Monday, June 29, 2009

Debit Card, Credit Card, ATM Card, Charge Card

Debit Card:
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A Debit card provides an alternative payment method to cash when making purchases. Its functionality is more similar to writing a cheque as the funds are withdrawn directly from either the bank account (often referred to as a cheque card), or from the remaining balance on the card.

In some countries the debit card is multipurpose, acting as the ATM card for withdrawing cash and as a check guarantee card. Merchants can also offer "cashback"/"cashout" facilities to customers, where a customer can withdraw cash along with their purchase.

Credit Card:
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A credit card is a system of payment issued to users of the system. In the case of credit cards, the issuer lends money to the consumer (or the user) to be paid later to the merchant. It is different from a charge card, which requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, a credit card allows the consumer to 'revolve' their balance, at the cost of having interest charged.

For consumers, the difference between a "debit card" and a "credit card" is that the former immediately deducts the balance from a checking or savings account, whereas in the case of creadit card it allows the consumer to spend money they might not actually have (but promise to pay later to the card-issuing bank).

Many companies offer credit cards and you can apply credit cards online. It can be categorized to into student credit cards, bad credit credit card, and secured cards. From google you can see many sites that do Credit Card Offers.

ATM Card:
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An ATM card (also known as a bank card, client card, key card or cash card.
It can be used:

-at an ATM for deposits, withdrawals, account information, and other types of transactions, often through interbank networks

Some ATM cards can also be used:

-at a branch, as identification for in-person transactions
-at merchants, for EFTPOS (point of sale) purchases

Unlike a debit card, in-store purchases or refunds with an ATM card can generally be made in person only, as they require authentication through a personal identification number or PIN. In other words, ATM cards cannot be used at merchants that only accept credit cards.

However, other types of transactions through telephone or online banking may be performed with an ATM card without in-person authentication. This includes account balance inquiries, electronic bill payments or in some cases, online purchases.

In countries that don't have distinct debit cards (pure ATM cards without debit card function), such as Canada, an ATM card is also known as a "debit card".

Charge Card:
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A charge card is a means of obtaining a very short term (usually around 1 month) loan for a purchase. It is similar to a credit card, except that the contract with the card issuer requires that the card holder must each month pay charges made to it in full -- there is no "minimum payment" other than the full balance. Since there is no loan, there is no official interest. A partial payment (or no payment) results in a severe late fee (as much as 5% of the balance) and the possible restriction of future transactions and risk of potential cancellation of the card.

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