Credit vs. Debit Cards: Weighing the Options

If you're debating whether debit cards or credit cards are best for you, this article can help you decide.

Debit cards have changed in the last few years, and some of the changes -- such as overdraft protection and usage fees -- are making them a bad option for consumers. But that doesn't mean credit cards are necessarily better: Americans are currently accumulating crippling amounts of credit card debt.

To complicate things even further, credit and debit cards are increasingly difficult to tell apart. Some debit cards -- known as "check cards" -- don't even require a PIN (personal identification number) at the time of purchase; you can simply sign for your purchase as you would with a credit card. (Check cards, many of which are emblazoned with that name, usually carry a Visa(V Quote) or MasterCard(MA Quote) logo.)

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