Tried using a Debit Card a Wal-mart recently?

Last night I stopped by one of the local Wal-marts to pick up something. Got to the register and tried to pay for it using my Mastercard signature debit card at a credit which requires a signature instead of a PIN number for authorization. Guess what??? YOU CAN'T DO THAT ANYMORE. Click here for a news story about it.

I never use the PIN number for authorization becuase my bank basically sees that as a ATM debit and CHARGES me for not using one of my bank's ATM machines. This really sucks because I don't know who to actually be mad at: my bank, Wal-mart, or Mastercard.

Luckily I happened to have a Visa credit card to pay for my purchase.

Be pissed at Walmart. They sued Visa and Master Card because they did not offer them the option not to accept the Visa/Mastercard debit. Walmart Won. As a result, people will not be able to use their Visa check cards at not only Walmart, but it will soon spread to any retail store you go to.

Walmart = the devil.

SO WHAT??? I can't understand what the big deal is... No matter which method you use the purchase amount is deducted from the checking account immediately. And if you don't want to enter a PIN you can always use a regular credit card.

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Originally Posted by from the article

Retailers must pay a fee to MasterCard or Visa when a customer uses a debit card. Fees are higher when consumers sign for debit-card purchases than when they enter a personal identification number, or PIN.

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How the heck is it more expensive? It works the same way a credit card transaction is made!!! They aren't getting rid of that are they? :rolleyes:

The big deal is that banks often see that as a foriegn pin based transaction (meaning not at an ATM owned by the bank) most banks charge for that, or at a minimum you get very few free per month. Which means instead of Wal-Mart paying the fee the consumer must pay more to the bank if they use that method...

I agree, it sucks!!! :mad: :mad:

Moral of the story: If you haven't yet started using credit cards for all your transactions you should think again. Many credit cards give 1-2% bonuses for purchases (or gas bonus, air miles, redeemable points, etc). Even more, using a credit card and paying your balances on time increases your credit score, which can lead to lower interest rates when buying a house or car. If you're using a debit card in the best case you don't pay a fee.

If you can get by without a credit card then DON'T GET ONE. I have so many weak friends up to their eyebrows in debt because of them.

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Originally Posted by CeeBee

Moral of the story: If you haven't yet started using credit cards for all your transactions you should think again. Many credit cards give 1-2% bonuses for purchases (or gas bonus, air miles, redeemable points, etc). Even more, using a credit card and paying your balances on time increases your credit score, which can lead to lower interest rates when buying a house or car. If you're using a debit card in the best case you don't pay a fee.

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Yes, but read the fine print...you don't get "1% back" until you've spent a pre-determined linit.

Usually some fraction of a % until you reach $5000 worth of purchases, or some such.

Not worth it in my opinion, 1% back for a credit card that charges 19-21% APR???? (Discover Card is a prime example)

this is dumb, so what now, I have to use my pin number that came with my credit card??????

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Originally Posted by paraflyer

Yes, but read the fine print...you don't get "1% back" until you've spent a pre-determined linit.
Usually some fraction of a % until you reach $5000 worth of purchases, or some such.
Not worth it in my opinion, 1% back for a credit card that charges 19-21% APR???? (Discover Card is a prime example)

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Not really. There are cards that give 1 air mile for each $ spent. Others (like the one I use most) give me 3% back for gas purchases and 1% for regular purchases as a credit for the transactions in the next statement(s).
And if you treat cards as you would treat cash and you pay the balances IN FULL EACH MONTH, the APR doesn't even matter as there is no finance charge.

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Originally Posted by CeeBee

SO WHAT??? I can't understand what the big deal is... No matter which method you use the purchase amount is deducted from the checking account immediately. And if you don't want to enter a PIN you can always use a regular credit card.

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the big deal is that most banks view using a debit card (and entering the pin) as an ATM withdrawal. Often times a certain number of "outside network" ATM withdrawals are allowed before a fee is added to your account. my bank for example allows - I think - 5 outside atm withdrawals then charges .50 for every one after that.......that can get expensive very quickly which is why when I used my check card often I ALWAYS ran it as a credit card......no fees for that.

now we use a dividend credit card for all purchases and pay it off every month. we buy things we would anyway and get 1% cash back so it's a good deal for us......but I can completely understand why folks would be pi$$ed off.

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Originally Posted by CeeBee

Not really. There are cards that give 1 air mile for each $ spent. Others (like the one I use most) give me 3% back for gas purchases and 1% for regular purchases as a credit for the transactions in the next statement(s).
And if you treat cards as you would treat cash and you pay the balances IN FULL EACH MONTH, the APR doesn't even matter as there is no finance charge.

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I would agree with this if credit card companies set credit limits close to what people make per month. That way someone with no discipline doesn't run up $3,000 in one month when he/she only makes $1,500 per month. Kind of hard to pay off that monthly balance when it's more that you make per month.

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Originally Posted by Gollo

How the heck is it more expensive? It works the same way a credit card transaction is made!!! They aren't getting rid of that are they? :rolleyes:

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it is more expensive though. As a business owner when you sign on with a company to get credit card equipment and accept cards and such you find out what percentage of the purchase goes to the company. It's different in all cases depending on who supplies you the service and equipment but generally less is taken from the transaction for debit cards entering a pin.

My dad goes through this at his business. he has to enforce a minimum order amount to use a charge card and even though he can technically accept american express he doesn't advertise it because the transaction fees are steep compared to the other cards.

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Originally Posted by RIOT

I would agree with this if credit card companies set credit limits close to what people make per month. That way someone with no discipline doesn't run up $3,000 in one month when he/she only makes $1,500 per month. Kind of hard to pay off that monthly balance when it's more that you make per month.

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I know for a fact that many checks get bounced do to insufficient funds. Therefore it comes down to people - they have to set their own spending limits. Let's not forget that some buy new expensive cars and end up complaining that they have no money.

I don't know how it is at other banking/credit union institutions, but my wife & I have two accounts. One is a local account here in AK and the other (our main account) one is with a Credit Union I have been a member of since 1978. In the case of the local bank we had our choice between a MC Debit or Visa Debit we chose Visa. Our CC account debit has always been Visa. I would think your issuing bank could change a debit account from MC to Visa without much hassle.
That being said my wife and I have Alaska Airlines credit cards that we use on everything. We then pay off the balance at the end of the month. Right now our accumulated mileage is 31,000 miles (actually 12,700 miles are actual miles I have accumulated by flying with Alaska Air). We get a mile for every $1 charged. We are looking at a trip back to VA in October to use some of the miles and then a trip down to Hawaii maybe in January or February for the rest.https://forums.windrivers.com/images.../2005/03/1.gif