Why Using Your Debit Card Can Be More Expensive Than Using Your Credit Card

Is your debit card like a poker chip at a casino?

One of the benefits of being a member of the Downtown Lions Club here in San Diego, in addition to being able to do meaningful charity work, is to have the opportunity to have guest speakers come in and talk on a variety of subjects. This week we had the pleasure of having Mr. Mitch Dembim Asistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of California.Mr. Dembim is an authority on cyber crime and an expert on information security. As the former chief Security Advisor for Microsoft Mr. Dembim has been at the forefront in the battle for securing information in cyberspace.

He spoke about many things all of us could do to protect ourselves from falling victims to scams and identity theft but the one thing he said we all could stop doing to protect ourselves surprised me. It shocked me to hear what his suggestion was becausecwe all do this multiple times a day without thinking of it as a big deal or risk. So what was it that he was referring to? The use of our debit cards issued from our banks. cHow many times do you use your debit card per day?

Lots of us use them instead of our credit cards because they charge no interest and because we think they’re more secure due to the PIN. Well according to Mr. Dembim debit cards have a huge risk attached to them for the simple reason that they’re directly tied into our checking accounts. Unlike a credit card that has security measures and limits on liability when we use our debit card we are directly drawing money from our checking account.

If our debit card is compromised a thief can drain our account very quickly. It’s literally like getting into our wallet or purse and taking the cash out. Credit cards on the other hand are like a loan that you pay at the end of the month so technically there’s been no transfer of your money anywhere. In addition credit card companies often block a person’s card when they see irregular transaction or out of state transactions that are different from the card holder’s normal profile.

So the next time you pull your check card be more careful and protect it like cash. Don’t use out of the way ATMs or those that seem to be just standing alone in an odd place. Thieves have become  very ingenious when it comes to stealing our information and thus we have to be more diligent. Look at it this way, why do you think casinos use chips instead of cash?

 Because you’re more likely to forget that those little plastic, ceramic and brightly colored chips are actually money but most people don’t have a problem throwing them down on the table. Imagine if we had to put real money down on the tables? I’m sure many people’s betting habits would change immediately.