debit card

Spending with a debit card means you’re spending your money – it comes directly from your checking account. When the money is gone, it’s gone. When used properly, spending with debit cards can be part of a solid strategy for spending within a budget and staying out of unplanned debt.

A debit card is a payment card that deducts money directly from a consumer’s checking account to pay for a purchase. Debit cards eliminate the need to carry cash or physical checks to make purchases.

Compared with the fraud protection of credit cards, your liability when using debit cards depends greatly on the policies of your financial institution. In the worst case scenario, meaning you don’t discover fraudulent charges for more than 60 days, you could be responsible for all charges. If you report fraudulent charges before

In addition, debit cards, also called check cards, offer the convenience of credit cards and many of the same consumer protections when issued by major payment processors like Visa or Mastercard.

 Unlike credit cards, debit cards do not allow the user to go into debt, except perhaps for small negative balances that might be incurred if the account holder has signed up for overdraft protection.

  Courtesy overdraft protection is a fee-based service most financial institutions offer to help consumers avoid declined debit card charges. If you overdraw your account, the charge will not be declined - the bank will loan you enough money to cover the transaction for a fee

 No matter how small the overdraft, the same fee applies. If you do not have a credit card, courtesy overdraft protection might be useful in an emergency, but it is an extremely expensive loan in the vast majority of cases. You may also be charged multiple fees before you realize your account is overdrawn.