Is a EU VISA Debit card equivalent to a US VISA Credit card in practical aspects of tourism in the US?

Is a EU VISA Debit card equivalent to a US VISA Credit card in practical aspects of tourism in the US? - Natwest Atm Card

I will travel to the US and I have two choices for payment of usual touristic activities while there ("usual touristic activities" = renting a car (booking and payment), booking and paying for a hotel, shopping in a supermarket, restaurants, museums):

  • I can use my current VISA or Mastercard (debit card with deferred payment). It is linked to a French bank and the primary currency is EUR. Using it means going through conversion and whatnot charges.
  • I have the opportunity to get a "VISA Debit" card which is linked to an account in USD and directly draws money from that account (1 USD paid in the US = 1 USD drawn from the account. No charges whatsoever (except an initial fee to get the card))

enter image description here

The answer to another question (especially the bottom part) discusses in details the difference between "debit" and "credit" applied to US and EU cards. It does not state, though, if the "VISA debit deferred from EU" is accepted or not.

My question is about the practical (from experience) acceptance level for such cards. The areas of interest are the touristic one I mentioned above.

Are there known cases where the card has to be credit? (1)

(1) for instance in France there is the case of tolls, where a "debit card with immediate account checking" will be automatically rejected (this is mentioned in bod when getting the card). Same for most parking, and in general places which do not check your account, taking the risk of a faulty one

EDIT I posted an answer with the experience I had with that card (and accepted another one, thank you for the help to everyone)



Best Answer

This is a follow-up of my question, with some practical aspects back from my trip.

  • the debit VISA card was readily accepted by the cashiers in all the shops, hotels, museums, ...
  • it worked in most of them:
    • in some places I was asked to put the card in the reader, chip first - as I do at home. When doing this the payment was successful 100% of times.
    • in some places the magnetic strip was ran though the reader (by the cashier or by me when instructed to do so), this worked in almost all the cases:
      • usually the bank accepted and I was asked to sign
      • a few times, the reader asked for my PIN (and the cashier also asked for a signature, probably "just in case")
      • once the cashier kept retrying when they saw "type PIN" and I was getting frantic feedback from my bank on my watch that a transaction was aborted. This is how I learned that they were trying to go through with the payment with repeated magnetic strip slides, but did not understand what "type your PIN" means (I know that this was not malicious)

Car rental was not an issue.

The most complicated part was at the automatic (pump) payment in gas stations, especially some older ones and usually Chevron. That was when I was greeted with the question on the display "Is this card a DEBIT card?"

  • if I answered "yes" then the transaction was always aborted and I had to go to the cashier's desk
  • if I answered "no", most of the times the transaction went through. It however failed when I was sometimes asked for my ZIP code (I know this is an artisanal was of somehow checking whether the card is OK, by comparing what is typed to the ZIP of the city or bank of issuance (do not remember which one)). I tried 99999 and 00000 and both failed.

Finally - contactless payment always failed, both on the card and on my phone (which has the card configured in Samsung pay and Google Pay)




Pictures about "Is a EU VISA Debit card equivalent to a US VISA Credit card in practical aspects of tourism in the US?"

Is a EU VISA Debit card equivalent to a US VISA Credit card in practical aspects of tourism in the US? - Silver Iphone 6 Beside Red Visa Card
Is a EU VISA Debit card equivalent to a US VISA Credit card in practical aspects of tourism in the US? - Decorative cardboard illustration of person hand putting transparent dome on dollar banknotes and coins on blue background
Is a EU VISA Debit card equivalent to a US VISA Credit card in practical aspects of tourism in the US? - Black Payment Terminal



Is a Visa Debit the same as a Visa credit card?

Your Visa Debit card still works like a debit card, not a credit card. If you use your PIN for your Visa Debit card transactions without signing, you may not receive the same security protections for transactions not processed by Visa. You can get cash back when you use your Visa Debit card at many merchant locations.

Can Visa Debit card be used worldwide?

Yes. As long as your ATM or credit card has either a Visa or PLUS logo, you can withdraw cash at ATMs that are part of the Visa or PLUS network. How do I find an ATM in the country that I'm traveling to? Visa is accepted at over 200 countries and territories around the world.

Can I use Visa Debit card instead of credit card?

How Visa Debit Works in the US. In the U.S., Visa Debit allows customers to use the same card to make both their credit and debit purchases. The card can run on both networks whether the purchase is for debit or credit.

What is the difference between Visa Debit and US debit?

If you choose US Debit, you will enter your PIN and may be able to get cash back from the register. Choosing Visa Debit means you will not enter your PIN, however you may be required to sign if the purchase is above a certain amount (this amount may vary from merchant to merchant).



Is It Safe To Travel Abroad With Only A Debit Card?




More answers regarding is a EU VISA Debit card equivalent to a US VISA Credit card in practical aspects of tourism in the US?

Answer 2

One issue might be the amount of funds available. For a car rental, they may want to make a large reservation to cover the deposit and other potential extra charges. This might not be possible with a debit card. At the least, you may need a large balance for this reason and, even if you have that balance, it might not be possible or desirable for the rental company to reserve a large amount.

You could try offering to pay the expected charges on your debit card but use a credit card for the deposit. If nothing bad happens then there will be no charge on your credit card.

The last time that I rented a car in the US, the expected charges had been prepaid but I still needed to present a credit card for the deposit. Nothing bad happened so there was no charge on the card.

Answer 3

Visa, in the United States, used to have a requirement that merchants accepting either credit or debit must accept the other product. However, due to a 2003 antitrust lawsuit and settlement brought forth by retailers, this "honor all cards" policy was dropped.

While the vast majority of merchants will accept both, there is no requirement to do so. Due to lower rates, US merchants will usually try to settle debit cards through a PIN-based interbank network (STAR, Cirrus, Plus, etc) before Visa Debit.

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Dom J, Pixabay, Monstera, energepic.com