Purchasing Alcohol with debit card

Question

I am 21 years old and didn't have enough money to purchase alcohol for a big party I was throwing, so my friend who is 20, let me use his debit card; and I was going to pay him back when I get the money. I was carded and I paid with HIS card and they let me walk out with the alcohol.

And later I got to thinking; is that legal?

Answer 1

well its not illegal. Its ok to do, wen i was 19  and my mom used mine to buy a bottle of wine when she had no cash...i own a bar too so its not ethical nor illegal

Answer 2

of course it.

he gave you card.

Answer 3

yea its legal as long as he did not report it stolen

Answer 4

No, not legal. You can't use someone elses card. Obviously the clerk wasn't paying attention.

Answer 5

Yes, perfectly legal.  It is just a form of payment.  If he had loaned you cash, it would have been exactly the same.

Answer 6

I wouldn't stress over it, but you have a valid question. It is illeagal for anyone for any reason to purchase alcoholic beverages. But in this case since you should be okay.

Answer 7

In the UK if you do 'chip and pin' it's not illegal, as you are not pretending to be someone else. it's only fraud if you're pretending to be that person - eg signing their name.

i guess you're in USA as you're mentioning being 21 (it's 18 to buy alcohol in UK). so USA law might be different.

Answer 8

No it isn't illegal to use your friends card if he gave you the ok. But it is illegal to buy alcohol with it when he is under age. It is his money and he is under age so is was not legal for them to sell you the alcohol.

Answer 9

Technically...No.  It is not legal.  Let's say, for the sake of argument, your friend dropped you off and went on his way.  Let's suppose, he went out with another friend, drank, and got into a car accident.  An investigation would show his account had a debt payable to the liquor store and that would be researched.

It could turn out fine in the end, but this is not something you would want to be caught up in.

I wouldn't do it again.

Take care.

.

Answer 10

nope, if a minor hands you means of payment (cash or card)

it is considered that it is being bought or paid for by them.

however you done nothing wrong but the person serving you did.

Answer 11

No, it's not legal.  The bank would take issue with your friend allowing someone not on his account to use his debit card.

The liquor store did nothing wrong; with a debit card, assuming it was run as debit (you enter the PIN number), they have no real way of knowing whose name is on the bank account.

Answer 12

I think if you didnt forge anything, its legal.

Answer 13

starman brings up a good point here.

I have to agree with him to a certain degree.

The correct way would have been to go to an atm

and withdraw cash and pay cash.

Still it's done and even if you were caught, you wouldn't have gotten into any trouble.

It's just not serious enough.

Technically I don't see any judge in any court NOT seeing it as borrowed money because that's really what it was.

So although the card was in a minor's name, the purchase was made legally with borrowed money by an adult.

You were 21 but using borrowed money from a 20 year old?

Not serious enough to convince anyone in the business of a major infraction of the law.

Answer 14

As long as your friend is ok with using his card it should be legal.

Answer 15

I use my boyfriend card all the time and no one ever ask any questions. In some places if i try to use it as a credit card then i can't use it. If i use it as debit obviously i know the pin so they don't ask questions.

Answer 16

no. Technically he purchased the alcohol and he is underage in my state.  Whom ever sold the liquor could be charged with selling to a minor.

Answer 17

No It is illegal.

To use someone else's card, is fraud.  

Answer 18

its fine as long as u have permission from the card owner and didnt force there name down after making the purchase

Answer 19

When paying by debit, you enter a pin number. If your friend said "Here's my card, my pin number is 1234" no one can really do anything about it. As far as the clerk knows, you're the one who paid for it.

Had you paid by credit (some debit cards will work as a credit card), you would have had to forge his name. When paying by credit, all store clerks SHOULD ask for identification. Very few ask for it, but they really SHOULD.

When I do pay by credit, I insist they take my identification. They won't know, other wise, that it really is me purchasing the alcohol or whatever else I'm buying.