If you think that using a credit card is safer than using a debit card, you may change your mind after hearing what personal finance guru Dave Ramsey has to say about the real advantages and disadvantages of using credit and debit cards. According to Ramsey, one very important disadvantage of using credit cards is that they allow users to incur debt – something that does not happen with debit cards because you are limited by the amount of funds in your bank account at any given time. I really never thought about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. It’s like paying with cash without having to carry the cash around with you.
Many banks offer debit cads from well-known companies like Visa and MasterCard. Did you know that users of these debit cards enjoy the same protection from unauthorized charges that people with Visa and MasterCard credit cards enjoy? To ensure that you are protected when you use your Visa or MasterCard debit card, choose to have your debit card run as “credit” rather than “debit” when making a purchase. Debit cards are just as safe as credit cards when it comes to protecting yourself against unauthorized charges.
After reading about what Dave Ramsey had to say about the benefits of debit cards versus credit cards, I realized that not having any more credit cards is a very good thing even though about once or twice a year I get a letter from my bank with a new debit card enclosed because my card number may have been stolen from a business where I used my card. My debit card number has also been stolen once or twice while I was shopping online, but both times my bank has stood behind me and worked to get my money back. Since I have been using my debit card only, I have not been accumulating any new credit card debt – now that’s safe spending.