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What seemed weird when I visited your country
GarandMarine:
Some cards can be run different ways. It's not accessing multiple accounts, but a debit card or credit card processes differently. Some people have a preference as to how it's run.
For me I actually specifically bought my car on credit and make regular small credit card purchases and pay it off in a timely manner to keep my credit high.
Barmymoo:
Presumably you wouldn't need to do that if it weren't for the fact that having a "good credit rating" is seen as a positive? If the culture were that it's better to pay for things with money you actually have, right now, then there would be no need to build up a good credit rating.
pwhodges:
--- Quote from: Skewbrow on 18 Dec 2013, 14:44 ---So how are things run here:
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For utilities and the like in Britain we can either set up a Standing Order (the bank pays the amount we have specified, on a cycle we specify) or a Direct Debit (the utility takes the money required, possibly up to a maximum - but I'm not sure about that). It's possible to set up a Direct Debit (different name I can't remember) from a credit card - but this is very dangerous indeed, because there is no protection if they go on taking money when you ask them to stop (cc companies have even been known to reanimate closed accounts to pay a demand of this kind).
In my experience debit cards and charge cards are different: debit cards have direct access to your current account (checking account I believe some people call it), whereas a charge card takes the money at the end of the month, but does not allow extended credit (e.g., in Britain at least, classic Amex and Diners cards - though Amex now do separate credit cards). My debit card links to the Visa system, and so works in most of the world (I've used it in cash machines around Europe and the US, as well as in Russia, China, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka...); it charges a fee for cash withdrawals abroad (not at home), but less than any of my credit cards (one Visa and one Mastercard, in case I have to have the right sort somewhere).
In Britain any debit or credit card will work in any machine - but I know that in some countries, cash machines will only handle matching cards.
bhtooefr:
In the US, when you get the choice of processing a debit card (which is connected to funds you already have) as credit or debit, this is what it means:
Credit means that it's being processed through Visa or MasterCard's network, you use a signature to verify who you are (above a certain amount), and the retailer pays the transaction fees.
Debit means that it's being processed through a debit network (Pulse, NYCE, MAC, Tyme, SHAZAM, and STAR are the examples that Wikipedia gives), you use a PIN (no chip) to verify who you are (always, not just above a certain amount), you can also request cash back above the amount of the transaction, and your bank (which may choose to pass them onto you) pays the transaction fees.
94ssd:
--- Quote from: Barmymoo on 18 Dec 2013, 14:22 ---Weird. Surely you can build up a good credit check by simply having a small overdraft though?
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It's much cheaper for me to make credit card payments (since I limit what I pay for with it) than it is to pay overdraft fees at my bank, which are pretty steep.
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