Hacker News Reader

Comment by alkonaut | Hacker News Reader

The article mentions cards linked to a customers checking account. I assume that means a "debit card", i.e. one where transactions are deducted immediately rather than aggregated into a monthly bill? How common are those cards in the US?

Here (.se), most Visa and Mastercards are bank-issued debit cards, and almost everyone would have such a card, even if they also have a credit card from Visa/MasterCard. Is the situation the same in the US?

View on HN

Debit cards come free with most bank accounts here. But the fraud-protection laws give you much more protection for a credit card than a debit card, so many people who have both only ever use the debit card to withdraw cash from an ATM, and use the credit card for purchasing things.

Also, among the types of people likely to have and use luxury-device payment systems (like brand-new iPhones), typically credit cards are coming with some type of "reward" for use -- some give "cash back" (you get refunded a certain percentage of what you spend), some give points/miles for hotels or airlines, etc., which creates another incentive to use the credit card rather than the debit card.

In the US you would typically get one of these debit cards automatically with your checking account, and it works as you describe. If you want a credit card you would have to submit a separate credit application at the same (or different if you like) bank and that would be a completely different card with its own account and terms. I think this is the same in most countries.

Ok. Guess the difference is not technical but cultural, here the debit cards are used more frequently, and many never get a credit card. I do think we have bonuses on many cards, but I have never found them appealing enough to switch to a pay-later system. I prefer knowing the balance all the time. I use mine only for work expenses and "future" expenses such as flights, where an airline going bankrupt would be problematic if I had already paid the ticket up front.

Maybe we also have less fraud since chip+pin is used everywhere?

Same in the UK. Debit cards (with Chip+Pin) are pretty much the default

Reply on news.ycombinator.com