What Happens if I Don’t Use my Debit Card for a Long Time | An Expert Guide

Well! Like most people, I used to carry a lot of plastic in my wallet; that’s my debit card’s payment method. But what happens if I don’t use my debit card for a long time? You should never use a debit card for online purchases. No, it is not true that online payment is not safe. It is safe compared to offline payment, but you should not make payments with debit cards. Because not using debit cards can save you from many difficulties if something goes wrong. 

So if you want to know the detail about not using a debit card, keep reading this article to get the correct information.

Understanding the Dangers of Debit Card

When I was getting out of a debt situation, I decided to use a credit card. But others argue that the only way to come out of the debt is to opt for total credit elimination. If you use credit cards wisely, they are safer than debit cards, as debit cards are full of dangers, so you should not better go for this plastic. Moreover, debit cards are not convenient to use due to the following risks.

Fraud Protection

• Your debit card protection will not be substantial if your wallet falls into the wrong hands. When you use a credit card, your maximum liability for fraudulent charge are up to 50$, but with a debit card it is up to 500$, you didn’t make. Besides, the banks will hold 100% liable in case of pin-based transactions. 
• Moreover, if you lost your debit card, the skimmers can drain your bank account, and you won’t get the money back. So you have to keep your eyes on debit card transactions and report about the event if you lose it.
• If you lost your debit cards, you should the Bank of America as soon as possible to place a submission for a replacement card before your first payment? You will get the new card 7 to 10 business days from the date of request. Your bank will pit your card with a three-digit code on the back of your card to ensure that the card belongs to you. 

Building credit

When you want to improve your credit score, and if you don’t have enough funds in your account, the debit card will not help. Contrary to this, if you forgot to make credit card payments, the debit card would prevent further damage.

Fees:

• If you use a debit card for most purchases, you should keep on check your account balance. You have to pay an overcharge of few dollars, and you will protect yourself by declining your card. The bank authority will charge you an overdraft fee of up to 34$, and your charge will go through.
• In some cases, the merchants can protect you in events of fraud. For example, when you make a transaction at the gas stations, the gas pump will make two transactions. The first to get the bank’s approval for the approximate purchase amount supposes 50$ when you swipe your card in the gas station, and the second for the charges you completed.

Effects of Credit utilization if you don’t use your cards:

• Credit utilization is the amount of money in your saving account for a specific period. For instance, you have 10000$ in your deposit, and you have to spend 1000 $ out of this credit line.
• To find out the credit utilization, you will divide the paid amount on your card by your credit line’s total amount. Your credit utilization will be 10% in this case. On the other hand, if you have two cards having limits 5000$ in both. You paid 500$ on each card, so your credit utilization will be 10% by dividing 1000 to 10000$. And It will jump to 20% if one of them is closed. 
• Your credit utilization will be calculated with 5000$ on one card, instead of 10000$ available credit for two cards, leading to 20% utilization of your credit. Therefore, the financial experts suggest staying at or below 30%.
• You can also get overdraft protection with debit cards and ATM cards. With overdraft protection, the bank will allow debit and ATM card transactions to go through even if you don’t abstain from enough money in your credit account. 

Hidden Costs of Debit Cards

When you make purchases using a debit card, you will have to pay some charges that may be the hidden costs of debit cards that you may not know, like, 

• Card fraud.
• Protection against fraud.
• Data breaches.
• Regulatory compliance.
• Filed transactions.
• Outages and breakdown.

Credit Card vs. Debit Card

Learn the difference between credit card vs. debit card.

Credit Cards	Debit cards
You can borrow a fixed amount issued by the card issuer.	You can use your direct deposit from your account
The banks can charge interest fees if you carry a balance.	There are no interest fees on debit cards.
Credit cards do not need saving or checking accounts.	Debit cards need a saving account. EBT cards and prepaid cards.
It needs the signature of the customer to make purchases.	It does not need the signature of the customer to make purchases.
It offers more guarantees and tips.	Do not offer bonuses and guarantees.
A credit card is better for a disciplined spender who cannot spend out of their resources.	Make sure the less disciplined spenders can spend within their resources
There are different sorts of credit cards like; cashback cards, reward cards, and secured cards.	There are no different kinds of debit cards that usually depend on checking or saving accounts.

CDs vs. Instalment Saving Account

So to know which one is better, the certificate of deposit (CD), or the instalment saving account, you should learn about both one by one.

The certificate of deposit: If you want to invest your funds traditionally through your bank for a fixed period at a specific rate, you should opt for CDs. 

Installment Saving account

It is a saving account that allows the depositor to make his savings by creating fixed monthly deposits into your account instead of placing them in an initial one-time deposit.

Which is a better strategy, CDs or installment saving account?

The answer to this question relies on your needs and saving habits.

Therefore, saving your money in a CD account is more convenient because it needs a single visit to the branch, so Cd is the best option.

On the other hand, an instalment saving account is an excellent option for undisciplined savers to get the saving goals.

What Happens if I Don’t Use my Debit Card for a Long Time: FAQs?

Will my debit card be canceled if it’s not activated on time?

If you don’t activateyour debit card, you won’t be able to use it and cancelled. However, you will have to pay the associated fees and could be more likely to experience fraud.

Learn More: Why Should I Never Use a Debit Card

What happens if I have not used my debit card for an extended period?

If you have not used your debit card for an extended period, you have to pay the activity fee. However, if your provider charges a monthly payment, you will continue to be charged this fee, even if you aren’t using your card. 

What costs are associated with debit cards?

Some banks charge if you enter a PIN code to conduct a transaction instead of your signature name. Moreover, you may trigger a fee if you withdraw your account using your debit card, just like if you get a bounced check.

Some debit cards come with “rewards” or other incentives for using them. How can I know which one is a good deal?

The tips and incentives that debit cards offer are hard to find. The cards that offer rewards and incentives include ATM cards, digital debit cards, and EDD debit cards. The Venmo debit card reward program helps you to earn cashback on all of your eligible purchases. During each statement period, you can earn up to 3 % on your top spend category.

Therefore, the rewards linked to debit cards encourage people to use a specific bank and its services. So it would help if you read the disclosures that define the account terms and fees offered by a bank to understand rewards and costs.

Conclusion

We know that stop using debit cards is not for everyone, so if you teach yourself to use the credit card responsibly and make payments regularly, you will get more rewards and benefits than stick with a debit card. Maybe you thought it would be the next time to stop using debit cards and save yourself from fraud, but you should take this important step at least before doing it. Open a second account to your debit card with the new account.

Then deposit the money in this account that you want to use for debit card activity. In this way, your principal checking account will not be at risk even if your debit card will fall into the wrong hands. I think the information is given in the article, what happens if I don’t use my debit card for a long time, will be very informative and helpful to you.