As everybody knows, there's two types of visa cards, the ones that offer credit, and those who dont,i.e. debit cards.

Many people use debit cards so they can be sure that in case such cards get stolen/lost, nobody will be able to sustract more than the money they have in their account.(being stolen is bad, but is even worse having to pay the credit that a thief got using your card)

SO, imagine this scenario:

Somebody opens an account and is given a debit card. He starts using it, whitout paying too much attention to the money he's got in his account (he's got many cards)...it's just a debit card afterall.

So he pays stuff using that card...and it seems it never reaches the botton. But then one day, he discovers he owes money to the bank, even though it was a debit card, it kept giving him credit even when there was not money in his account.


So what happens then ? Obviously it is a mistake of the bank, what can do the client? Report the bank?

Anyone knows anything about this kind of stuff?

the thing is it's a credit/debit card (if it's tied to your checking account). meaning that you can charge stuff (sign it), or you can debit it. when you use debit, you have to put you pin #, and the amount is taken out then (the stores pay less fees, the bank pays more fees). when you use credit, it is taken out later on (after it has posted, etc.), and the stores pay higher fees (the bank pays less fees). so (as mentioned), you could have overdraft protection, and this could happen. now depending on your bank, they allow you so much time to get the situation straightened out (like a week).

this kinda happened to me (but not with a debit card). i had deposited my g/f's work check (as they had money in the bank), and a few days later it didn't clear so my account was negative. i had gotten a couple of letters in the mail saying that i had 1 week to clear it up. well, i noticed that before i had even gotten the letters in the mail, they had taken the money out of my savings account to cover the check and the overdraft fee. luckily her employer covered everything. g/l

Once the account that is linked to the debit card has less than what you purchase with the card you will be hit with an overdraft fee. This fee can be anywhere from 30-40$ per incident. Some debit cards allow you to over draft some dont. Plus you still have to pay it off. I messed up my credit like that before. I wasnt getting bank statements and I had no idea

FYI, credit cards are safer than debit cards. There is more consumer protection with a credit card. Once you report your credit card lost or stolen in a reasonable amount of time you will not be responsible for fradulent charges. sometimes you dont have to report it. When I lost my card I didnt even know it was missing until the credit card company called me and told me fradulent charges have been made on my card. They gave me a new card, no loss to me.

Whether or not the bank made an error is determined in the terms of the debit card as well as the terms of the account to which the debit card is attached. If, for example, the bank account allows for overdrafts on the account, then yes, it will happen and overdraft charges will most likely get applied. It is the responsibility of the card owner to track their charges and the balance of their account to be sure that there are enough funds in the account so overdrafts do not occur. It is no different than writing checks out of your checking account.