Are Consumers Starting to Dislike the Idea of Debit Cards?

I can remember when I was a college student in the early 90s. This was around the time that debit cards were first introduced. At first people were not so eager to switch from the ATM cards to debit cards. The banks started off with a soft launch of the debit cards but eventually the marketing campaign got stronger. One of the selling points of the debit cards was the fact that they would have the Visa logo enabling consumers to use their debit cards anywhere that accepted credit cards and they still would be able to use it at ATM machines. They also would help people manage their finances better because if they did not have the funds in their accounts they could not overspend. As banks became persistent in efforts to get consumers to transition to debit cards they were challenged by lots of negativity. Many businesses refused to take them saying that not only were they fake credit cards but they also were huge liabilities that were susceptible to fraudulent activity.

Eighteen years later ATM cards no longer exist. Debit cards are highly used because there is almost no place that they cannot be used. Now although the debit card has been successful over the years, yet there have been many issues with them. Companies are accepting debit cards but the terms in which they do are slightly ridiculous. For example, rental car companies in particular. If you use your debit card to rent a car some of them will authorize a hold sometimes as much as $400 on top of the price of the actual rental. When using debit cards to get gas for our cars an authorization as much as $100 may be placed on the account. This is done as a security measure because before security measure were put in place a person could have a zero balance in their bank account and still use their debit card. Now people are going back to that same mentality they had prior to the debit card transition. Banks have started to assess many fees that are associated specifically with debit cards. They charge minimum of $1 every time they are use at a point of sale. There are even some banks that charge people if they have limited use of their debit card. It is definitely a catch 22 situation for consumers. I can assure you that as a result of some bad experiences with debit cards the next innovative breakthrough in banking will not be quickly accepted by consumers.