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Comment by viraptor | Hacker News Reader

> If someone gets ahold of your debit card info, there is very little recourse once the money has left your bank.

This gets repeated, but it's not true everywhere. Some banks may not care or maybe it's harder in some countries. But for example in the UK I could easily revert a few £k the same day without issues. I'd love to read more about where the differences come from, but the blanket statement is not 100% correct.

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Once upon a time you didn't see co-branded Visa/Mastercard/etc. debit cards for local banks. In many cases you still don't. If you have access to a co-branded debit card you're often afforded many of the same protections as credit card users. However, you still miss out on other, additional benefits, like building your credit and getting access to rewards.

It always depends, so do your own research, but as far as I understand, it is still considered decent general advice to tell people to prefer credit cards over debit cards. They will build credit, earn rewards, have excellent consumer protection from fraud, increase the distance between their purchases and the cash in their bank account, and so on.

It's true in the US. If someone manages to steal your debit card data and your PIN, all the banks say "well your PIN was used, so it must have been you" and you're SOL.

It probably depends, my debit card got skimmed and they got $500 from it (max daily cash limit). The bank returned my money no question asked.

Yes, the limit is often the difference. Multiply your $500 by 10 and I'm curious how a small to mid-size credit union treats it. If it's a cobranded card, it's one thing. If it's a "Friendly Bank of Central Virginia" debit card, you may have less luck.

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