Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with debit

Did I get free money?

polexxia — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:45:34 -0800

How long does a third-party ATM have to debit my account? Slightly over a month ago, I stopped at a third-party ATM in a convenience store and withdrew $200 as a debit transaction. The authorization/debit has STILL not posted to my Wells Fargo account. I know that with a physical check, there is a limit on how long before the charge would be denied, but is there something similar for ATM transactions? I really hate having to mentally subtract the $205.50 (because of fees) every time I look at my balance....

Car rental without a credit card and bad credit?

lizjohn — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:18:30 -0800

Help! Stranded at the airport. This is kind of embarassing, but here it goes. Due to bad timing, my husband and I are without a credit card to use until midnight tonight. We need to rent a car to get out of the airport, but my husbands credit isn't good enough to use a debit card, and I can't use my debit card
because I am under 25. Are we simply stranded at the airport until we have a useable credit card? Does anyone know of a car rental company that doesn't have a credit check? The family we are visiting is 6 hours away and I couldn't ask them to pick us up. We're in the Louisville airport and it has the standard car places. We're willing to put as large a deposit as needed. Anyone have any ideas? Greyhound is out of the question.

Breach my britches, bitches!

chrisfromthelc — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:18:19 -0800

"Information from certain Bank of America Check Cards may have been compromised." Did anyone else receive this letter, and does anyone know anything about it? I recieved this letter today, along with a new check card (the Alaska Airlines green card). I've searched, but can't find anything pertaining to any recent security compromise. Does anyone have any information on it?

Help me keep track of my money when I'm on the go.

desjardins — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:45:01 -0800

What's the best way to keep track of expenditures while you're on the go? I use my debit card a lot but I don't carry a checkbook. I have a Samsung Flipshot phone (Verizon). Is there a secure mobile site where I can log in and enter my $50 gas purchase?

Searching for activation number for debit card.

ofthestrait — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:46:15 -0800

I have a debit card from my credit union. I tore the activation sticker off of it before calling the number. Any way I can find the number somehow?

Debit to Credit transfer

Pater Aletheias — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:06:32 -0800

Can a person add money to their checking account buy using a credit card balance transfer offer online and entering their Visa CheckCard number as the account to be credited?

I needed that dollar.

thirteenkiller — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 09:14:47 -0800

Why did PayPal take a dollar from my bank account? I started a new PayPal personal account on Sunday, because getting my premier account downgraded so they didn't take extra fees looked like a pain. I have online Citibank checking and savings accounts; these two accounts are linked. I added the Citi savings account to my new PayPal account and did instant verification on PayPal. This means I entered my Citi username and password on the PayPal site and they connected to Citi to verify my account. That all worked and I received a payment on this PayPal account and transferred it out to my Citi account with no problems.

Except PayPal took one dollar from my Citi checking account, and I can't figure out why. As far as I can tell, nothing in the account creation or bank account verification documentation mentions a fee, and nothing about that transaction shows up in the history of either of my PayPal accounts. Documentation of the $1 debit on my Citi account shows that it happened right when I was creating the new PayPal account and before I received a payment.

I emailed PayPal help about this, but there's no response so far.

How long do they have to charge my debit card?

catfood — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 08:34:22 -0800

Well over a week ago, I took some friends out to brunch and paid with my debit card. The charge still has not been debited from my bank account. Is there a limit to how long the restaurant has to deduct the funds? I expect checks to take a little while to clear my account, but I have never had to wait more than a business day or two for a debit card charge to appear in my bank account. It's throwing my checkbook balancing off, and it's annoying me too.

This is a restaurant in a major hotel chain (Wyndham), and I have been watching my statement for this charge because the restaurant staff seem a little shady... I later found out that other members of my family who dined there the day earlier were overcharged on their room bill, and had to fight with the management to remove the extra tip the restaurant charged from their bill (they clearly left a 10% tip for the brunch buffet which was noted on their receipt, the restaurant charged a 20% tip).

Is there a point where I can safely say that they are not going to charge me? Or can they hang on to this charge for as long as their little hearts desire?

I'll buy that for a thousand dollars... but no credit please.

lockle — Fri, 19 May 2006 13:00:50 -0800

My work wants to accept payments online but doesn't want to accept credit cards. Most banks issue debit cards that work as credit cards. Is there a way to determine the difference? Several years ago my boss went through some tough financial times that almost made him declare bankrupcy. He is a religious and moral man and after taking several credit courses, has become convinced that the whole concept of personal credit is immoral in some aspect.

In addition to the moral implications of accepting credit cards, there are some business decisions. I work for a company that does landscaping, landscape lighting, irrigation, and installs Christmas Lights during the holidays. There have been one or two occassions where customer was unhappy with an aspect of the work and rather than working with us to resolve it or with the BBB, they instituted a chargeback.

Currently when a customer accepts the service, we go and physically pick up a check or ask them to mail it. This year for the holiday lighting services, repeat customers will be able to just log into the website and select what service they want again this year.

We would like to be able to offer them the convience of online payment without accepting actual credit cards.

Gold stars for anyone that can suggest a payment processor that would allow us to just accept cards on the PULSE (ATM) network as well as electronic checking.

Prepaid Debit Cards - helpful or harmful?

pants — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 08:17:02 -0800

I am considering signing up for a prepaid debit card and would like some advice as I don't know anyone who's gone down this path before... Due to many credit problems in the past, I cannot get a checking account. I have a savings account at my local bank and have my employer deposit my paychecks directly to that account. It has been working well and I have been gradually paying off my outstanding debts. However, I really miss the freedom of a checking account - currently, I have to withdraw cash from my particular bank's ATM before making any purchase at all. Carrying a lot of cash around isn't always a great idea, and if I'm out of town I have to carry quite a bit as there aren't any ATMs that would take my non-debit card which I use to access my savings account. I'm thinking that one of these prepaid debit cards might be just the solution, but I am a little anxious about the lengthy fine print and don't want to get into a situation where I might be making my already shaky credit history worse.

MeFi, help! Has anyone tried to use one of these? Was it really that convenient, or was it a hassle to deal with these non-banking financial institutions? Or, are there alternatives to these cards which would give me the flexibility I need but can't get without a checking account? TIA.

How can I contest a debit card charge from a bar if I don't have the receipt?

kirkaracha — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 10:31:34 -0800

How can I contest a debit card charge from a bar if I don't have the receipt? [more inside] Two friends and I went to a bar last night. We had two ginger ales, 6-8 beers, and a dish of almonds. I don't remember the exact tab, but it was around $45. I happened to check my online bank account this morning, and they'd charged $93.92 on my debit card. (I don't tip that well.) I can't find my receipt; how can I get them to fix this?

Anybody ever heard of saprizo.com?

codger — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 14:10:32 -0800

[scamfilter] Anybody ever heard of saprizo.com? [+] (self link) I wrote about it here, but there are far more readers here. Basically they've got a slightly new angle on scamming. They tell me I've won a prize (in a contest I didn't enter) but I need to pay for the shipping.

With a debit card. And I need to provide them my card number, expiration date, and PIN. Does this sound fishy yet?

As of the time I am posting this, saprizo.com is unregistered. How can there be a site there, and is there anything I can do about all of this?

Debit Card Scanners

srboisvert — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 17:19:59 -0800

Why does putting tape or a piece of paper over a magnetic strip on a debit car make it scan when it fails on normal swipes?