Once major advantage with
ATM/debit cards is getting cash. Cards
with the Visa/MasterCard logo can get cash
almost anywhere in the world without
paying interest charges as you would have
to do with a cash advance on a real credit
card. This is only fair, since the money
you are getting is yours-money that is
already in your account.
Another advantage with
ATM/debit cards is that you can get cash
any time of the day or night without
waiting in line for a teller.
Problems exists even with
the advantages. The card companies have
implemented plans to charge you a fee when
you use your ATM card to get at your own
money. This charge, of course, destroys
the one advantage of world-wide access to
your account. ATM networks are even
charging cardholders an extra fee for
using their card overseas. Check with the
bank that issued your ATM/debit card
before you travel and get a written
statement of possible overseas charges.
First, banks closed lots
of branches, fired lots of tellers, made
it harder and harder to visit to get your
money. And they push customers to use ATMs
to get their money, touting money-saving
efficiencies of electronic transactions.
Now, having forced their customers into
ATM/debit card mode, banks want to charge
big bucks for the almost mandatory use of
these types of cards. The only practical
alternative appears to be using a credit
card to obtain cash advances, something
you generally go to the bank to do.
The "advantages" of ATM
and debit cards certainly do not outweigh
the terrible financial dangers that await
you if you use them.
