Why do you need to choose (or tell the worker) “credit” or “debit” when paying for something by card? Are the two cards built differently?

Question

Why do you need to choose (or tell the worker) “credit” or “debit” when paying for something by card? Are the two cards built differently?

In: Other

Answer 1

You can only run a credit card as a credit card using the dedicated network for that.

You can sometimes choose whether to run a debit card on the clearing network for that (enter your PIN and make a direct cash withdrawal from your account, like at an ATM – hence the option for “extra cash withdrawal”) OR run it as if it is a credit card on that separate clearing network (without a PIN, but sometimes you do need to enter your ZIP code).