Do banks make money every time I use my debit card?

They earn revenue every time you use your debit card, yes. They get paid interchange, or "swipe", fees. The number that gets thrown around the most is an average of 1. read more

Banks do make money every time you use your debit card. These fees are used to handle the transaction and potential fraud. It's a fixed fee (even if the transaction is $1) and variable fee. read more

At our bank (Dollar Bank) the bank actually PAYS us for using our debit cards. We get .10 for every time we use it like a credit card and sign, and .5 for an online bill pay. They save it up and give it back to us twice a year. read more

Interchange is the money banks make from processing credit and debit transactions. Each time you swipe your card at a store, the store, or merchant, pays an interchange fee. The majority of money from interchange goes to your bank–the consumer’s bank–and a little goes to the merchant’s bank. read more

Every time you use a credit card, the merchant pays a processing fee equal to a percentage of the transaction. The portion of that fee sent to the issuer via the payment network is called “interchange,” and is usually about 1% to 3% of the transaction. read more