Excerpt from USA Today: As more consumers whip out debit cards, issuers are rolling out new rewards programs and enhancing old ones in hopes of boosting card spending. (Editor's Note: Of course the banks are going to roll out rewards programs for signature debit. These banks earn tons of cash ($38 Billion last year alone) on signature debit overdraft charges as well as significantly more on signature debit's Interchange Fee which is much higher than PIN Debit because it's up to 15 times more insecure. Next time you hear someone say there needs to be a balance between convenience and security, tell them they're nuts...or at least ask them "why do you keep saying that?" Where's the balance between security and convenience at airport security? Do we mind? No. Why? Because it keeps us safe. There's numbers in safety...
Debit card transactions have grown rapidly in recent years, but the recession has accelerated the trend. In the fourth quarter of 2008, U.S. debit spending exceeded credit card spending for the first time, says Visa. That continued in the first quarter of 2009 with $202 billion in debit card purchases and $176 billion on credit cards.
Brian Riley, a research director at TowerGroup, a research firm, believes that debit card use will continue to grow as the economy recovers. Debit cards provide a convenient way for consumers to pay for their purchases, he says. Banks are also making it more rewarding for consumers to use their (signature) debit cards in hopes of boosting profits. When consumers use (signature) debit cards, merchants have to pay banks up to 2.1% to process the transaction, says The Nilson Report.
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