Discover Debit

Looking for a Credit Card for Christmas Shopping? Before you submit a credit card application, first review the main points which will help you choose the right credit card for your needs.

What Charges You'll Make - If you're going to use the credit card mainly for booking airline reservations and hotels, it might be best for you to get a travel credit card that offers sky miles and hotel points or cashback. If this will be an emergency credit card only, then your main concern may be for a low interest rate credit card with low fees.

When You'll Repay Charges - Will you pay off credit card charges in full every month, or will you carry a balance month to month? If you're going to carry a balance, you want the lowest possible interest rate as well as a low introductory rate. But if you'll payoff balances in full every month, then interest rate really doesn't matter so no annual fee and/or a long grace period would be a bigger concern. If you're going to carry a balance, be concerned about how the finance charge is calculated. The most common method is the Average Daily Balance, which means that the daily balances are added together and then divided by the number of days in the billing cycle. Stay away from credit cards that compute the balance using two billing cycles, as this method costs more money in financing fees.

What Amount You'll Charge - If you're going to use the credit card for all your monthly expenses, then you need a card that has a high credit limit and a high cashback percentage.

More info about Interest Rates, Credit Limits, Incentives, Fees and Penalties

Interest Rates - The interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate) APR can either be a fixed rate or a variable rate that is tied to another financial indicator, most commonly the prime rate. With a fixed rate credit card you know what the interest rate will be every month, whereas a card with a variable rate can fluctuate. Of course, even the interest of a fixed rate card can change based on certain events, such as paying your credit card bill late, exceeding your limit, or simply because the credit card issuer decides to change it after providing you ample advance notice.

Credit Limit - This is the amount of money the credit card company will let you charge to the card. This amount varies depending upon the card offer and your credit history. Be sure to get a credit card with an ample limit, because getting close to your max can hurt your credit score. Just remember that you don't have to max out your limit just because it's available.

Incentives - To compete for and to gain customers, many credit card companies offer rewards. Even if you normally use cash, why not use your credit card and then use the cash to make the payment during the grace period? You still won't pay interest and meanwhile you'll rack-up rewards. A credit card with 5% cashback will earn you $5 for every $100 charged. If your total bills come to $2,000 per month, you'll earn a free $100 every month. Look for a rewards program that you'll use and which offers flexibility, such as cashback or travel.

Fees and Penalties - Compare common charges such as late fees, overlimit fees, balance transfers, cash advances, and for making payments by telephone. Regarding balance transfers, look for credit card offers with no transaction fees and zero percent interest for at least 12 months.

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Discover Debit

By Credit Federal | Published 02/13/2006

Discover Financial Services Breaks into Signature Debit Market with Introduction of Discover Debit

Discover Financial Services LLC, a business unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), today becomes the first credit card services company to compete directly with Visa and MasterCard in the rapidly growing signature debit market. With the launch of Discover Debit, Discover Financial Services further positions itself for growth as it continues its expansion as a broad-based payments company offering a full range of products, including credit, PIN and signature debit, as well as stored value.

Discover Debit is the first new signature debit program to be offered to financial institutions since the ruling in the Department of Justice anti-trust case in October of 2004. This ruling enables financial institutions that already issue credit or debit cards from the bankcard associations to issue additional cards from other brands. The launch of Discover Debit also follows Discover Financial Services acquisition of the PULSE ATM/debit network in January 2005, its strategic alliance with China UnionPay and multiple agreements with third-party credit and stored value issuers announced in 2005.

"Discover Debit is the first new entrant into the signature debit market in more than 10 years," said David W. Nelms, chairman and chief executive officer of Discover Financial Services. "Discover's assets, experience and brand strength offer significant competitive advantages and a highly appealing alternative for financial institutions, merchants and consumers. The launch of Discover Debit builds on this with a new, uncomplicated approach to signature debit that provides convenience and broad acceptance to cardholders as well as security and competitive program features to financial institutions."

The Discover Network will support two forms of signature debit card programs: the Discover Debit Card for individuals and the Discover Debit Business Card.

Discover Debit breaks the traditional debit card mold by offering issuers:
- Increased profitability that results from lower network expenses.
Simplicity in the form of clear, fully disclosed pricing, less complicated billing and straight-forward operating regulations and dispute rules
- A 100 percent online transaction authorization standard (no "floor limits")

Discover Debit cards also will offer proactive fraud prevention tools and stringent network security features, as well as zero liability on Discover Debit Cards for individuals. They will be accepted at any of the more than 4 million merchant and cash access locations that accept Discover Network cards.

Discover Debit cards may support both signature-authorized and PIN-authorized transactions. Depending on the issuing institution's program choices, cardholders can use their Discover Debit cards to purchase goods and services either by signing a receipt or by entering their PIN at a point-of-sale terminal. Discover Debit also can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs across the U.S. Discover Debit issuers will have the option of participating in the Discover Financial Services-owned PULSE ATM/debit network for PIN debit services.

"Discover Debit capitalizes on the potential created by Discover Financial Services acquisition of PULSE, as well as on current growth trends for debit transaction volumes, which are expected to surpass credit transactions by the end of this year," said Stan Paur, PULSE president and chief executive officer. "The combination of PULSE's debit experience and Discover's signature capabilities has enabled us to create a compelling new choice for financial institutions, merchants and consumers in the important and rapidly growing debit market. We believe Discover Debit will be very appealing to many of the more than 4,100 financial institutions that currently participate in PULSE."

Several key payment processors have agreed to support Discover Debit, including NetSpend Corp., Elan Financial Services, Central National Bank & Trust Company of Enid (Oklahoma) & Jack Henry Associates.

Financial institutions may elect to offer Discover Debit in addition to one of the other two signature debit products currently available; participation does not require discontinuation of any existing relationship with other signature debit programs.

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Discover Debit - by <a href=http://creditfederal.com>CreditFederal.com</a> Discover Financial Services Breaks into Signature Debit Market with Introduction of Discover<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> Debit <a href="http://creditfederal.com/discover-card.html">Discover</a> Financial Services LLC, a business unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), today becomes the first credit card services company to compete directly with Visa<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> and MasterCard<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> in the rapidly growing signature debit market. With the launch of Discover<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> Debit, Discover Financial Services further positions itself for growth as it continues its expansion as a broad-based payments company offering a full range of products, including credit, PIN and signature debit, as well as stored value. Discover Debit is the first new signature debit program to be offered to financial institutions since the ruling in the Department of Justice anti-trust case in October of 2004. This ruling enables financial institutions that already issue credit or debit cards from the bankcard associations to issue additional cards from other brands. The launch of Discover Debit also follows Discover Financial Services<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> acquisition of the PULSE ATM/debit network in January 2005, its strategic alliance with China UnionPay and multiple agreements with third-party credit and stored value issuers announced in 2005. "Discover Debit is the first new entrant into the signature debit market in more than 10 years," said David W. Nelms, chairman and chief executive officer of Discover Financial Services. "Discover's assets, experience and brand strength offer significant competitive advantages and a highly appealing alternative for financial institutions, merchants and consumers. The launch of Discover Debit builds on this with a new, uncomplicated approach to signature debit that provides convenience and broad acceptance to cardholders as well as security and competitive program features to financial institutions." The Discover<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> Network will support two forms of signature debit card programs: the Discover Debit Card for individuals and the Discover Debit Business Card. Discover Debit breaks the traditional debit card mold by offering issuers: - Increased profitability that results from lower network expenses. Simplicity in the form of clear, fully disclosed pricing, less complicated billing and straight-forward operating regulations and dispute rules - A 100 percent online transaction authorization standard (no "floor limits") Discover Debit cards also will offer proactive fraud prevention tools and stringent network security features, as well as zero liability on Discover Debit Cards for individuals. They will be accepted at any of the more than 4 million merchant and cash access locations that accept Discover Network cards. Discover Debit cards may support both signature-authorized and PIN-authorized transactions. Depending on the issuing institution's program choices, cardholders can use their Discover Debit cards to purchase goods and services either by signing a receipt or by entering their PIN at a point-of-sale terminal. Discover Debit also can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs across the U.S. Discover Debit issuers will have the option of participating in the Discover Financial Services-owned PULSE ATM/debit network for PIN debit services. "Discover Debit capitalizes on the potential created by Discover Financial Services<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> acquisition of PULSE, as well as on current growth trends for debit transaction volumes, which are expected to surpass credit transactions by the end of this year," said Stan Paur, PULSE president and chief executive officer. "The combination of PULSE's debit experience and Discover's signature capabilities has enabled us to create a compelling new choice for financial institutions, merchants and consumers in the important and rapidly growing debit market. We believe Discover Debit will be very appealing to many of the more than 4,100 financial institutions that currently participate in PULSE." Several key payment processors have agreed to support Discover Debit, including NetSpend Corp., Elan Financial Services, Central National Bank & Trust Company of Enid (Oklahoma) & Jack Henry Associates. Financial institutions may elect to offer Discover Debit in addition to one of the other two signature debit products currently available; participation does not require discontinuation of any existing relationship with other signature debit programs. This article provided courtesy of <a href=http://creditfederal.com target=_new>www.CreditFederal.com</a>, a personal credit resource of good or bad credit credit cards and loans.

Credit Tip: Need a high limit for Christmas credit card charges? If you have bad credit, consider a personal loan by refinancing your mortgage. Even if you have cash to buy Christmas presents, we recommend using a prepaid card to make purchases because it's safer than carrying cash.