In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve entered the 21st century (about 8 years ago, I believe). Unlike the centuries gone by, cash is not the safest method of payment these days - in fact, I’m pretty sure it’s being phased out.
Now, I don’t consider myself an “early adopter” of any sort - I’m just another average South African teenager with a slightly acute obsession with the Internet, a young career in online marketing, and someone who generally has money available to spend. And though trial and error (more trial than error) I’ve discovered that a debit card really is the way to go.
Four simple reasons, too. For the record, I have an account at Effin’ B, and they generally charge around R1.00 - R1.50 per debit card transaction. With that in mind:
Debit cards are safe.
Credit cards can be stolen and overdriven to the point of financial ruin. Cash can just as easily vanish from a missing wallet. Debit cards are a whole other story. They’re PIN-locked, easily blacklisted/stopped in event of theft, and they don’t allow you to spend money you don’t have. The last one I consider an absolute necessity in our current day and age.
Debit cards are cheap.
Credit cards require a certain (generally high) amount of money per month to maintain, and the interest rates on overspend are daylight robbery. Cheque accounts and books are way too expensive for most mortals - don’t even go there. Cash costs a hell of a lot to withdraw if you’re in a pinch, and if you can’t get access to your own bank’s ATM.
Contrasting with all of these, debit cards can be used at just about any middle-to-high class shop in South Africa, and even at some flea markets and other shops (the ones that use that huge print-machine thing and hand you a written invoice). Debit card transactions are generally cheaper, and some packages even give you free transactions.
Debit cards are quick.
Swipe, PIN, sign, done. Credit cards are “Swipe, bye bye unknown amount of money.” Cheques are “Write, write, write, double-check, write, sign, print, verify, secure.” Cash is arguably the quickest, but I’m not too sure I want to know where that note’s been, unless if it came straight from the bank. It’s expensive too.
I’d say that in any transaction in a shop in a major-ish city, that debit cards function acceptably quickly. You’ll know immediately whether or not you had that money to spend, and you don’t have to worry about carrying around cash (which you’ll generally end up spending anyway, just because you have it).
Debit cards are logged.
This is the major one for me. I sat down last night with a pile of paper slips (most are SPAR reciepts from the Kloof branch … lol), and tried in vain to chart my spending over the last few weeks. Eventually, out of frustation, I logged on to Effin’ B, and there it was - my entire transaction history. Dates, times, locations, descriptions and bank fees included.
“Where did that money go?” is much easier to answer if a debit card is your major method of spending.
And that’s why I like debit cards. Do you like debit cards? Or do you think cash is still the way to go?
I’ve had one for a few weeks now…and never used it. I still like using cash, but I will have to make the change-over eventually. But when I purchase my first Aston Martin, I’ll most certainly buy it in cash.
I totally agree with you Wogan. I hardly ever carry cash with me and 9/10 times I swipe my debit card rather than my credit card. At first I started using my credit card only at restaurants, but now that they bring a machine to the table, I prefer to use my debit card. So, all in all, I’m a firm believer and swipper of debit cards!
@Jared You antiprogressivementarianist. So when you walk into the Aston Martin dealer, are you like going to arrive with a duffel bag full of $100 notes? Lol … You’d probably get kicked out…
@Chris One of the biggest upsides to never carrying cash is that when a beggar decides to harass you, you can honestly say you don’t have cash on you, and not feel guilty about lying … lol
hey just a few facts i thought id share i used to work for this sh*tty bank called commerce bank now td commerce because they were too weak to survive without a merger..
- debit cards CAN allow you to go over your bank account (overdrawn- especially with online purchases or any purchases processed as mentioned below)
- debit cards CAN be processed without your PIN code (if you didn’t know retailers can run the card as credit and you can sign for your goods like a credit card, in fact we had a few sweepstakes where you had to sign for your debit card purchases to be entered & its used like a credit card online)
IMO, unauthorized charges on a credit card isnt as bad as fraud done on a debitcard.. certainly fraud on a large scale on either is bad- but atleast lets say its a few small charges on your debit card- you must file a claim and wait a few days for temporary credit followed by their little investigations.. but you are without that money whereas on a credit card- you never had that money but now you owe it but the claim will temporarily credit you that money you never had back into your line of credit. see what i mean?