Perhaps everyone who has used a debit card for a more or less long period, long enough to form a personal opinion, has come to appreciate the convenience and safety of this little financial helper. What is the reason for such popularity of this payment tool and how to choose the best of the best?
Why Do You Need A Credit Card?
A debit card is one of the basic bank products, which is a plastic linked to an account. Unlike a credit card, the balance of the card remains zero until the account is funded by the client himself, his employer, partner, etc. That is, the finances on it belong not to the bank, but to its owner.
The main functions of the card: exchange, storage and use of funds. It replaces the usual purse and greatly simplifies the procedure for issuing and receiving wages, benefits, interbank transfers, and payment for purchases. And Internet banking and other online services give the holder round-the-clock access to cash, limited only by transaction limits, which are specified in client documentation or set up by the user in the application. The card eliminates the need to carry large sums of money, take cash abroad and, therefore, reduces the risk of losing it. The card can be used to purchase goods online, pay for services of different organizations (e.g., cab, utility bills), transfer money to relatives. Moreover, I now advise you to go to the site teuscherfifthavenue.com where you can find more articles on the topic of credit cards and learn in detail about their registration and their types.
Types and Features of Cards
Debit card is the easiest bank payment product to design. It can be issued to any citizen from 14 years of age with just a passport. It doesn’t matter what your credit history, whether you have official income. The only exception is a credit card with an overdraft or installment plan – this has different age limits and requirements to bona fides and security of the client. Level of service, options and services available to the holder depend mainly on the card class. Let’s consider the most popular ones.
- Electronic – the simplest instant (non-named) cards. You can use them to withdraw cash, as well as pay in offline stores, but they are not suitable for purchases and transfers on websites.
- Classic cards take longer to produce (the name of the holder is printed on the card) and are generally more expensive to maintain. But also their area of application is wider; it is convenient to pay for orders in virtual stores, make transfers by all possible ways.
- Premium: gold, platinum, and black distinguish themselves from their counterparts by a wide range of services for VIP-persons and greater freedom in making transactions per day. The volume of additional privileges depends on the “color” of the plastic and the payment system.
- For users of the majority of premium VC there are discounts and increased bonuses in various trade networks around the world.
- Visa is the most famous world payment system. You can arrange for such a card at almost any domestic bank. The basic unit is U.S. dollars, that is, the conversion of rubles in foreign currency is carried out in two steps: first in dollars, then – in the desired currency.
- The main currency is the euro. Accordingly, all currency exchange transactions take place through conversion to European money.
- American Express is focused mainly on premium client segment; this payment system products often include a number of additional services for the holders – assistance in travel arrangements, insurance, etc. Among the obvious drawbacks – high cost of service.
- In addition, the cards are magnetic and chip cards. Plastic cards with built-in microprocessor are much more secure than magnetic strips:
- Information from the chip cannot be copied with a skimmer, which fraudsters use to obtain data and further manufacture a counterfeit duplicate.
- Transactions with magnetic cards are always sent to the bank with the same data, while with chip cards each process is confirmed by a specially generated code which is sent to the issuer after the actual writing-off. That is, criminals will not be able to intercept the money.
- Each request in the self-service devices is accompanied by obligatory entering of a PIN-code. This is an inconvenience of such cards: the transactions take more time, but you should agree that this is a small price to pay for security.
How to Choose A Debit Card. The Most Important Parameters
Free
The vast majority give preference to cards, the use of which leads to the least associated costs:
- free interbank transfers;
- Cash withdrawal at ATMs without fees;
- no maintenance fee.
Features of The Bank
These include the reliability and reputation of the issuer, the availability of convenient client services. SMS-informing for cardholders is free, and online services are based on the most modern technologies and allow you to monitor and perform a variety of operations, pay for services, and design banking products remotely. Surprisingly, although cashback and interest on the balance are important for clients, they are far from being in first place
Ease of Registration
The next parameters, which drew the attention of respondents – the possibility of obtaining a card online with home delivery. This service is now available in many major financial institutions.
Type of Bank Card
About a quarter of respondents mentioned such parameters as payment system and category as important. More credit card features can be found here.
Less Important Parameters
Additional discounts, currency and card design were found to be the least important features for clients. Even despite the low interest, the last parameter is given a lot of attention! So, we hope this article was so useful for you that you are now ready to buy your own card!
