SE doesn't want my money

[Wildsprite]

Basically every bank in the US gives out a debit/credit card with your checking account free of charge.

hold it right there, not every bank in the US does this. most do but some still don't. and quite a few of them do charge you to use that card even as debit

[Violyre]

err... sweetie, every service you use will require a fee. Even your ATM card also has monthly fee. You should know that if you periodically check your bank statements., or at least ask their customer service.

The only charges I ever see happen on my debit card for using it is if I overdraw(don't do that), if I buy from a business outside of my country, and if I go to an ATM that isn't owned by the bank. I've never had a debit card with a monthly fee. And yes, I do check my account almost daily to see if something silly happened (once had my debit card skimmed, so maybe a bit paranoid.)

[Kaeda_Valentyne]

hold it right there, not every bank in the US does this. most do but some still don't. and quite a few of them do charge you to use that card even as debit

I would advise that if your bank does this to you, you should look into a credit union. Mine gives out master card debit cards and I have no fee to use this as debit ever. The only fees I have are using other banks ATMs, over drafting "which you can turn off" or I get charged a 1.00 for international charges. The credit union I use is quite small by comparison to other banks.

Credit unions can protect your account just like the bigger banks can. My husbands card number was stolen once "someone tried to use it on the other side of the country" and the credit union caught it and didn't let the purchase go through. Mine was stolen once and it was used in the same state so they didn't catch it at first. The person bought about 200 worth of stuff in 5 transactions only an hour away from my house. Again they caught it and couldn't get a hold of me so they turned my card off "that's how I found out it was stolen". I didn't even have to argue with them about if it was me or not and I got my money back within the week.

[Kaeda_Valentyne]

I think they should at least allow direct payment from your bank account. I currently pay most of my bills this way, auto pay is just more convenient.

It also helps if you have to change your card number for whatever reason it doesn't effect paying these things. My sub for this was the only thing I had to remember to update when I got a new card number recently.