Debit cards in Bahrain!

Hello there,

Some Debit Cards are still OK to use them online and some are not. Having been working for a bank, I am fully aware of this issue. Bahrain is not a Debit Card friendly country, it's a Credit / Charge card friendly country.

What I would say, before you start using your Debit Card online, check with your bank as some Debit Cards are not actually Debit Cards. They are account Cards - like the ones from HSBC with no chip on them.

Just check with your bank.

Have check with both HSBC and NBB reprsntatives.

They said a BIG NO for online transactions.

I think all the other banks are the same, I might just go for a credit card....cant be paying 4% Forex commission on each transaction on my overseas debit cards

Thanks anyway

Get an American Express Card if you are doing a lot of transactions. They have Cards that are billed in US$ with competitive rates. PM me if you want an Amex Card.

I agree. An American Express card is very useful. Works almost anywhere and online. I also use a debit card issued by KFH. This works fine too. Best part is that I can settle my monthly AmEx bill with my KFH debit card. No need to go to AmEx or any of their agents to settle your credit card bill.

Personally I prefer to use a credit card for online purchases, mainly for security. Debit cards hit our bank account immediately while we have time to fix issues if we use a credit card.

You Can use CrediMax - Debit Card 

CrediMax - All BBK Bank Branchs are availble

Thanks guys, your opinions were very helpful!

why not Citibank Debit Card ? 
I'm using it and until now i didn't face any online transection issue  'like mentioned above' .
HSBC << i hate
Use SBI bank for (online money transfer Abroad) Secure & fast .  :I
currency rates batter than BFC or western union .

Hi khush,

could you please provide me SBI rate with date time of the quote. I would like to compare it with BFC.

I'm definitely moving to SBI if the rate is better.

Thanks
Sushil

😐  latest Rate
5 min ago


BFC

We ran into the 'no online purchases made with a debit card' issue here as well.  So, we resigned to using a credit card.  It is set up to pay the card off every month from the checking account, and it is issued by a US bank, Capital One, a Visa Signature card.  It carries no transaction fees for purchases made anywhere in the world, unlike the other cards I investigated.... plus, it has a points system that is a bonus.  We were actually able to *use* the points to pay for a portion of my most recent airline ticket - you simply redeem the points within Capital One Visa to reduce the balance, no interaction with other companies, blackout dates, etc.

Perhaps this will help someone considering a US-based credit card with no transaction fees!