Debit card or Credit card?

shampoosuicide

what's the better option? considering :

- i'd be spending well within my limits
- i'd mostly be using it for buying concert tickets online, or ordering cds online from amazon/ other sites

i'm just a bit confused as to whether debit cards are any real use for those kind of purchases, in Ireland anyway

BuffyBot

There is no reason a debit card wouldn't suit you: Visa Debit from Halifax or Ulster Bank would be the most suitable - more widely accepted online, and accepted pretty much anywhere a Visa credit card is

**Timbuk2**

People often get nervous about credit cards, but often there is no need. If you pay your balance in full before any interest fees get added on, then it doesn't matter whether the interest rate on the card is 8.5% or 17% etc.

However, credit cards have their obvious disadvantages. Nearly everyone intends paying off a credit in full once they get it, but a large majority of people don't as the convienence of being able to pay for something without needing to have money in an account.

Also, credit cards are subject to an annual charge of €30 in stamp duty. Stamp duty for a debit card is only €5. Maybe this will be a deciding factor.

Also, it is much easier to get a debit card than it is to get a credit card. Applying for a credit card will involve credit rating checks etc. and they may decide not to give you one. In general, you will have no hassle getting a debit card if you open a current account.

The only disadvantage for a debit card is really that you need to have the money in your account to pay for goods. If you want to buy items on the internet for €60, but only have €55 in your account, you probably won't be able to buy the goods (I'm not sure whether a transaction like this would force the account into an overdraft or not).

Also, some banks don't require you to set up a current account in order to take out a credit card with them. You will need a current account in order to get a debit card, but in these days setting up a current account is not too much hassle. I opened an account with Ulster Bank in order to get a Visa Debit card. I did it online, posting them the relevant forms of ID. When the account was opened I transferred money from another bank into it. I now have a perfectly good Visa Debit Card and an account with money, without ever having set foot in the branch once.

Also, go for Halifax or Ulster Bank. They offer Visa Debit cards. The rest offer Laser, apart from Postbank which offer the Irish Maestro. Laser isn't very useful for online purchases, as it is only accepted on Irish sites, which are very limited.

But be careful - with online purchasing with credit cards, you have insurance against fraud etc. With a debit card, the banks will not monitor your spending so they will not notice fraudulent transactions. It is up to you to keep an eye on your internet banking statements, to make sure that all transactions are genuine. If you notice a non genuine transaction, report it at once to your bank (the sooner the better usually!)

BuffyBot

With a debit card, the banks will not monitor your spending so they will not notice fraudulent transactions.

Not actually true. Banks differ in their practices, but most of them have some kind of anti-fraud measures in place, even for debit cards.

**Timbuk2**

BuffyBot wrote: »

Not actually true. Banks differ in their practices, but most of them have some kind of anti-fraud measures in place, even for debit cards.

Oh, sorry about that. I always presumed that debit card activity wasn't monitored, unlike credit card activity. I stand corrected.

shampoosuicide

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

People often get nervous about credit cards, but often there is no need. If you pay your balance in full before any interest fees get added on, then it doesn't matter whether the interest rate on the card is 8.5% or 17% etc.

However, credit cards have their obvious disadvantages. Nearly everyone intends paying off a credit in full once they get it, but a large majority of people don't as the convienence of being able to pay for something without needing to have money in an account.

Also, credit cards are subject to an annual charge of €30 in stamp duty. Stamp duty for a debit card is only €5. Maybe this will be a deciding factor.

Also, it is much easier to get a debit card than it is to get a credit card. Applying for a credit card will involve credit rating checks etc. and they may decide not to give you one. In general, you will have no hassle getting a debit card if you open a current account.

The only disadvantage for a debit card is really that you need to have the money in your account to pay for goods. If you want to buy items on the internet for €60, but only have €55 in your account, you probably won't be able to buy the goods (I'm not sure whether a transaction like this would force the account into an overdraft or not).

Also, some banks don't require you to set up a current account in order to take out a credit card with them. You will need a current account in order to get a debit card, but in these days setting up a current account is not too much hassle. I opened an account with Ulster Bank in order to get a Visa Debit card. I did it online, posting them the relevant forms of ID. When the account was opened I transferred money from another bank into it. I now have a perfectly good Visa Debit Card and an account with money, without ever having set foot in the branch once.

Also, go for Halifax or Ulster Bank. They offer Visa Debit cards. The rest offer Laser, apart from Postbank which offer the Irish Maestro. Laser isn't very useful for online purchases, as it is only accepted on Irish sites, which are very limited.

But be careful - with online purchasing with credit cards, you have insurance against fraud etc. With a debit card, the banks will not monitor your spending so they will not notice fraudulent transactions. It is up to you to keep an eye on your internet banking statements, to make sure that all transactions are genuine. If you notice a non genuine transaction, report it at once to your bank (the sooner the better usually!)

It's really annoying that Laser cards aren't valid on most sites! I've just been checking up on that, i tried to see if i could purchase an album from the ATP website, and seemingly it gives you two options: either pay with credit card (visa, mastercard) or paypal..i think this is pretty common internationally..

do debit cards work with Paypal? or would a Visa Debit card be accepted under the first option? i wish this wasn't so complicated. i don't fancy changing bank branches either, and i get the feeling it might be a whole lot less hassle going for a credit card, but all this talk of interest rates and so on worries me. i have a regular income and i live well within my means if that makes any difference?

Ian Beale

shampoosuicide wrote: »

do debit cards work with Paypal? or would a Visa Debit card be accepted under the first option? i wish this wasn't so complicated. i don't fancy changing bank branches either, and i get the feeling it might be a whole lot less hassle going for a credit card, but all this talk of interest rates and so on worries me. i have a regular income and i live well within my means if that makes any difference?

Just so you know you can transfer money straight from your bank account in to a paypal account, only drawback is it could take 2-3 days.
Irish maestro/laser cards don't work with paypal, a visa debit card would work fine no bother.
To be honest whatever bank your with just get a normal visa/mastercard credit card, you can set up a direct debit to pay off the bill every month and you can set it to pay off the full amount due so you won't have any interest charges,really the only difference is that the debit card takes the money straight away but the credit card takes it up to 30 days later, as long as you just spend what's in your account or what you know will be in your account by the time the bill is due then just go for a credit card and don't worry about the interest charges since you won't be paying any of them.

Debit card (Laser/Maestro)
Pro: Only a €5 annual charge
Cons: You'll only find a handful of websites that accept it, not usable with paypal.

Credit card:
Pros: Will work worldwide on all websites, can use it with paypal, have better protection from fraud.
Cons: There's a €30 annual charge, interest charges can build up if you don't pay off your bill every month(only if you don't pay it off, if you do then ignore this).

Eurorunner

Ian Beale wrote: »

Debit card
Pro: Only a €5 annual charge
Cons: You'll only find a handful of websites that accept it, not usable with paypal.

Unaware of the debit card offering from Ulster Bank but in the case of Halifax, the cons are not as bad as stated. Yes, there are sometimes problems with transactions going through. However, most of the web based ones seem to be fine. Only had 1 web based transaction that wouldnt go through (Travel lodge uk). Paypal is not a problem as I have the debit card associated with my paypal a/c.

Ian Beale

Eurorunner wrote: »

Unaware of the debit card offering from Ulster Bank but in the case of Halifax, the cons are not as bad as stated. Yes, there are sometimes problems with transactions going through. However, most of the web based ones seem to be fine. Only had 1 web based transaction that wouldnt go through (Travel lodge uk). Paypal is not a problem as I have the debit card associated with my paypal a/c.

I meant laser/maestro debit cards, forgot to stick that on top edited my post to reflect that now.