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Comment by nivla | Hacker News Reader

Great, now I am feeling paranoid although I don't see any unauthorized charges on my card. Does anyone know if debit cards are legally protected the same way as credit cards with 0% liability.

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I'm pretty sure that depends on who issued your card.

Visa has a zero liability program for debit card - http://usa.visa.com/personal/security/visa_security_program/...

These are the FTC's rules [1], I'm not sure if Visa or Mastercard can make them 'better' (give you a larger window). They have an interesting tidbit below their chart -

>If someone makes unauthorized transactions with your debit card number, but your card is not lost, you are not liable for those transactions if you report them within 60 days of your statement being sent to you.

Isn't it free to get a new card? That'd be the easier way than worrying.

[1] http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0213-lost-or-stolen-cre...

Generally these days they are, but the problem is the money is removed is from your account by the time the charge appears, (at least a period of time), whereas on a credit card you have 30 days to review charges. This could cause overdrafts, etc. depending on timing and amount. Those too can generally be reversed, but the whole thing becomes more of a headache. I never use debit cards for any kind of recurring charges, and I avoid using them online in general.

The same is possible with a credit card - you can have your card maxed, get nailed with overage charges, declined transactions, etc. It's still a headache, but when I've had it happen to me I think I had the money restored within a few minutes of making the call.

Debit cards have less protection.

Wouldn't hurt just to ask your bank to re-authorise it anyway? It will change the three digits on the back.

they typically have the same protections, the only difference is that while credit cards only check that the charge can be made during the authorization period, debit cards lock up the bank's funds immediately which may cause your checking account to be temporarily unusable even if all the charges are successfully disputed.

a good practice that bankers constantly tell me is to have a separate credit card for online purchases for the fact alone that it is one step removed from your checking account.

They don't, protections are exactly the same.

They really aren't.

I know someone who got their debit card cloned. While the bank eventually repaid him, that did nothing to repay him the additional fees he owned his normal debtors (e.g. rent, utilities, etc).

With a credit card you aren't losing "actual" money. You are losing the bank's borrowed money which the bank pays back. With a debit card you're losing cash which you won't be able to replace yourself and which the bank might take days to weeks to replace.

Even if you NEED to borrow while your credit card is out of commission you can either use the overdraft facility on your debit card or other quick sources of credit. Hard to get quick cash without going to a pawn shop.

I would cancel that card right now. IMHO You should never ever ever ever use a debit card anywhere else other than the ATM. Credit cards give you way more financial protection.

Unless said ATM has been compromised :s

You should talk to your bank as it depends on the network your bank uses. Most of the time it's something like a 48 hour window to challenge charges but it's far less at some banks.

No, it's covered by the FDIC. Banks can offer better protections but at least 48 hours within discovery is mandatory. http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnfall09/debit_v...

From your link:

> [With a debit card,] "Until the bank provides provisional credit, you could temporarily be out of pocket for the amount in dispute," said Richard Foley, an FDIC attorney who specializes in consumer issues. "This would not typically happen with a credit card because consumers can withhold payment of the amount in dispute."

> Also, as discussed on the next page, consumers have better federal protections when they purchase faulty goods with credit cards.

They are. Protections are exactly the same (in the US at least.) You have protection from the moment that you learn of the problem, not when it happens.

Not that having your account drained doesn't suck, but your worst case scenario there isn't terrible unless you fail to check stuff and be responsible.

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