For the first time, the total amount of transactions conducted using debit cards (including prepaid debit cards) has passed the total amount of transactions made using credit cards. The popularity of debit cards is a result of a number of factors.

One big factor in the explosive popularity of debit cards is the fact that more and more people have credit or banking problems. People who can’t qualify for a good credit card, and people who want to save money by reducing their credit card expenses, love prepaid debit cards. Prepaid debit cards allow customers to shop on the Internet, rent cars, and do almost all the same things they could with a credit card (but without the expense of credit card interest rates!).

Prepaid debit cards are also perfect for people who have had banking difficulties in the past, and who can’t get a regular checking account. Many companies that issue prepaid debit card accounts (like AccountNow, the issuer of the hugely popular AccountNow Prepaid Visa and the AccountNow Prepaid MasterCard) do not use the ChexSystems systems, and allow customers with banking problems to open accounts without a hassle.

According to recent reports by the Nielson Company, debit card purchases are expected to climb 13% in 2008, to $1.2 trillion—compared with a 3% rise, to $1.9 trillion, for credit-card transactions. At Visa International, the World’s largest card company, debit spending could surpass credit this year.

This growth is great for people who use prepaid debit cards, as the banks will start to add even more innovative features to these products.

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Related ChexSystems Banking Information:

1. Prepaid Debit Cards are Getting Even Easier to Use
2. Prepaid Debit Cards: The Top Five Reasons People Use Them
3. Who Uses Prepaid Debit Cards?
4. A Closer Look at AccountNow
5. Understanding ATM Cards and Debit Cards