Jessica Gibson is a content update editor and writer for Investopedia. She has over 10 years of experience in digital publishing and three years of experience covering financial topics like insurance, ...

Sophie Venz is a former Deputy Editor at Forbes Advisor. She is an experienced editor and features reporter, and has previously worked in the small business and start-up reporting space. Previously ...

E. Napoletano is a former registered financial advisor and award-winning author and journalist. Managing Editor, Global Data and Automation for Forbes Advisor. Mitch has more than a decade of ...

Eric Bank is an M.B.A. who has covered financial and business topics since 1985, appearing regularly on Credible, eHow, WiseBread, The Nest, Zacks, Chron, BadCredit.org and dozens of other outlets.

A debit card is a card connected to your checking account, using the funds you have to make purchases. A credit card is connected to a line of credit, carrying a balance each month based on the ...

Credit cards and debit cards may seem like the same thing — after all they're both rectangular pieces of plastic — but they act quite differently. One card provides you with a revolving loan, while ...

Prepaid cards and debit cards are both widely accepted at merchants worldwide, but one is preloaded and the other is not. Debit cards are linked to a checking account, while prepaid cards aren’t and ...

How do prepaid debit cards work? Investopedia contributors come from a range of backgrounds, and over 25 years there have been thousands of expert writers and editors who have contributed. Khadija ...

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Debit cards pull funds directly from your bank account when making purchases or withdrawing cash. Setting up a PIN and monitoring account balances via mobile apps helps avoid overspending and fees.