You say this as sort of a throwaway comment, but this is actually a huge deal, and is why I only use my debit card for withdrawing cash at ATMs that I trust or at least pray aren't sketchy, and use credit cards or cash for everything else.

Having some arbitrary amount of money missing from my checking account for any amount of time (which can be several weeks if your bank is annoying) due to debit card fraud or even just an error during a legitimate charge is absolutely unacceptable to me.

Protections on your debit card are bank policy, protections on credit cards are federal law. So basically with a debit card your just hoping the bank is nice and will give your money back. With a credit card they have to give your money back.

> I went many years without a credit card out of moral principal but having to travel and rent cars finally made me break down and get one. It was so much less hassle to rent a car with one vs without one that I did it.

And what moral principle is that, that says credit cards are bad?

> I hate credit cards.

Good luck building credit without a credit card.

Debit card offers then started to offer protections, in order to compete with this.

If you like these features, remember: They are the result of law and regulation. They were not created by the "free market". Although the marketplace helped promulgate them, once they were in place on credit cards -- as a "minimum standard", as it were.

Debit cards don't have the backing of law so they are not as safe as credit cards. Doesn't matter what "protections" your debit card has they can be arbitrarily revoked by your bank.