnieB]

How would anyone shop at Costco? Going to a bank machine in order to go shopping is seriously inefficient use of time and gas.
Cheques are not a good alternative as there is so much fraud with them, most places probably don't take them anymore.
They could just charge a transaction fee to recoup their losses but still allow people to make larger transactions.

Yea, I'm trying to think of a time I left Sam's Club with less than $50...and $100 is a pretty light shop as well, lol.

And the problem is that Sams doesn't accept VISA (I have the Disney VISA)...which I so wish they did whether this stupidity occurs or not....all that money and no Disney points for it, lol.

Checks won't be an alternative if the reports of their demise are true....I read somewhere that banks plan to stop processing them in the foreseeable future. Makes sense to me...so easy to rip off a retailer....so much paper waste...so much manpower to process.

So no checks, no debit card...force people to carry large amounts of cash to the grocery store and gas station and watch the holdups of the 70's and 80's start over again. Then we have to hire more police to keep us safe, and the cost of that is passed on to us.

Sheesh...it's ridiculous. And it's not like lowering those fees that the retailers are going to save is going to help CONSUMERS (and therefore the economy)....the retailers sure aren't going to pass the savings on to us, lol.

 

[ConnieB]

I was just thinking -- I'm old enough to remember when the grocery store didn't even accept credit cards!

They only accepted cash (and I think checks?). That was it. No other way to grocery shop. We were astounded the first time they started accepting credit cards (I do think that came about due to at least here food stamps being on a plastic card with pin vs. paper stamps/check type of things).

I could see it going back to that but more than likely people will just put things on their credit cards if they have them.

Yeah, I'm that old too....but remember you could buy a whole week worth of groceries for less than you pay today to fill up your gas tank! And filling up that gas tank took less than fast food dinner for a family of four today!

 

[-Hope-]

IMHO articles like these are scare tactics. Banks will already be losing money by being unable to charge the larger interchange fee, why would they dip into their profits even more by having fewer transactions? It makes no sense from a business standpoint. However it does make sense for banks to fight new regulations which force them to use fair business practices by releasing "news articles" to try to scare consumers into thinking these regulations are bad for them, not just the banks.

 

[Planogirl]

What's to stop people from simply withdrawing cash? If you need money for a larger transaction, you might have to plan ahead since you are limited in how much you can withdraw at a time but you could withdraw the maximum daily until you have the right amount.

Of course, thieves might have a field day with this.

 

[sam_gordon]

Things like new tires, emergency car repairs, Disney tickets, gas and hotels if we're driving to WDW, airfare if flying...

It's a good thing they didn't have those things back before debit/credit cards.

 

[jodifla]

It's a good thing they didn't have those things back before debit/credit cards.

Of course, much shopping is online now, and you can't do cash purchases there.

 

[jodifla]

It's looking like there are some big changes coming for debit card users (which, IMO, could push many of us back into a "cash only" society).

And for those of you dealing with small banks/credit unions, they may not be exempt from what''s going-on (and probably will feel a bigger brunt of this proposed legislation, more than the mega-banks).

Chase, a mega-bank in its' own right, has already fired the first salvo, by imposing fees and discontinuing the Disney debit card.

Thoughts?

My thoughts are, this isn't going to happen. It's a scare tactic now that the regulations are being written in Congress.

 

[Colleen27]

Of course, much shopping is online now, and you can't do cash purchases there.

Exactly. If these limits become reality we'll go back to using travelers checks for expenses on the road. My bigger concerns are online shopping and booking travel in the first place - how do you book a hotel room or buy airfare with cash or a check? On the other hand, it could be a boost for struggling brick-and-mortar merchants as the convenience of shopping online is diminished by the new layer of difficulty with payments.

But for right now, I do tend to agree with the people who say these predictions are just scare tactics coming from industry execs hoping to turn public opinion against banking regulations.

 

[powellrj]

Lets face it, banks pretty much encouraged us to become dependant on using debit cards. I remember when they first came out in our area. DH and I had just gotten married and were pretty poor. Our local bank would give you a $10 bonus everytime you deposited your paycheck into the ATM machine. We were both at jobs that gave you a weekly paycheck, so we were making pretty good money for just depositing our paychecks everyweek!

They became more and more prevalent and easy to use so we became more dependant on them. We never see our paychecks anymore, everything is direct deposit so getting actual cash is not convenient. Local banks have been taken over by larger ones and there isn't a branch on every corner anymore.

 

[eliza61]

My thoughts are, this isn't going to happen. It's a scare tactic now that the regulations are being written in Congress.

naw, I think it will happen but what I think they will do is offer you some type of "replacement" vehicle for a monthly fee of course. They'll say, "look you can still use your old style debit card for free but your transaction amount will be limited to 100 bucks, but for a 5 dollar monthly fee will give you a debit card plus that you can use anywhere for any amount". of course we consumers will suck it up like candy, we'll say "oh 5 bucks is worth the convenience and they will rake in the dough.

Lets face it, banks pretty much encouraged us to become dependant on using debit cards. I remember when they first came out in our area. DH and I had just gotten married and were pretty poor. Our local bank would give you a $10 bonus everytime you deposited your paycheck into the ATM machine. We were both at jobs that gave you a weekly paycheck, so we were making pretty good money for just depositing our paychecks everyweek!

They became more and more prevalent and easy to use so we became more dependant on them. We never see our paychecks anymore, everything is direct deposit so getting actual cash is not convenient. Local banks have been taken over by larger ones and there isn't a branch on every corner anymore.

That's really all they are.

 

[eliza61]

Exactly. If these limits become reality we'll go back to using travelers checks for expenses on the road. My bigger concerns are online shopping and booking travel in the first place - how do you book a hotel room or buy airfare with cash or a check? On the other hand, it could be a boost for struggling brick-and-mortar merchants as the convenience of shopping online is diminished by the new layer of difficulty with payments.

But for right now, I do tend to agree with the people who say these predictions are just scare tactics coming from industry execs hoping to turn public opinion against banking regulations.

Most banks still offer visa and american express gift cards. My kids went out west last summer to visit relatives and it was easy as pie. We sent them with 2 or 3 gift cards with 250 bucks each on them. You can register them online so if they are stolen or lost they can be replaced. The only thing they had to do was keep track of their spending.

 

[janey99]

On the other hand, it could be a boost for struggling brick-and-mortar merchants as the convenience of shopping online is diminished by the new layer of difficulty with payments. QUOTE]

I think you are overestimating the size of the population that will have true problems as a result of these changes, if they occur.

I can't believe that the small group of people who will suddenly be unable (or in most cases, unwilling) to make internet purchases will suddenly cause a boon for bricks and morter merchants.

I suspect instead that those people who have a "philosophical problem" with using credit will have a change of heart.

Jane

 

[Swimalie]

Lets face it, banks pretty much encouraged us to become dependant on using debit cards.

And I refused the debit card. Still do to this day. I have a plain old ATM card and will not do business with a bank that makes me have a debit card. I use cash or credit card (which I pay off each month). So they may not like it but people don't have to take the debit card.

 

[disneychrista]

So is this for running the debit card with pin only or does it affect those who run their card like a credit card? My guess is that it is only debit/pin transactions.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Either they'll figure out how to stick us with some sort of BS "handling charge" for using cash, or many people will start primarily using cash for their purchases and they'll realize "hmm, people are using cash and we're not making any money off of it," and try to figure out how to entice people into using banks/debit/check cards again.