[ale] OT: I AM paranoid!

[Jim Philips]

On Friday 10 October 2003 02:37 pm, Geoffrey wrote:
> I believe you are not correct.  When you use it as a Visa card, (no pin
> entry, usually), it goes through the Visa network.  When you use it as a
> debit card, it does not go through the Visa network, that's why debits
> show up faster on your statement.  Further, this is why Walmart and
> other companies want you to use it as a debit card, because when you use
> it as a Visa card, they have to pay the Visa charges associated with the
> transaction.
>
> I picked this up from Clark Howard a while back, so it's got to be true. ;)

That's correct. The transactions are handled over separate networks. Last 
night at the grocery store, they couldn't get a response from the host when I 
used my debit card with the PIN. I took the same card and pressed "credit 
card" on the terminal and was authorized right away. In fact, you would be 
surprised how often there is no route to the host when you are using ATM or 
debit cards. The network usually just shields you from that information.