Whats the difference between using a Visa check card as a credit card versus using it as a debit card?
I am fairly certain what Visa calls a Visa Check Card is what we used to call a deferred debit card in the biz. What is this? This is a “debit card” that rides on the credit card infrastructure. In past years, the major benefit of this card accrued to the card issuer. How? The card appears in virtually all respects as a credit card. As I said above, its transactions are carried by the credit card transaction systems. This means (or meant) that merchants paid credit card discounts on a debit card purchase. Merchants don’t benefit from this product. Banks benefit. Consumers used to get an extra day or two of float out of this. But, on the spending volume that the average consumer has, that float won’t make you rich. Since the credit card system doesn’t operate with PINs, they cannot offer you PIN security. So, they try to sell this to you as a convenience. The underlying product is a very old one. It has been around for decades. It never really took off. Many banks found it too confusing
