Debit cards are an easy way to make purchases and have the money immediately taken out of your bank account. You can use this type of payment when shopping online with most merchants. While you can use your debit card, it may not necessarily be the safest alternative when shopping online.
Fraud
One of the reasons that some consumers are hesitant to use debit cards online is because of the potential for fraud. If someone gets access to your debit card numbers, they could immediately take money out of your bank account. This is not the same as when someone runs up a credit balance on one of your credit cards. This is real money that you have in your account and it can be gone immediately.
Protections
Even though identity thieves could potentially tap into your bank account with a debit card, some protection measures are in place to help this problem. If you report the theft within two days of it occurring, you are only liable for a maximum of $50. After two days, you are liable for $500 until 60 days after the theft when you become liable for all of it. Some debit cards offered by credit card companies such as Visa even offer zero fraud liability.
Review
If you do use your debit card when shopping online, it is important to regularly review your bank statements. If you have access to online banking, it would be to your advantage to look at your account frequently. This will allow you to ensure that only the amount of money that you spent was deducted. If you check your bank statements frequently, you can tell if any fraudulent charges have been made and fix the problem quickly.
Alternatives
If you do not feel comfortable shopping online with a debit card, you have a few alternatives to consider. The most common alternative is a credit card. Credit cards only have a $50 liability limit at a maximum and many of them offer $0 fraud liability. Another alternative is an online payment processor such as PayPal. With PayPal, you never have to reveal your financial information to anyone, and if any fraudulent charges are made, you can get your money back. Most online merchants today offer PayPal checkout as a payment option. You could also use one of the other online payment processing companies that are similar.
0 comments:
Post a Comment