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As if gas didn't cost enough ...(debit cards)(Viewpoint essay)
MARY ALICE BELOV planned to put gas in her car, then buy groceries. What she didn't plan on was the $10 gas purchase freezing $50 of her bank account and forcing Belov, a small-business owner from Goldendale, Wash., to put items from her cart back on the shelf. Blame the all too common "debit hold."
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Banks may put a hold on an account when they've given the green light to use the card for a purchase whose final amount is unknown. That's exactly what happens thousands of times a day at gas pumps across the country. You swipe your debit card, the gas station asks your bank for approval, and along with saying yes, the bank may freeze up to $75 of your money for several days, no matter how little gas you buy. That can put you into the red if you don't keep much money in your account.
What Consumers Union is doing
Visa and MasterCard, which brand many of the debit cards in the U.S., set rules that determine how long the bank can tie up your money. Consumers Union and other groups have received numerous complaints from consumers about lengthy debit holds.
We've urged Visa over the past few years to end this anticonsumer policy, and now there's some good news: Visa has announced ...
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Despite merchant and consumer preferences for debit card transactions that require cardholders to enter personal identification numbers instead of signing transaction slips, signature...
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...Services' incentive plan to increase debit card activation and use among member credit...In 2008, PSCU processed 645 million debit card transactions on 7.7 million cards...Next year, we will process 787 million debit-card transactions on 8.2 million cards...
- Capital One's New Debit Card Will Test Visa's Hold on Market.
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- Debit Card Solution Produces 500% Increase in Transaction Sales
- Press release article from: PR Newswire August 15, 1996 700+ words
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- CAPITAL ONE ISSUES DEBIT CARD NOT TIED TO A PARTICULAR BANK.
- Newspaper article from: Cardline June 8, 2007 700+ words
...has been issuing a MasterCard-branded debit card that is not tied to any particular bank...client services. With a traditional debit card, the card and the bank's checking...based consultancy. Capital One's debit card, however, breaks up that relationship...
- Debit card fees pit merchants vs. consumers.(RETAIL)
- Magazine article from: New Hampshire Business Review Stone, Tracie April 13, 2007 700+ words
...to favor either the bank issuing the debit card or the merchant processing the transaction...consumers stuck in the middle. Each time a debit card transaction is made, the store incurs...Officials at Visa, the leader in the debit card industry, estimate a market owner would...
- I'll pay by debit: these days, debit cards--not checks--are increasingly...
- Magazine article from: ABA Bank Marketing Giltner, Bob December 1, 2008 700+ words
...many cases, this means the bank whose debit card they use. As a result, more and more banks are managing debit card usage as a relationship management...immediate income payoff for this type of debit card management. Two banks, Busey Bank...
- Some Orange County, Calif., Companies Pay Workers on Debit Card.
- Newspaper article from: The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, California) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News) April 6, 2002 700+ words
...What if your employer just loaded an ATM debit card with your whole earnings? It's happening...companies are paying employees with a debit card. So far, clients using Nashville...employer puts the worker's pay on a debit card. The employee then gets one free withdrawal...
