[avianlyric]

> The only meaningful difference is on how and when funds are reconciled.

Nope, even this is identical. These days the difference between a debit/credit card is pretty much aesthetic, from a transaction processing perspective there generally isn’t any actual differences. Differences that people see today are most artificial for the purpose of justifying extra fees, or higher interchange based an entirely arbitrary factor that has zero correlation to any risks that appear in the transaction processing and clearing mechanisms.

Basically the only reason anyone really bothers keeping the difference between credit/debit cards around, is as a technical excuse for discrimination and abusive fees. Notably in the EU nobody cares if a debit or credit card is used, because the EU outlawed all the crazy fees and other bullshit, so now there’s no commercial reason to differentiate between the two 99% of the time.

[ErrantX]

There are a few differences for sure. All entirely technical in how the money moves or clears. The most obvious point here is debit card moves your money from your account, credit moves the issuers money from their account.

But to your wider point; from a transaction fee point of view you are dead right. Of course a credit card has other attractions; for example it's credit :D but also things like section 75 protection.

[avianlyric]

> There are a few differences for sure. All entirely technical in how the money moves or clears. The most obvious point here is debit card moves your money from your account, credit moves the issuers money from their account.

From the perspective of the card network and the merchant, there is no difference here. The card network has a contract with the issuer, so all transactions, in all scenarios, are always first paid by the issuer. It’s then the issuers problem to figure out where they get the money from.

It’s entirely possible to perform transactions on debit card that will place the account attached to it in a negative balance, and for the person owning that account to vanish. The card issuer is still on the hook for the money, neither the card network, nor the merchant, care if the issuer recovers the funds or not, they always get paid.

[ErrantX]

Yes... That's much the point I was making.

But there is a lot more complexity than, I think, you are glossing over. For example, you also likely have at least one technical services partner in the flows, probably two.

Additionally, money often doesn't move in real time, especially when credit cards are involved. The process is, intentionally, split.

Your point on that is fair, but remember, many credit providers are also not banks, and the money is in a bank account owned by a third party. So, as a trivial example, I can't just assume money coming to me from Bank A is related to transactions from Bank A's cards.

A lot of people don't realise that the main way all of this works is through very large batch files with lists of transactions in moving back and forth between various parties behind the scenes.

(We are on semantic points, though, but I just wanted to clarify the complexity behind the scenes that most people don't see or understand)