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You probably think of debit cards and credit cards as two totally separate things: One pulls money from your checking account and the other lets you borrow against a line of credit. For the most part, that's correct.
What most people don't realize, however, is that you can choose to use your debit card as "credit" at checkout. That doesn't mean you borrow money to make the purchase, but it does change some aspects of the transaction. Here's what you need to know about running a debit transaction as credit.
If your debit card has a Visa or Mastercard logo on it, you can use it as credit. To do this, you simply choose "credit" on the PIN pad or in the payment options at checkout. Alternatively, if you hand your debit card to a cashier or server, you can tell them you want to pay with credit instead of debit.
Then, instead of providing your PIN to authorize and complete the transaction, you'll probably be asked for your signature — usually if the transaction is over $25.