Downside of debit cards

CNN personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, writes about the downsides to debit cards:

Unlike credit cards which are covered by a wider protection policy against unauthorized use, debit cards offer few protections. Reports of misuse should be made immediately as taking too long will only increase your liability.

You won’t be able to build up a (good) credit history with a debit card, because using it is essentially not borrowing money as you are getting from your own savings account. You also can’t dispute charges with debit cards as you’ve already paid for them.

Although debit cards are good for small purchases, and if you’d rather not carry wads of cash around in your person, credit cards are still best for more expensive items and most especially if you are going to buy stuff online. The bottom line is that debit cards are not as secure as credit cards.

Source: CNN

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