Whats the difference between credit and debit?

Question

ok im 15 years old and just got my first credit/ debit card from bank of america everytime i buy something they ask me if i want to do credit of debit wats the difference?

Answer 1

The person who says that is probably misspeaking. They are both debit transactions, not credit transactions. They both debit funds immediately from your bank account. What they are asking is whether you want to handle the transaction as a PIN based transaction through the banking system or as a cleared transaction through VISA or MASTERCARD. The merchant fees are different for those kinds of accounts.

Or they could be merely asking whether the card is a debit card or a credit card (which they could tell if they looked at it closely).

Answer 2

Technically in your case there is no significant difference, it is just how the transaction is processed...if you select debit, then you have to type in you PIN, if you select Credit, then you just sign the slip (if over 25.00 most places)  Either way the money comes out of your checking account...