Debit cards are associated with checking accounts. Consumers can use them as credit cards if they contain a Visa or MasterCard logo on them. They don’t incur fees like a credit card does because they are backed by the amount of money in the account. With that said, are debit cards as good a choice as they seem?

A customer can choose whether or not they wish to receive a debit card at the time they open a checking account. There appearance is quite similar to that of credit cards and they are used in the same way, making purchases at restaurants and stores easy and quick. Plus, none of the charges associated with credit cards apply to debit cards. Bank commercials often glamorize the use of debit cards, as if using cash were the most terrible faux-pas in the financial world.

If an individual has had difficulties using credit cards responsibly, debit cards can help them learn to handle their finances better. Instead of carrying checks or cash, debit cards are heralded as the new plastic money. Since they can only draw from the funds already present in a checking account, they are considered to be safe too.

The above mentioned functions of debit cards make them seem easy to use and safe, which they can be. Be warned, however, that there are risks associated with the misuse of debit cards.

Since they are tied to a checking account, transactions need to be recorded in a ledger or a computer program. The enemy of the debit card is the ATM machine. It really does seem like a genie in a box. You put a card in and push some numbers and money spits out at you.

Just as quickly as that money was deposited in your account it can disappear if you are not careful. The checking account can become overdrawn without ever bouncing a check. ATM receipts can be deceiving, because they don’t always reflect the true current balance in the account if other transactions haven’t cleared the bank.

Like credit cards, debit cards can have funds blocked off by businesses you make purchases from. They freeze a certain amount of money until the transaction clears. For example, this means that buying $20 of gasoline at the gas station will actually freeze $50 in your checking account, causing problems if you try to spend the remaining $30.

Debit cards are a good choice if managing money is a problem. But, learn you use them wisely or you could run into trouble with your checking account balance.