Is there a difference? Last time I checked, my debit card offered the same protections my credits cards do.

The main difference is that if someone steals your debit card info and goes on a spending spree, that money is gone from your account until the fraud folks at your bank can deal with it.

This may result in overdrafts from other automatic payments or not being able to pay for things you need, until the money is restored to your account.

I used a debit card to pay for dinner. Merchant accidentally charged me 15 times. Noticed the next day - called bank. '7-10 business days to resolve', or I could go get the merchant to refund it (which I did immediately). That money came directly out of my checking account, and was 'gone', functionally until I got them to credit it back.

Same thing happens on my credit card: the credit card company floats the missing cash for at least 30 days, at no loss to me while it 'gets worked out'.

And that's with everybody (merchant, bank, etc.) agreeing it was an accident. If it was actually fraudulent, I dunno how long it'd take...

Similar experience here. Now I exclusively use credit cards for all purchases, my debit card is only for pulling cash out of a machine or sometimes grocery purchases where I am going to get cash back. Better to have the banks money on the line than mine.

In addition to what the other commenter said, I think in practice, doing a chargeback is a lot less painful than calling you your bank and asking for your money back. Of course definitely depends on bank and credit card issuer.

Amex does chargebacks in 2 clicks. WAY easier.