ABA Family Legal Guide

Computer Law

Online Purchases

What are debit card payments?

Some companies offering online payment use a debit card payment system, under which you authorize them to debit your account with them electronically after each transaction. Debit cards can also be cards branded with credit card association marks and processed using the credit card networks, or they might be cards from your bank processed through the ATM networks.

The federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) gives you many of the same protections for debit payments as you have for credit card payments. Within various time limits, you can point out mistakes on your statements, and the financial institution must investigate the mistakes, tell you the result of its investigation, and correct the problems after determining that errors have in fact occurred. Debit cards not issued by financial institutions may offer you fewer protections, though some, like Visa and MasterCard, protect you through their zero-liability policies.