On Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:39:45 -0500, Stephen Sprunk
wrote:

Another major difference I'm sensing is transaction limits. My debit
card has daily limits of USD 500 for ATM and USD 1000 for ATM+POS, which
seems to be typical. In contrast, credit cards will generally let you
charge up to your credit line in a single day, and that could be
thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

Ah, my "convenience card" (i.e. in my case, Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce's ATM access and credit card) limits me to $1,000/day
withdrawal from my chequing account, but also allows me to bill up to
$11,000 in a "single transaction" to my credit card account.

I guess I'm a trusted client... but I still do not have, nor want,
debit card access.


In the UK, it's usual for there to be a daily limit for ATM (250 quid
springs to mind for mine, and you can have them reduced - many
students living in bad areas do this to reduce the impact if they get
mugged and taken at knifepoint to the ATM), but it's not usual for
there to be a POS hard-limit, just an unpublished and potentially
variable one at which a transaction might be "referred" to confirm it
is genuine.

With credit cards, however, we're closer to the US - my main card pays
me 0.5% to use it, and there is no annual fee. In the UK it is
similarly unusual for there to be a monthly charge for a current
account other than those with bundled premium services; some (like
mine) even pay credit interest. The way the money is made is by way
of charges and interest for those who overdraw their accounts or
borrow on credit cards.

Neil