invalid card type, what?

[Fleur]

guy and his preteen daughter come up with like $9 of ice cream and toppings. very polite, smiley, happy. the kind of customer i adore.

CD (cool dad): (to his daughter) "oh, man, i don't know if your mom gave me the debit card. (to me) go ahead and ring up these other people, can you do that? i don't want them to wait."
me: "no problem."
so i call for sup C's password so i could suspend CD's order since two more customers had come up. i get done with one girl before CD discovers the card hidden behind another in his wallet.

CD: "found it! sorry bout that."
me: "don't worry about it, it happens all the time." (it does)
CD: *swipes card* "...why does it say invalid card type? we use this one all the time."
me: "oh god, really? wth."
i try the plastic bag trick, still doesn't work. huh. CD calls his wife, she doesn't know what the problem is either. so i suspend the order again and take another customer's small order.

CD: *red as a tomato* "found the problem. it was our ATM card that looked very similar." (they were in fact both bright orange visa cards, almost identical.)
the two of us pretty much do a mutual facepalm, as i had handled the ATM card as well. he slides the real debit card, and it goes through no problem.

he kept saying stuff like "i'm an embarrassment, my wife should handle this cos she's smarter than me" stuff like that. so i told him about the time i went to mcdonald's and tried to pay with a borders card, to make him feel better. at least his cards looked the same.

not sucky in the least. probably the best customer i had all evening, actually.

[Mytical]

Don't you just love customers that actually realize they are the ones at fault and have a good sense of humor about it? Makes the day go a lot faster.

[Magpie]

And this is why I've gotten rid of my old credit card. One credit card, one bank card, and the extra bank card stays at home. The bank card I carry is the one for an account that I can take money out of, so it will work if I want debit or cash.

[telecom_goddess]

All I have is my one debit card....nothing else....no room for confusion. I don't even have any credit cards anymore...just as well too

[MoonCat]

Sometimes at the library I grab my debit card instead of my library card. Always makes me

[firecat88]

At my school, you can actually put money on your student ID cards. You take however much money, in cash, you want to put onto the card into the card office, and the people there will put that much money onto your card. With it, you can make purchases on campus (at the bookstore and the cafe and stuff like that).

I've had it happen once or twice, though, that I'll have spent all the money I put on the card, forget about that little detail, and try to use it to pay for stuff anyway.

[VComps]

I'm confused... why couldn't he use the ATM card to pay?

[Whiskey]

I'm confused... why couldn't he use the ATM card to pay?

They probably don't take ATM. This is one of my hugest pet peeves right now. People will say they take debit/ATM when they don't. ATM cards are relics that no one really uses, so when they say they take debit, they mean "we will run your 'debit card' as credit." Thats not debit. Thats credit. A surprisingly large amount of stores don't know the difference.

[Sleepwalker]

Probably because the customers who tell us it is debit aren't aware that it doesn't matter, that their card will run as credit. I haven't seen an honest to goodness atm card in years.

[Whiskey]

Probably because the customers who tell us it is debit aren't aware that it doesn't matter, that their card will run as credit. I haven't seen an honest to goodness atm card in years.

I have one. Its blue. Pretty plain looking

[yomiko]

I'm confused... why couldn't he use the ATM card to pay?

In that Canadian system, debit and ATM cards are one and the same. They can be used at bank machines and for purchases at the merchant and are Interac. In the States, debit is a Visa/MasterCard sponsored card that is linked directly to the user's bank accounts for purchases at merchants. I don't know whether they are good for ATM use.

I truly don't understand their debit system though Visa/MasterCard are making noise about bringing this system North of the border. Fun.

[Magpie]

I truly don't understand their debit system though Visa/MasterCard are making noise about bringing this system North of the border. Fun.

They probably wouldn't kill debit though, they'll just offer competition. Interac has a pretty good stranglehold, and the banks are big enough that the credit card companies have to play nice.

Question: how do you use debit in the US if you can't get a credit card? And how does the credit card company get access to your bank account?

[Whiskey]

In the States, debit is a Visa/MasterCard sponsored card that is linked directly to the user's bank accounts for purchases at merchants.

No its not. Thats a debit card with a visa/MC logo that doubles as a credit card. The funds still come out of your account, but using it as "credit" (if you have to logo) ends up creating a wait time for the funds to come out of your account. A debit card, in the actual sense of the phrase, doesn't have a VISA/MC logo and when you buy things it immediately comes out of your account.

Question: how do you use debit in the US if you can't get a credit card? And how does the credit card company get access to your bank account?

Debit is the same everywhere. Debit is when you enter your PIN into a machine and it directly debits your account. The mainstream card has a visa logo attached to it so that it doubles as a "credit card." You dont have to qualify for credit to get one of those cards because its directly attached to your bank account. Standard credit cards, that you have to apply for, are not.

[Primer]

My main accounts are in nearby bigger city, but I have a savings account in closer small town that I keep in order to cash checks that other people give me for whatever reason. Main account has a debit card attached to it that I use only at ATMs. Small account has an ATM card that I very rarely use at that ATM. I just found out, after 4 years, that the ATM card is NOT a debit card. It will work ONLY at an ATM.

I think I'm still the only person around that does not use a debit card as a debit card. I prefer to use either cash, credit, or in rare cases, checks.

[Mytical]

Also Debit cards do not get reported to the credit places. They can be used for either, and often you have to push 'cancel' to cause it to be used as credit instead of putting your pin in. Just a note of caution...

Debit cards are much harder to get money back if it is stolen and used. Much much harder. It comes straight from your account, can cause over draft fees (they are making it so you have to opt in for this. If you don't opt in, then it just denies the purchase that would take the account over..it is how banks made billions last year from people who could afford it the least. Banks have started pushing people to 'opt in' please think long and hard before doing so.)