Go Cashless with Debit Cards

Debit cards make daily money management easy and fuss-free, and they also offer many benefits that save your money. 

The country took to the Digital India initiative in a big way when de-demonetization was announced in November 2016, bringing the nation to a standstill. With ready cash not available, people were forced to transact using their debit and credit cards for all their needs. However, this was a positive development as far as spending electronically goes – debit cards offer tremendous mobility to all users since you don’t need to dispense with cash at all. Whether swiping the card at a payment terminal, or withdrawing money using the ATM card, or using the card number while completing an online purchase, a debit card makes money management really simple.

Leading banks in India offer customers debit cards online, with frequent cashback offers and discounts on using the card. Apart from the convenience of using the card, the debit card offers result in good savings and unique experiences for the card holder.

The argument for using debit cards…

Earlier, most people preferred using credit cards instead of debit cards, because the former added a lot of reward points on most purchases. However, banks have excellent debit card offers that offer customers a range of experiences, discounts and cashback on using the card at select merchants. These days, airlines, five-star hotels and high end retailers also accept payment using debit cards, while some e-commerce giants offer EMI schemes against debit cards as well. Moreover, debit cards are always a better option than credit cards, for the following reasons: 

* They curb your spending. Debit cards are linked to your savings or current bank account, and they are configured to transact only as much money as there exists in the account at that time. There is no speculative spending as happens with a credit card. If there is insufficient balance in the account and you swipe the card for a higher amount, then the transaction is declined. This curbs your spending.

* No need to use cash or even carry your card.The bank sends an SMS alert the moment there is any activity from your account. You will receive the alert whenever you swipe the card, or when you withdraw money at the ATM. You don’t need to even carry your wallet when you step out, especially if you know the card number. Plus, you can get reward points every time you use the debit card at select merchants.

* Debit card cash withdrawals are free.Leading banks in India offer free ATM withdrawals not just from their own ATMs, but from other banks’ ATMs as well. This is in contrast to withdrawing money using your credit card, which always attracts a transaction charge from the bank.