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> In fact, the U.S. just recently regulated debit card interchange down to 0.05% + 21 cents.[1] And any consumer using a debit card in the US is not the bright
by phil21 12y ago
> In fact, the U.S. just recently regulated debit card interchange down to 0.05% + 21 cents.[1]
And any consumer using a debit card in the US is not the brightest bulb on the tree. Why shift the fraud risk from the issuing bank to yourself? There is zero benefit for the consumer here, and only helps the banks and merchants.
Yes, some banks will give you a "zero fraud guarantee" but I'd much rather 1) not have my bank account involved in a fraudulent transaction and 2) have the option of simply closing an account during a "difficult customer service event" and tell them to sue me if they think I'm lying. Even using a debit card as a Visa/MC is much better than entering your PIN and using as debit. No chance of someone stealing a PIN either.
Using a debit card removes most of your options as a consumer when dealing with fraud, and greatly expands your attack surface. No thanks.
I actually don't disagree with your premise, but vehemently disagree that using a debit card as a consumer has any benefit whatsoever to you. It's simply shifting risk (however small) onto yourself for zero gain.
If Bitcoin has a place - it would be more as a replacement for wire transfers and international transactions done between relatively trusted parties.
- abalone 12y agoI think you misunderstood me. We are in agreement.
- milesskorpen 12y agoMost Americans prefer not to spend money they don't have. I know this is hard to believe, but debit cards are far more common than credit cards, and are used for 50% more transaction dollars than credit cards: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/credit-card-transaction-volume-statistics/ http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/credit-card-...
- phil21 12y agoPosting rather late here, but that data blows my mind. Are you certain they are counting "debit transactions" properly? Or are they counting all magstripe transactions done by a debit card as debit? I was specifically referring to transactions that require a PIN, which basically removes your ability to do chargebacks. I honestly can't say I've ever seen someone type in a PIN code on a PoS terminal in recent memory. I also tend to pay attention to this stuff. That's of course not worth anything as a data point, but I'd have expected if they are used 50% more than credit transactions I would have at least noticed it once or twice. Just to be clear here: A debit transaction is identical to an ATM transaction (from the UI point of view). Just swiping your combined ATM+debit card at a terminal and treating it like a normal Visa/MC transaction is not what I meant. I also (used to) prefer the debit card in that scenario for the reason you mentioned. Then I got financially responsible and realized I was simply taking on more risk than I needed to - automated payments on my Amex work just as well. Edit: I just re-read the data, and it looks very much like they are treating bank cards with a Visa or MC logo as debit card transactions. If so, the data is extremely misleading as no PIN codes are involved, and your fraud protection is nearly identical to an actual credit card in that case. This would also jive with my personal experience as well.