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shartacct | 4 years ago

How does that make any sense? I put my card into the reader and it debited from my bank account. I didn't pull cash from an ATM and there was no ATM present in the business.

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michaelt|4 years ago

In my country, one can perform debit card transaction with 'cash back' - if I'm in the grocery store buying $50 of groceries with my debit card, and I also want $30 of cash, they can charge my card $80 and hand me $30 from the drawer.

This was a great boon for banks a few decades ago, as it functionally gave them a huge ATM network for free.

The debit card system understands this sort of transaction, and doesn't charge the normal x% processing fee on the cash withdrawal portion of the transaction.

In other words, retailers can create transactions that are effectively ATM withdrawals - without an ATM.

Swizec|4 years ago

In California they charge your debit card and return cash change. They even overcharge your card to ensure there is cash to give back. $5 or so.

This turns it into an ATM withdrawal apparently.

HeyLaughingBoy|4 years ago

And the really nice thing about this is that there are no fees.

If I just need $80 or so (I think the limit is $100), it's faster to go to the local Walmart and buy a candy bar or something and get back $80 cash than to go the closest ATM owned by my bank to avoid the double dipping fees.