I just read a thread where the comments heavily suggested OP use a credit card when they travel again so that it would be easier to dispute a fraudulent charge. What makes a dispute through your bank less successful?
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The credit card company is the party who pays the bill in the first place. Then the credit card company asks you to pay them, and you’re paying the tab they are keeping for you, with interest and per-purchase surcharges.
You actually have no standing for a credit card fraudulent charge — only the credit card company has standing to pursue an action, because they have paid, not you.
Your credit card sometimes texts or calls you with “security questions” — did you really make this purchase? And if you report a fraudulent charge, or they can’t get hold of you, or there is some confusion, they want to put a security hold on your card, or to cancel your card and re-issue a new one. At that point, they’ll make you verify your charges, and accept the hold or cancellation/re-issue, or you are liable for any further charges. Because they are fronting the payment, and if you are being responsible, it’s up to them to track down theft, not you.
A debit card is essentially a version of bank check processed using the same technology as credit cards. So you are paying the bill by drawing directly on funds in your account. You can also get a pre-loaded debit card, not attached to a bank account. Using a debit card is just like writing a check: you might have overdraft protection, but you don’t have credit or a credit limit. It’s also only linked to one account.
(There also used to be something called a “charge card,” from American Express, that you had to pay off each month — it wasn’t credit, and it didn’t draw on your existing funds in a bank account, it was based on the old practice of using “traveler’s checks.” They guaranteed you could pay if you did not have local currency or could not write a personal check from your bank account when you were traveling in a foreign country.)
Now, with card technology (rfid chips), you can basically write a personal check, or draw on your bank account directly while traveling by using a debit card.
But once you have drawn funds using a debit card, the money is gone. It is like cash.
So you should only use the debit card to draw physical cash from a trusted ATM when traveling. You should not give a debit card to a vendor — that is just like handing the vendor cash, except that you are also potentially giving them access to all the cash in that account or pre-loaded on that card!
You should give a credit card to a vendor.
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