Thus, laws are needed to increase the former and decrease the latter. Debit cards provide consumers with fast and easy access to their checking accounts when they make purchases. Also, in contrast to checks, debit cards are accepted across state lines, while checks sometimes are not. In addition, since these debit cards display a Visa or MasterCard symbol, merchants who accept Visa or MasterCard are required by both card systems to accept debit cards bearing the same symbol.
Debit cards are also popular with bank issuers and merchants.
Financial institutions realize significant cost savings over customers' use of more labor-intensive checks. What's interesting about recent legislative activity is that it came more than a month after both major card systems had announced their own voluntary programs to restrict consumer liability if a debit card is lost or stolen or used without the owner's authorization. Visa announced that it would go one step farther - that the consuemr will have zero liability if the cardholder notifies the bank within two days of learning that the debit card is lost or stolen. The fact that the two major card systems and their bank members are willing to assume liability for fraudulent use of debit cards suggests that debit card fraud isn't a big problem, contrary to the fears about security raised in Washington. It cites sophisticated systems that analyze debit-card use and flag unusual activity combined with consumer education programs about debit cards as the source of this low rate of fraud.