Credit Cards Safer for Your Bank Account

Home

8/16/2006, 6:57 pm

When it comes to recovering money that is fraudulently taken from you, you should hope it’s taken from your credit card account instead of from your checking account. While they may charge exhorbitant interest rates and have outrageous penalties for late payment, credit card companies are usually much quicker than banks when it comes to taking care of you in cases of fraud.

In fact, if you’ve ever used your credit card in an unusual manner, you may have received a call from the credit card company seeking to verify that you indeed made the odd purchase. If you do the same with a debit card, you probably will not get a call to check on the charge. And if someone else is using your debit card, you probably won’t know it until you get your bank statement.

Debit card fraud is dangerous. According to Bob Sullivan in ‘Money disappears from checking accounts, again‘ in MSNBC.com’s Red Tape Chronicles, thieves have been able to use debit or ATM card numbers to take money out of checking accounts.

When that happens, the money actually disappears from your checking account and you have just 60 days to report the fraud to your bank. Wait more than 60 days and you lose your right to refund. And while you and the bank work out the details of what happened, you’ve lost access to the funds that were stolen.

A credit card company simply removes charges from your card that are fraudulent. Your bank may not be so willing or quick to help you … without hassle.

Debit cards are great because you’re not borrowing money or paying interest when you debit your checking account. Read the ‘Money disappears …‘ article and decide if the benefit outweighs the risk.

Share This Post ...