Debit cards offer a convenient way to pay for things in almost any situation but minimum purchase amounts can quickly turn an easy swipe into a big expense or inconvenience.
Minimum purchase amounts are used by some stores as a way of balancing out the processing fees charged every time a credit or debit card is used.
While cardholders do not directly pay for these fees, the costs can be passed on in the form of surcharges or a minimum purchase requirement.
As more people choose to swipe their debit cards instead of paying with cash, it hardly seems fair to pay a fee for the service.
The widespread presence of ATMs around the country make it easy for people to access their money with a debit card in hand, but costs are not as evenly distributed.
Some of the fees are not necessarily original to debit card accounts, having cropped up previously as debit accounts have evolved.
Debit cards are a particularly good facility to have when a person is going abroad, for a number of reasons, but it can be quite tempting to use a debit card in an ATM, abroad, which, by and large, should be avoided.