To Debit or to Credit?

I just had to laugh at this one. There are some myths going around about debit and credit cards, at least with my particular debit card, which is sponsored by Key Bank and features the “One Pass” where you can tap it and go (not sure what’s so great about this, I haven’t used this feature yet), and also featuring frequent flyer credit card airline reward points for Continental Airlines (I’m still 13,000 miles away from getting a free ticket, and I use that puppy all the time!).

Well, what many people didn’t realize about their debit cards and using the feature where you enter your pin, which is actually a more secure method to make sure it’s only being used by yourself, is that some banks will charge you for that privelege.

So, in other words, if you are not using your debit card with the “credit” option, using it like a credit card and not entering your pin number on the keypad, then you may be getting charged a nominal fee for doing that. Nominal fees can definitely add up though, so you will probably want to check before you start using your debit card with the pin number all the time.

Oh, by the way, sometimes I’m sure you noticed, some establishments will only take debit cards as a debit, not a credit, so sometimes you don’t have a choice. Sam’s Club and a few other stores I’ve noticed are like that.