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Comment by thereisnospork | Hacker News Reader

Why debit over credit? My understanding has always been that credit offers a higher degree of fraud protection, plus better rewards and no interest if you have the discipline to not carry a balance.

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Might depend on the country of the parent and its money culture (credit card usage, etc.).

FWIW, the other day I just made a quick payment with my bank mobile app. I entered an amount of money, it displayed a qr code, the other party (with a different bank) scanned it and the money was transferred instantly. It's a totally free service, no monthly charge, no piling interests, doesn't require me to go into a bank or fill an online demand to get a credit card. Way easier to split the restaurant fees or something that way. Europe, yeah for bancontact.

And:

> and no interest if you have the discipline to not carry a balance.

But there is no interest on debit card and you don't need the credit card discipline so it's not really an advantage over debit card. Some people just don't need or want a credit card. I am obliged to take one because some online services (mooc) requires it (and it's a bother, I should have done that a month ago but it's a hassle to do).

A credit card literally pays you to use it, with cash back or miles or whatever you get. If the price is the same for debit, why would you not use a credit card?

I think that's only in North America. Never heard of that elsewhere.

And in the UK. I use mine for miles and can upgrade myself on transatlantic flights a couple of times a year, just from day-to-day card use. Why would I use debit when I could get that for no extra effort or cost?

I didn't know that was a main reason for using Credit over Debit. I only fly about three times a year, so not sure it would be worth it. I think the main reason I don't use credit cards too much is the idea of debt. I've been in debt before and it is not pleasant, so I try to avoid it as much as possible.

It's probably not a logical thing, but more like people who went through food rationing - who would never leave even a pea on their plate afterwards. On a more macro-level, you can probably see a reluctance to splash cash around for around a decade after each financial collapse.

If you can't be sure that you can pay off the debt of a single month's everyday spending then yes a credit card is not for you, but I think only a tiny minority of people have such a problem.

Do you find being in a restaurant and having eaten but not yet settled the bill stressful? Or having been in a hotel room for a few days and not checked out yet? I'm not sure I'd consider a monthly credit card debt to be morally different to either of those debts. You just haven't settled the bill until the end of the stay, the meal, or the month.

A credit card costs extra. And you still need the debit card that is usually included with your account, because credit cards are only accepted in very few places. (Netherlands, but I hear Belgium and Germany are similar.)

My understanding is in the US you can actually make money/rewards if you use a credit card and make sure to pay it off monthly. That's not the case in many countries.

How do credit cars offer better degrees of fraud protections?

If you use a debit card, the money is taken out of your bank account instantly and getting that money back is a giant pain. In a credit card (in the US), that money taken out is the bank's money and you can always dispute that transaction which leads to the bank losing money, not you.

in the us debit cards take the money out of your account while credit cards must be paid - dispute or fradludlent transactions don't wipe your savings out, they can stay on and a balance until you clear the situation up with the card company if you use credit

Interesting. My technique for debit cars is not to keep it attached to accounts with a lot of money. I transfer the money with internet banking, then use the debit card immediately - on an as needed basis. It's certainly not attached to my entire savings at any given point in my wallet.

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