This post came about because I’ve been seeing questions online about debit cards versus ATM cards. When my parents moved about 7 years ago, and changed banks, they got their first debit cards - and their first ATM cards - in one fell swoop. Just as it could have anyone else, it confused them.

ATM Cards

These are cards that do not have a VISA or MASTERCARD logo. They can usually only be used at the ATM or other direct transaction places like gas pumps. They are rare today because of their limited uses. The only reason you might ever need yours is if you go overseas. It’s good to have an ATM card separate from all your other payment methods just in case your items are lost/stolen.

Debit Cards

These are the credit card looking things with a VISA or MASTERCARD logo at the bottom right of the card. Debit cards are the most popular form of payment recently because it combines two ways to pay, by pin number or by signature.

Here’s the catcher: they both take from your CHECKING account. No matter how you use it, the funds still come straight from your checking account.

Signing for it (using it like a credit card) takes a few days to process, but it does not get “paid off” like a credit card, and you can’t hold a balance. You have what money is in your account.

Using your pin number is like a cash withdrawal and goes through just as fast. You are using your pin number as your identifier. The bonus with this is that some stores will allow you to get cash at the same time as the transaction with no ATM fee.

But debit cards are the most dangerous because they are directly tied to your checking account. If it’s stolen, you have to wait a while to get the money back depending on your bank.

So what should you use? We’ll cover that in the next blog post, so stay tuned!!

We all we them from time to time, and hopefully we don’t see them much anymore. But it does amaze me when a phishing email makes it through spam filters to my inbox. My absolute favorites are the ones from banks I have never even heard of telling me to update my account information. The classic was when the eBay scams were the biggest and everyone in my company (at the time) told me I needed to update our company information on eBay (at least they didn’t do it themselves).

So what is phishing? And how can you spot those emails? According to Wikipedia, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Want the English? Bad people posing as financial institutions you might belong to in attempts to get private information from you. They would then be able to use that to steal your identity and your money.

How do you spot a phishing scam?

First thing is that your bank, financial institution, etc. will never ask you to update your information via email. They know by now that asking for anything like that via email is suspicious. If you get an email from your bank, don’t click any links. Either go to their site naturally or by search. Or call your bank and ask about the email, if they need something from you, you can do it over the phone or in person just as easily.

Most of the links in the email won’t go to your bank’s domain. If you are with Bank Two, and the url you use for them is www.banktwo.com, the email might have www.bank2.com or banktwo.jibberish.com. Never click on links in emails you didn’t ask for, ever!

The logos will also be a little off, these are small details, but like forfeit money, you can see the changes if you know your bank logo well.

Protect yourself, never click links in emails, and if all else fails, call.

Please note that everything said within this blog is opinion and not to be taken as professional financial advice.

You hear it on the radio, TV, and the internet; promises to wipe your debt clean in a year AND for only a “few” dollars a month. Doesn’t add up does it? Well for the most part, we have seen that most credit counseling programs are just that, too good to be true.

The best way to get rid of your debt is the traditional way, by budgeting and paying everything off. It is like dieting, the fad diets don’t work. They make you lose water weight, but in the end, you just gain it back. It’s the same with debt consolidation, the healthiest and longest lasting solution is buckling down.

Here are some tips to help you manage the debt you have now, and keep you out of debt in the future.

1. Rank your debts in order of interest rate. Pay off the highest one first. Keep them all up to date though. Defaulting is one of the worst things you can do.
2. Keep a rainy day fund. You maybe tempted to empty your savings account, but keep a savings account with three months of living expenses if you can. With such a volatile market, you don’t want to put your livelihood at risk.
3. Sell what you don’t need. Get on eBay, use craigslist, or just have an old fashioned garage sale. We all have things we don’t need, and my guess is that maybe some of the reason you are in debt. Figure out what you NEED and sell the rest.
4. Budget, Budget, Budget. After getting your rainy day fund set up, use all extra money outside of your needed expenses (and no, a Coach purse is not a necessity!) to pay down your debts in order.

There are many more, but this will get you started for now. What are your specific questions? What are you most worried about right now? Ask away and we will answer!

We have started this blog to hopefully answer some of your toughest questions about finances. We know that the world is in a tough spot right now, and all we want to do is our part to help. At FinanceGenius, we have years of collective experience in all areas of finance including insurance, lending, automotive, budgeting and so much more.

Please feel free to ask any and all questions you have in the comments and we will do our best to answer them in future posts. We are a resource for you, please ask anything. There are no stupid questions when it comes to you and your family’s well being.