> Plus, not many people realize that you have certain fraud and abuse
> protections as a consumer when you use a credit card. This isn't true
> with debit cards, and I doubt it's true with one of these "check
> substitute" services.
This is correct. And don't forget my "Roblimo" sig comes from having
owned "Robin's Limousine," so I have many years of experience dealing
with merchant banks (credit card processors).
Here's another "gotcha" that can hit you with debit cards or checks that
aren't really checks but debit authorizations: the merchant may not
submit their request for payment for many weeks. I've had debit card
transactions show up as long as 60 days after my purchase. In theory,
one of the advantages of debit cards over credit cards or checks is that
you can't go over your limit or spend more than you have in your
account. This is not so. I got bit by this once and ended up over $400
overdrawn on a checking account because of it, plus $75 or so in bank fees.
The nice people at Bank of America immediately credited the fees back
and hooked that checking account to a credit card for overdraft
protection, but I learned a lesson from the experience and moved to my
current purchasing pattern:
1) All company-reimbursable purchases (mostly travel) made on one credit
card that is used for nothing else.
2) All substantial personal purchases (including tax-deductible but
non-reimbursable business spending) on a separate credit card.
3) Debit card used only to get cash from ATM machines; all purchases not
made with credit cards are made with cash.
4) Bills still paid mostly by check, but moving toward online pay
through B of A's system, which we've now tested for over a year with a
few small bills and have found to be problem-free. (Our other bank, a
small one in MD, has a troublesome and insecure online payment system.)
- Robin
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