Can one incur an overdraft using a debit card?
Hi Henry! Theoretically you shouldn’t be able to overdraw using your debit card, though after working in a bank for twelve years, I can confirm that it is possible. When you use your debit card to pay for something, whether it be on the internet or in a shop, a request is sent through to your bank to ask for authorisation. Certain factors are taken into account when the decision is made, such as whether you have regular credits paid in (wages, benefits, etc.,) and whether you manage to usually keep your account in credit, and based on this information, the bank can authorise the transaction even if you don’t have the funds available. In a way they are doing you a favour as they are agreeing to your request for the transaction to be accepted yet, it is a bummer when you end up getting charged for going overdrawn. My advice would be to speak to your bank, especially if you do not usually overdraw your account. Tell them that this has been a mistake on your part but that you were under th
Yes using a debit card/credit card banks will let you overdraw, so they can collect more money from you, some banks have a strick policy usually credit unions, other banks have a set limit on what they allow to be overdrawn. My bank will let me overdraw $600, and they will give me 24 hours to pay it back, or they will charge me $35 dollars. I used to have Chase bank they could let me over draw $150 and they would automatically charge me the $30 or $35 I don’t remember plus $5 a day. Many banks have the overdraft protection, it’s basically a savings account attached to your checking and if you have no money in the savings then that doesn’t help you much, they will charge whatever you withdrew plus the overdraft fee, plus the $7 fee because you didn’t have money in your savings account (hince why I left them) They were charging fees upon fees upon fees, they didn’t care if you overdrew 2 cents. But all banks are different in some way.
