What Happens If I Swipe My Debit Card as ‘Credit’

Many people today are shopping with their cards, and you can see it every day, at the supermarket most often.

Before you try to shop with your card, we first need to take a look at what type of cards are there and what card should you use if you are planning to shop next time.

As you probably have guessed, there are Debit and Credit cards.

At first, when shopping with whatever card you have, you may see no difference, but believe me- there indeed is a difference, and here I want to talk about What Happens If I Swipe My Debit Card as Credit.

Let’s start from the Debit Card first. So let’s say you decide to use your Debit Card.

So worker at the supermarket tells you to enter your PIN, and at that moment, funds are withdrawn from your bank account immediately.

However, if you don’t have funds on your Debit Card, the bank can offer you a solution, depending on your agreement.

You can pay the bill you got at the supermarket, and the bank will mark your card with the insufficient funds. This card offers an advantage, as to the merchant, this is the closest to cash transaction as it can get.

Also, it’s important to mention that fees are sometimes much lower than fees you get when paying with the Credit Card. Speaking of the Credit Card, I think it’s time to mention a little bit about that.

Unlike transaction with your Debit Card, Credit Card requires your signature for the transaction and it’s usually (read “always”) processed by the company which gave you the credit card.

Funds, however, are not withdrawn immediately, but in some situations they are. But again, this depends on many factors- the bank you choose, the amount you want to pay and much more.

Where the major and most important difference is, are fees which are higher for paying with the Credit Card. This happens because the merchant also has to pay a particular amount of fee for the transaction.

That results in a somewhat higher fee, but it can also vary.

Now, what happens if I swipe my debit card as credit? Well, nothing special!

It isn’t either good or bad thing.

It can sometimes be a good thing because the lower fees I talked about little earlier, but there is also a chance that It wouldn’t work. Luckily, I can tell you that chance of working right is very big.

If the transaction is unsuccessful, you will be asked to retry. Don’t worry, it’s nothing illegal and nothing out of the order. So when is the Credit Card the right choice for shopping?

First, it’s good at shopping online- actually, they are the safest method when shopping online.

On top of that, you can link your credit card to a Paypal, or Skrill for example and some products have lower prices for buying with a particular credit card.

Buying electronics online is also a good thing with the credit card because you can get a longer warranty on the product you bought and it’s provided by the credit card.

Another good moment to grab your Credit Card is while traveling. Debit Card offer different advantages and is more for those who want to carefully spend their money.

First, if something needs to be paid immediately, Debit Cards are the right thing to have by yourself. They are the fastest paying method out there.

Also, if you are tight on budget, but have the money on your Debit Card, it can be a life saver! You can use it whenever you want until you spend all the money- it’s very simple.

Conclusion:

While Credit Card is the more powerful tool than Debit Card, both of these cards have their own advantages. Also, Credit Card is more flexible and safety is almost guaranteed.

Your identity and your purchases are always protected from failure and theft and that’s why Credit Card is very powerful, and to be honest, it’s not for everyone.

Debit Card, on the other hand, is much faster and simpler way of paying bills. You just swipe the card, enter the PIN and you’re done.

But it’s not safe as Credit Card. In either case, I hope this helped you to see which differences are between these two.

Carefully think how you spend your money and credits, it’s important that now you know the difference and what should you use in the particular situation.