Debit
Banking
A debit may be an account entry representing money you owe a lender or money that has been taken from your deposit account.
- — Dictionary of Banking Terms and Phrases
- — Dictionary of Banking Terms and Phrases retrieved 2014-05-16
Personal Finance
A debit may be an account entry representing money you owe a lender or money that has been taken from your deposit account.
- — Pocket Cents Glossary retrieved 2014-05-16
A debit is the opposite of a credit. A debit may be an account entry representing money you owe a lender or money that has been taken from your account.
For example, your bank debits your checking account for the amount of a check you've written, and your broker debits your investment account for the cost of a security you've purchased.
Similarly, a debit card authorizes the bank to take money out of your bank account electronically, either as cash or as an on-the-spot payment to a merchant. That's different from a credit card, which authorizes you to borrow the money from the card issuer.