Warith Niallah gave insight on debit and credit spending. The session which lasted just over an hour was designed to give insight on business development. Warith said, “too often small businesses rely too much on their debit cards, when using credit cards is much safer”. Warith told new business owners to use their credit cards and pay them in full.
Key Differences in Business Spending
Warith stated key differences in credit and debit card spending. Credit card spending gives the buyer more overall purchasing power. Credit users keep a higher cash account balance longer. Debit spending lowers the amount of available cash to the business. Debit cards offer either no or very limited purchase protection at the banks’ discretion. Credit cards offer consistent purchase protection because of Federal regulations.
Inconvenience and Risk
Debit cards can be inconvenient if there are duplicate charges or fraud. The business’ available cash is impacted by fraud or duplicate charges. Even if the bank agrees to restore the balance, the account still could be overdrawn or frozen for a day or more. Credit cards will not impact the cash account balance, but a credit line instead. This allows time and keeps the business functional in the event of fraud or incorrect charges.
Travel
Debit cards authorizations can affect a cash account balance. Hotel and car rental companies can place authorizations on debit cards at check-in or rental. This impacts the cash account balance until the funds are released. That’s assuming the hotel or car rental company will accept the debit card in the first place. Some car rental companies will run a credit check at the rental counter before renting a car. After hotel checkout or car rental return, there could be other incidental fees that have a direct impact on the cash balance.
Conclusion
Attendees asked questions as the session ended. The overall message is that using credit cards is a better option than debit for various reasons.
