Mastercard® Debit Card

It has happened to all of us. We’re out shopping with our debit card and the sales clerk asks “debit or credit?” While both options will result in funds coming out of your SPE account, here’s why you should choose credit rather than debit.

Why choose credit?

Instead of giving more money to big corporations, your purchases give money back to the Credit Union. By using your card as credit and lowering Credit Union costs, the Credit Union can now transfer the benefits to you, through lower loan interest rates, higher dividend rates, and the ability to offer more products and services.

Choosing credit gives you more security on purchases

Most reputable card processors won’t hold you liable for unauthorized credit transactions. If you enter your PIN and fraud occurs, you’ll have to work out a solution with SPE and wait before you get your money back.

Many card processors have zero-liability policies in place when you run your debit card as credit and treat your debit card just like a regular credit card when you make a credit transaction. If an unauthorized charge is made, it will refund all of your money back.

You will never be charged interest for selecting credit when using a debit card

When you run your transaction as credit using your debit card, you are still authorizing a debit from your checking account. You will never be charged interest or receive a bill for doing this. Of course, choosing credit at the point-of-sale will not help you build your credit.

What if I can’t choose credit when making a purchase with my debit card?

Retailers often have to pay higher fees when you run your debit card as credit. Because of this, some make it hard for you to choose the credit option. Here are a couple of tips that will help you choose “credit” every time.

• After you insert your card and the terminal asks for your PIN, just hit the “Enter” button (usually green). This will run your card as credit.
• If you still can’t figure out how to run your debit card as credit, ask the cashier. Some stores make it very difficult and the cashier will have to run it this way manually.