Debit Card Usage

Debit Card Usage

Debit Card Usage

It is hard to break the habit of using plastic for your purchases. But many people got tired of the revolving credit that turned an ordinary purchase into one that sometimes cost four times more than originally bought. People turned to debit cards because there was no interest to pay for the transaction. Good enough. But is that all there is?

Other Fees

With debit cards, one simply pays for the item by making an electronic withdrawal to the checking account. But what if one is short? If one has 10 dollars in the account and the item one is buying costs 11 dollars. One is overdrawn. Now two things could happen. The bank rejects the purchase on the spot, for lack of funds. The other is that the bank accepts the transaction but saddles the buyer with overdraft fees of 39 dollars or more. Therefore, an 11-dollar purchase now costs 50 dollars. In addition some banks have even been reported as charging 25 cents per debit card transaction.

Overdraft fees are one way that the banks can take advantage of your sloppy purchasing habits. Do not misunderstand; if the customer is overdrawn, that is the customer’s fault. However, the banks seem to use that precarious buying habit formula to their advantage by enrolling the bank customer into a program that will make charge penalty fees whether one signs up the program or not.