Consumers who employ debit cards nearly always have the choice of writing a cheque instead of swiping their cards to complete a transaction. Other account holders may actually prefer writing cheques over using their cards, deeming the process to be safer and more secure. And, while cheques do hold certain advantages over debit cards, debit card usage trumps cheque writing in the areas about which consumers care most. Below is a list of the benefits of using a debit card versus cheques.

Convenience.
Time and energy are saved when a debit card holder employs their card rather than using a cheque. Whether paying at a retail outlet or settling one’s utility bills, charging the purchase or payment to a debit card is simply the fastest and most hassle-free method of transaction for all parties involved. At most, debit card users may be required to sign their name to a receipt if the purchase is over a certain amount. Most other times, all that they will need to do is enter their personal identification number. And still, at other times they will not need to enter or sign for anything if the amount is small enough. This beats the relative inconvenience of writing a cheque, with which the user has to fill out multiple fields by hand and then stand-by while the cashier processes the payment.

Speed.
Speed refers not to the time it takes to complete the transaction, but rather to the time needed for the amount of the transaction to debit the account. With a cheque, it can take anywhere from a few days to an entire week for the money to clear. By using a debit card, however, the money is usually withdrawn from the debit card user’s account within 24 hours. Rarely does it ever take longer than a day unless the purchase is made over the weekend during non-business hours. The speed at which the funds are debited allows the card holder to get a more accurate grasp of their available balance and avoid potential overdraft charges.

Record keeping.
If a consumer writes a cheque, they are required to record each cheque amount in a ledger, along with all other pertinent information, such as merchant, date, and cheque number. From there, they must subtract the cheque amount from their available balance each time they write a cheque. If they forget, or simply do not have the time to do it right away, and they write more cheques in the interim, then at some point they will need to sit down and subtract each amount from their previously available balance in order to have a clear record of their transactions. With a debit card, on the other hand, users do not have to keep track of all of their purchases and payments to the same degree. A debit card user may write the occasional cheque which will then need to be recorded to their records, but for the most part a debit user can track their expenses with the monthly statement issued by their banks. Monthly statements detail the dates, merchants and payment amount in a clear, easy-to-read itemisation. Not only is it easier to find a certain transaction on a monthly statement, compared to a cheque ledger, but it is easier to organise into the debit card holder’s files as well.