Is it safer to use a credit card or debit card for online purchases?

A credit card is safer because protections are significantly stronger than debit cards. Your liability for unauthorized credit card charges is capped at $50 (or often $0 with many issuers), and the charge sits on a bill rather than pulling money directly from your bank account. With a debit card, the money leaves your checking account immediately and you have to wait for the bank to return it.

What happens if someone steals your debit card number?

The money can come straight out of your bank account, and how much you are liable for depends on how fast you report it. You owe up to $50 if you report within two business days and up to $500 up until 60 days. Wait any longer than that, and you could be on the hook for the entire amount lost.

Does using a debit card affect your credit score?

No. Debit card activity is not reported to credit bureaus because you are spending your own money, not borrowing. That also means a debit card does nothing to build your credit history, which is one more reason responsible credit card use can pay off over time.

5 Places You Should Never Use a Debit Card

Last summer, I signed my son up for a kids' camp and put the $1,300 deposit on my credit card. Somehow the rec center messed up, because a few days later I noticed they'd charged me twice! That's the moment I was so glad I'd used my credit card vs. debit card. I just opened my card app, tapped "dispute," and the extra $1,300 transaction just went away.

Here's the thing, though. If I'd used my debit card, that second $1,300 would've been deducted straight out of my checking account -- the one I use to pay rent and all my bills. I'd have been chasing down my own grocery money instead of flagging a charge on a bill I hadn't even paid yet.

Credit cards vs. debit cards

At the checkout these two pieces of plastic feel identical, but the safety net behind them is not even close.

With credit cards, federal law caps your liability for unauthorized credit card charges at $50, and many issuers waive even that. Debit cards play by different rules. If you report a stolen card more than two days after it was stolen, your liability jumps to $500, or your entire balance after 60 days.

A credit card can also pay you rewards. Americans earned $47.5 billion in credit card rewards in 2024, nearly double what they earned in 2020. That's about $228 per cardholder -- enough for a month of groceries or a nice date night. Debit cards earn you nothing.

With that stronger fraud protection and real rewards, here are five places I always use a credit card instead of a debit card.

1. Gas stations and convenience stores

Gas pumps are prime hunting grounds for card skimmers. These are tiny hidden devices that grab your card info the moment you swipe.

The FBI estimates that skimming costs consumers and financial institutions more than $1 billion a year. With a credit card, fraud is a temporary headache on a statement. With debit, a thief can drain your checking account before you even notice, and it can take weeks to get it back.

When you're filling up your tank or popping into a convenience store for a road snack, use a credit card with gas rewards. You can earn 3% to 5% back, plus keep any fraud risk off your checking account.

2. When booking travel

I never use a debit card for flights, hotels, or rental cars. Credit cards simply do too much for travelers to pass up. Here's why they're a no-brainer for booking travel:

Built-in protections: Travel cards often include trip insurance, rental car coverage, and reimbursement for lost baggage.
Bigger rewards: Many travel cards pay 5X or more points when you book through their portal, which can shave money off a trip.
Extra perks: Some cards go even further with hotel upgrades, airport lounge access, or credits toward TSA PreCheck®.

Another small inconvenience with debit cards: Hotels and rental agencies usually place holds on your card, and those holds can sit for several days even after checkout. On a debit card, that locks up your own money. On credit, it's just a temporary hold on the issuer's dime.

Even one trip a year booked with the right travel card can be worth a few hundred dollars in value. Last year, a $1,000 flight booking earned me 5,000 points, worth about $75 toward future travel.

3. Shopping online

Sketchy websites are everywhere. But even legitimate sites get hacked, so it's always a bigger risk inputting your debit card number.

A buddy of mine bought sneakers from a random site because he found a deal that was "too good to be true." Well, it turned out it was! Soon after paying online, someone used his debit card info to load up on electronics. His bank eventually refunded the money, but his account was frozen for days during the investigation.

The data points the same way. Among 2025 fraud reports where people paid by debit card, nearly half involved online shopping -- the single biggest category. With debit cards, your real money disappears until the bank sorts out any fraud disputes. Credit cards give you a much better buffer, plus many issuers offer virtual card numbers for safer checkout.

4. Buying big-ticket items

I've had things break in month 13 -- basically the day after my 12-month warranty expired. Part of me wonders if the manufacturers plan it that way.

That's exactly why I put big purchases on a credit card. Many cards extend the manufacturer's warranty by an extra year, so a defect that shows up late isn't automatically on you.

Then there's theft and damage protection. A lot of credit cards add purchase protection that can reimburse you if something gets stolen or broken soon after you buy it. Debit cards carry none of that -- no purchase protection and no extended warranty coverage at all.

5. Bars and restaurants

Let's say you're out at a trendy new taco joint for happy hour. You hand over your debit card, the server walks off for five minutes, and your card is out of sight the whole time. In a busy restaurant, that's all it takes for someone to skim or clone it.

It doesn't happen every day, but when it does, debit cards make the fallout worse -- the money comes straight out of your checking account. I never stress about handing over a credit card though, because I can freeze it from my phone the second something looks off. And plenty of dining rewards cards pay 3% to 4% back at restaurants, so the safer choice tends to pay me back too.

The bottom line

That $1,300 double-charge for my kids' camp was a super easy fix -- because I paid with a credit card. On a debit card, it would have been my grocery money locked up for who knows how long.

Debit cards have their place, and I still carry mine everywhere. It mostly comes out at the ATM for cash, or to dodge a surcharge on a secure payment site.

But almost everywhere else, a credit card is the smarter tool these days. It carries less risk and more rewards on just about everything I buy.

FAQs

A credit card is safer because protections are significantly stronger than debit cards. Your liability for unauthorized credit card charges is capped at $50 (or often $0 with many issuers), and the charge sits on a bill rather than pulling money directly from your bank account. With a debit card, the money leaves your checking account immediately and you have to wait for the bank to return it.
The money can come straight out of your bank account, and how much you are liable for depends on how fast you report it. You owe up to $50 if you report within two business days and up to $500 up until 60 days. Wait any longer than that, and you could be on the hook for the entire amount lost.
No. Debit card activity is not reported to credit bureaus because you are spending your own money, not borrowing. That also means a debit card does nothing to build your credit history, which is one more reason responsible credit card use can pay off over time.

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