Can I rent a car using my debit card?

Some car-hire operators will accept debit cards and some won't so if you're planning to use your debit card, better check with your car-hire agency before you show up at the rental desk.

Rental agencies say their reason for not accepting a debit card is that they might not know whether there are enough funds in your debit card account to cover the cost of repairs if you were to damage your hire car.

When you use a credit card, the car-hire operator has a much better chance of recouping any funds that might be owed due to your mistreatment or misadventure.

Another reason not to use a debit card is that the car-hire operator will put a lock on some of your funds when you walk out the door with the keys to its vehicle. These funds will not be available to you until the end of the hire period. Even then, it may take some days for the funds to be returned to your account.

If you also check into a hotel and offer your debit card as security, the hotel will put a lock on yet more of your funds. Unless you have a well-padded debit card account you could find yourself caught short when you try to withdraw funds from an ATM with your debit card, or when you use it to pay your restaurant bill.