Will the banks start charging us for using a debit card?

A safe alternative is checks. Some banks give a certain number of free checks per month, and some have unlimited free checks. They may require a minimum in checking. (I just paid $1 fee yesterday for printing a report from one of my accounts, which I am going to call the bank on Monday about and try to get them to reverse. It’s new since Wachovia became Wells Fargo).

Debit cards are unsafe. Did a company accidentally charge you twice for something? Well, your checking account is short until the correction is worked out. If someone steals your card info and charges your account, again, you are without funds until you get it worked out. If you use a credit card, you have a buffer to work out mistakes, etc. Plus, you get hundreds of dollars in cash back or credit towards other purchases. Just put everything on the card and pay it off in full each month. No fee.

I thought they were already. I thought they charge the store for debit transactions who then pass it on to the customer. That’s why when I’m asked debit or credit I always choose credit because there’s no extra charge.

Our banks here in Norway do already. I get charged per transaction and if I take cash out from a terminal that isn’t run by my bank, I pay extra for the privilege. I should really change my bank.

I think all banks charge a fee to use a terminal other than theirs, but sometimes we have no choice and bite the bullet on those.

I worked out that if I wanted to keep my bank fees really low, I would have to take out cash from the bank’s one terminal in the city and use that, otherwise, I would be charged.

Well here’s the deal. Its not the bank who gets charged when a customer uses their debit card, its the merchant. Businesses pay fees to a “merchant services” company who processes all of their card payments and those companies in turn make payments to the banks. For example VISA actually pays banks to have their name and services offered on bank cards. Something that may cause us to start seeing fees we haven’t seen before like having to pay for replacement cards or higher ATM fees is the fact that the FED has reduced the amount that merchant service processing companies can charge merchants per transaction meaning that in the end banks will get less revenue for card swipes. They will need to make up that revenue somewhere and that is where the fees come in. The question that you are not asking is how much more are we paying for our merchandise because of the fees that the merchants are paying to process what we find to be the most convenient way to pay… It costs merchants the least (in the card processing world) to take a debit payment and the most to accept a payment for a premium rewards type card. How bout that… Makes ya wonder is it really the bank giving you that 2% cash back or is it Joe the small business owner.

Make someones day… Pay cash :)

If they can, yes. We already go round and round with our banks just to be able to not have overdraft protection if we happen to try and buy something for $10.00 and have only $9.99 in the bank- we don’t want them to cover our .01 deficit in exchange for charging us $35.00. That sort of thing. More and more we carry cash which I don’t like, never have liked. We don’t use the credit option with our debit cards because we know merchants are charged more for accepting credit services than debit.

It’s getting tight out there not to feel taken advantage of. We are all so conditioned and business structured around using a bank for your own money that they truly believe they are entitled to ass ream us for every cent they can.

There are some businesses that won’t take cash! Try renting a car, even face-to-face at their counter to give them the cash for a deposit and also the estimated amount of usage. Nope- they’ll tell you they not only need a credit card but it must be a card linked to a checking account rather than a pre-loaded cash card.

The idea of a bank being your friend to safeguard you earnings/savings, give you a little kickback in the form of earned interest in order to use your funds for their own investments… tosh.

USAA will reimburse you up to $15 per month for ATM fees from other bank ATMs among other benefits, so if your needs are simple, that’s one solution.

It’s already happening in the form of higher prices for goods.

Here in Holland, it’s not unusual for a merchant to add 5% if you want to use a card other than a Dutch bank card. This includes American debit cards, which are handled like standard credit cards.

When I take my debit card overseas, they charge me an arm and a leg to take cash out. So, it’s not cheaper to take cash out and then pay with cash.. I may as well just use my card for each transaction and pay for it like that. The bastards get you either way.

@naomibatac: cash can be stolen, but if they steal it, that’s all they’ll get. Credit cards can be stolen, but the thief can take it and as long as nobody ID’s him, or he charges online, he can rack up thousands of dollars in spending. Then you have to cancel the cards, wait for new cards, which, if you’re on vacation, is a hassle. You may not be held responsible for the charges, but it’s still a big hassle.