How do prepaid debit/credit cards work and can prepaid debit cards be spent at online stores?

Debit and credit cards are different, of course.

Debit cards (ATM cards - I assume they're the same) are generally issued automatically when a person opens a checking account and the debit card and ATM transactions automatically get deducted from the checking account at the time of the transaction. You can confirm this with your bank if you get one.

There's virtually no transaction float time. If you have a checking account and don't have a debit card, without a doubt your bank will issue you one if you just ask for it. Generally free. Banks seem to love debit cards because from time to time I see banks giving gifts and stuff for a certain amount of debit card transactions when checking accounts are opened and from time to time later. You'll get a secret number (PIN - personal Identification number) when you get the debit card and you'll have to use that number when doing a debit card transaction. I've never used a debit card because I prefer credit cards so I can't talk to you about debit cards from experience.

Because debit cards take the money immediately out of the checking account, I consider debit cards way more dangerous than credit cards, especially if they're stolen. I know the PIN is supposed to protect us in circumstances like that but I've heard that debit cards can be used also as credit cards and credit cards don't require a PIN. Don't know how that works under the hood exactly but I know that every time I swipe my credit card at a store, the computer asks me if I'm using the card as a credit or debit card. Strange! For a long time I didn't understand why the computer couldn't figure out based on the info on the electronic strip on the back of my credit card as to whether or not the card is a credit or debit card.

I stay away from debit cards. Fraudulent charges to a credit card are protected. There used to be a $50 amount that we could be held responsible for that was charged to the credit card before we notified our credit card company of the stolen card but that was done away with by virtually all banks a long time ago. When you get your credit card monthly statement and you see a strange transaction that you know you didn't do, you can call the credit card customer service and get it taken off your account after they confirm the fraud. One way is to look to see if the transaction was done using the actual card or just by using the number like we do on the internet or when just card numbers are stolen from some database.

Credit cards are often free but not always. You have to check the small print before applying for it to see if there's a charge for the card, an annual fee, or both. My cards throughout my life have always been free. American Express and Discover are the two that virtually always, based on what I've seen, charge for their credit cards. And often it's big money.

Both credit cards and debit cards can always be free as long as you watch for some slick banks that might try to put unusual charges past you. Most free credit cards will say pretty plainly in their ad that they're free and within a spreadsheet-type display within their pamphlet along with all their small print.

Based on all I've seen, you can use both a credit card or debit card to purchase stuff off the internet. Not accepting one or both would restrict what customers could use to make a purchase and probably the number of purchases the company would get. And no company wants that. You just will be asked slightly different questions for each type of transaction by the website after you tell them which type of card you're using.

Also in answer to your question, a prepaid credit card is for people who can't get regular credit cards because they don't have the credit to qualify for them. You have to have money for the transaction in the account before they can be used. And they cost money to get.

I've never heard of a prepaid debit card but it seems to me that that is essentially what a prepaid credit card is.

If you can get either or both free checking account debit and/or bank free credit cards, I would say they are preferable since they work fine and most of the time are free. If you can't qualify for a regular credit card, a debit card tied to your checking account would solve your problem but I'd advise you stay away from debit card use when possible.

Hope I got it all. Good luck. :-)

Question asked 1 week ago. 7 hours left for answers.

Reply posted 9-6-2010, 12:03 P.M. Central.

Last tweak: 12:22 P.M.

hats off to A Dad for the time and patience he put into his answer.

RE:

How do prepaid debit/credit cards work and can prepaid debit cards be spent at online stores?

I usually deal with nothing but cash only and don't have a credit or debit card but want to buy something online. I figure I could put the amount of cash I intend on spending on the card and use it to...