Lawyer Says Just Don’t Even Use Debit Cards

March 6, 2008

In a story, “Stolen medical records can be costly, deadly“, was the quote below that I thought you might want to see.

And don’t use debit cards that can be used like credit cards without inputting personal identification numbers. Credit cards are protected better by federal law, and money stolen from debit cards is much harder to recover.

“You have to beg for that money back,” said Mari Frank, a lawyer and privacy consultant. “It’s such a hassle, just don’t even use them.”

Canadian Women Learns the Debit Card Lesson the Hard Way

Barbara of British Columbia Canada was unaware that a new law that went into effect on February 1 would leave her hungry.

She went to an Esso station to put in $10 worth of gas, only to have her debit card freeze $100 in her account. Barbara was unaware of the policy where gas stations secure an authorization for $100 in Canada. That authorization freezes those funds and makes them unavailable until the transaction clears her bank in a day or to.

A local Chevron gas station employee said their company puts a $100 hold on debit cards for 24 hours. Unless people are aware of that hold, it can certainly create problems.

So what did Barbara learn from her experience? She learned to not use her debit card for gas but instead pay cash or use a credit card.

Posted in Debit Card Warnings