With credit card fraud, the card issuer's money is at stake. With debit card fraud, your money has been stolen.

From this article: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/credit-cards/credit-card-vs-debit-card-safer-online-purchases

If card information has been stolen and potentially fraudulent transactions have been made, two laws protect your rights. For credit cards, the primary law is the Fair Credit Billing Act, or FCBA. For debit card transactions, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) applies. While these laws offer some similar protections, knowing the differences is key to understanding why it's safer to use one type of plastic than the other.

According to the EFTA, your potential liability for fraudulent debit card transactions is virtually unlimited. You have up to 60 days to report a lost or stolen card under the EFTA. After that, you simply lose whatever money was taken, even funds siphoned from linked accounts. The exact liability limits under the EFTA are:

Lost or stolen card reported before unauthorized transactions: zero liability.

Lost or stolen card reported within two days: $50 liability limit.

Lost or stolen card reported within 60 days: $500 liability limit.

After 60 days: no protection.

It's important to note that if your card is not physically lost or stolen, you have 60 days to report fraudulent transactions with zero liability. If only your card number is stolen, the 60 days start from the date of the statement on which a fraudulent transaction appears.


Under the FCBA, your maximum liability for fraudulent credit card transactions is $50. If you report your card lost or stolen before any fraudulent transactions occur, your liability is zero. Many credit cards promise zero liability for all fraudulent transactions.

Incentivizing consumer credit was a key step in making the USA what it is today.