There are prepaid options as well, and you can become an additional cardholder on an over 18's account last I checked.
If you must have one, have it on a second transaction account that you keep a zero balance in and make sure the bank doesn't do crap like letting that go into OD because you have a few 1000 in another account (thats you asb!!)
richms: Now go get a _credit_ card so that your money is not at risk to the antiquated visa processing system that just needs 16 digits, 3 digits and a date to charge you whatever they want.
debit cards are _BAD_ until they get their security sorted out...
It's not so much that debit cards are bad, it's just that many people have the card across the account where their income comes into, simply for convenience sake. That means that anyone that can find the debit plus card number attached to your account can swipe all your funds.
There are at least two ways around it - the first being a credit card, and the second being a prepaid debit card. Westpac offer both, but it depends on what situation you are in as to what will suit you best. Both use the same idea of using an account that isn't actually your main transactional or savings account.
The Prepaid debit card is a good option in many cases. Essentially it works the same as a debit card, but it sits across a seperate account. So if you want to pay for something online, and you don't 100% trust the merchant, then just top up the prepaid debit card account to the amount you want to pay, and that will be all the merchant has access to.
Card transactions in general are susceptible to fraud, and all banks spend a considerable amount of resource and money trying to protect themselves and customers so they can offer products that are convenient for customers to use. Imagine what life would be like if we didn't have credit / debit cards (I'd probably be richer for one!)
richms: Now go get a _credit_ card so that your money is not at risk to the antiquated visa processing system that just needs 16 digits, 3 digits and a date to charge you whatever they want.
debit cards are _BAD_ until they get their security sorted out...
They have got the security sorted. The problem is lazy banks not signing up to Verified By Visa and MasterCard SecureCode.
So long as people can charge the card with just information obtained visually from the card, then it is not sorted.
Verified by visa is there to protect the merchants, not the user of the card. It is pointless since any site can pop up the dialog and ask for the details and people will give it, you then have their password to use on other sites if needed.
I seriously dont know what problem they thought they were solving when they invented it because it is nothing but a hindrance to buying online.
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