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DH & I have now cut up all our credit cards and are looking at using Visa Debit card instead of our ordinary bank account (to try and save on fees).
Can someone please tell me about them? I've looked on the bank's website and it's more promotional than helpful. I'm just trying to get my head around them before we go to the bank in the next few days.
What good/bad about them? What is the basic idea of them?
Many Thanks,
Dan.
The basic idea is that they can be used anywhere a credit card can, online shopping, that sort of thing, just with your own funds rather than credit.
Does that help? Is there anything else you need clarification on?
we have one, its great :D
basicly like a credit card you can shop online and book tickets and do everything you can with a credit card but you have to have money in your account :D
We have them as we didnt want to spend money we didnt have :D
I have a mastercard debit so same thing. You use it exactly the same as a credit card. It's great cause I can't spend what I don't have and no monthly repayment to worry about. It's great for internet shopping cause if anyone steals your number there is no money to steal. I basically keep it at a zero balance and only put on money when I need to. I'm with the commonwealth and you can set it up linked to your main account or have a completely seperate one (I have this). I could also apply online through online banking so didn't need to go in. They charge me $4 a month account keeping fee. I don't know though if having it linked to the main account would save fees.
Hi Liviam
We have one. We use it for internet purchases really. So whenever I want to buy something online, I put money into that account and use it.
We have one through ANZ, but all of our other accounts are through WideBay. We had to go through ANZ as Widebay doesn't offer them. PITA but anyway.
I think they're great :) You can use them at woolies or big w or anywhere, you just use them as you would any other card. Except you need to insert the card (not swipe), still click "savings account" and type in your pin number. You can withdrawl money etc. Basically they are just like an everyday card, but gives you the added options to buy things online, or give your details when you book a hotel etc.
Good because you can only spend what money you have, no money - no spending!
HTH
We have them and they are great. As someone above said, we can't spend what we don't have. It's like my keycard and my VISA card all linked into one. The way ours is structured we get unlimited VISA transactions so I just hit the 'credit' button for everything. But it's not spending credit, it's spending our money.
I'd recommend them for anyone.
I can't add anything others haven't already said, but they are awesome, saving on fees when you use credit but only spending your own more. Highly recommend it
I am another one who thinks they are awesome!
I find I am more in control of my finances because I can't spend money I haven't got and no interest but I have the convenience of a being able to use it like a credit card....win win :D
I'm going to come in here with the one negative I have found (we have a debit mastercard)... the money doesn't come out of our account immediately. There is often a two or three day lag, so I have to keep track & remember not to draw on what should be staying in there (it's linked to our everyday account).
Apart from that - yep, awesome, way better than a Credit card :)
I'm not sure where you bank, but where I work the visa debit isn't a separate account. You open your normal transaction account - the one that suits you based on fees, interest, transactions etc, and then the card is attached to that. Or, you can do as a pp mentioned and attach it to a separate small account with minimal funds to prevent loss.
The good thing is because it's visa, every transaction where you hit credit (or buy online/over the phone) your transaction is protected, whereas a normal access card doesn't offer that.
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We also have a Visa Debit card, it's linked to our regular bank account. Like everyone else has said you can use it where ever you might use a credit card. I have also found that when using the 'credit' function (as we do say when the vet comes to our house) it takes a few days to come out of the account, as Fleur said. This has got us into trouble a number of times! Suddenly the account would drop by a large amount and it would be a purchase from the week before! Now we just keep track of what has yet to come out and we don't get into trouble anymore :D
The only problem I have is that Woolworths and related companies dont accept the credit option and my bank charges for using chq.
BR - I am annoyed about that one and have now swapped to Coles and avoid Big W for the same reason!
I have mine linked to a savings, so for in person eftpos situations, I use it like a normal keycard. It only has visa usage for utilities and ebay, lol!
I do love it, and all three banks I have had them with, StG Visa, Suncorp Visa and Comm MC, have taken the amount off the available balance immediately, but it still shows in the account balance.
There are no additional fees involved. It is basically a keycard you can use online and on the phone.
One thing to keep an eye on... is that they say you cant spend money you dont have, We have had the visa debit cards with stg for over fove years now andno problems... until last month when DH used one of those o/s atms... the ones that say o/s on the statement but its just a normal pub atm or whatever that chrage the extra fees.
Well he withdrew money....
and then when he withdrew more money the next day the o/s withdrawal from the atm wasnt taken out yet... somehow nad he over withdrew, $200.00
So when he took out his card out of the atm and got the receipt it said -$250.00 and hw now owes the bank, so they will now take whatever money goes into there. And it isnt really his fault... You should never be able to do that with visa debit because its supposed to be a debit card only....
first bad thing to happen
That can also happen with a normal eftpos card as well. It has happened to me:
i have one with bankwest and it has a $100 overdraw thingy on it
Thanks for all the info everyone. I like to be informed and have an idea of what I'm wanting before I go into the bank.
Ok so you can hit "credit" to save being charged a fee which is the main thing that I am trying to avoid. I don't want to have to pay fees everytime I use the card at a shop (such a waste of money).
We do use our only money but the cards can be overdrawn if we aren't careful with it. The few day lag between the use and it coming off our account might be a bit difficult until I get the hang of it.
I am starting to like the sounds of them as it sounds like I need to be more aware of what is coming in and out of our banks. Definitely sounding like an option.
Now I just need to get DH to have some free time and us go to the bank and sort out our accounts.
Thanks everyone.