Learn Real English: How to pay with DEBIT and CREDIT CARDS

Hi, there. My name is Ronnie. Welcome to the lesson on how to pay with a debit or credit

card. One thing that might be a little bit difficult when you're shopping is understanding

what the machine says when you want to pay with a bank card, a debit card, or a credit

card. So as an example, this is a credit card. It's not, but it'll suffice. It'll do.

So this is actually a points card for movies. If you like to go to the movies, you can get

a Scene card. And if you spend lots of money in the movie theater,

you can watch a movie for free.

The first thing that the person's going to do is they're going to give you a machine,

or a machine will be at the checkout or the cash register. Oh, hi, machine. The very,

very first thing that the machine will say -- it will say, "Swipe or insert". These are

verbs. The first verb, "swipe" -- what you have to do is you have to take the black strip

-- and "swipe" means to quickly push it through or pull it through a machine. So you're going

to be, like -- you can make this noise if you want.

Now, the thing that confuses me all the time is sometimes, I have to put my card in so

the black stripe is towards me. Some machines, you have to put it so that the black stripe

is away from you. The people never tell you, and you -- what's happening? Other way. Thanks.

So maybe you are able to swipe your card. Perfect. So you're going to -- verb -- "swipe"

the card.

The other option, "insert" -- this card does not have one, but this is card a "chip". It's

like a microchip. And you actually insert or put the card into the bottom of the machine.

So "swipe" means to do this action. I don't know how to spell [swipe sound] -- but "insert"

means to stick it in, to put in. So you're actually going to put it in the machine, or

put your card in the machine.

The next thing that will happen is you probably have to keep your card in the machine if it's

inserted. If it's swiped, you usually take your card back. They're going to ask you to

verify the amount. So on the little computer screen, it'll say, "Amount: $42.75 Ok?" It's

your chance to press the "ok" button. Now, if you decide that maybe the price is wrong

or the person has typed it in wrong, you have to option to press "cancel". "Cancel" means

no. Not going to happen. No. I'm sorry. "Ok" means "yes". It'll tell you the amount "$42.75

Ok?" You then press "Ok".

The next screen that will come up will look like this: "Che Sav". What is "Che Sav"? These

are two different kinds of bank accounts that are common around the world. The first one

is "chequing", and the second one is "savings". Now, a chequing account means that you can

write cheques. Cheques are like paper money. If you ever have to pay rent, you're going

to use a cheque. A savings account -- more like a spending account -- is you can't write

cheques through it. They're usually cheaper and more efficient in banks than a chequing

account. Some people have two bank accounts. Maybe you have a chequing account and a savings

account. And maybe you have to keep a certain amount of money in one of these. So you get

to choose which account your money comes out of.

The next step it's going to say is, "enter pin". Pin? Safety pin? What's a "pin"? Your

"pin" is your "personal identity number". So it's usually for numbers. Mine is "777"

-- oh, no. Not going to tell you. Enter your pin number. So you put in your pin number.

Now, sometimes -- this happens to me a lot -- I try to swipe or I try to insert my card,

and I have to tell the person -- I have to say, "I didn't work." So it means that this

black band at the back -- it's not being read by the machine. The machine does not understand

this. Some people have techniques where they take a piece of paper, and they put the card

through again. If your card is very old or dirty like mine, maybe it doesn't work as

well. That's why the chip is really, really helpful where you insert it in. But anyways,

sometimes, if it doesn't work, you have to start again. Okay?

So you're going to enter your pin number.

Now, maybe you forget your pin number. It might tell you "wrong pin", so it means, "Mistake!

Oh, no!" It'll say, "Re-enter pin." "Re-enter" means you do the number again. Hopefully,

it's okay. Maybe you need to say to the person, "It didn't work." So they have to cancel the

transaction. You get to do it again. Hopefully, your pin has worked because you remember it.

You enter your pin number. And most machines, at the end of the pin number, you have to

press "ok". Then, all the magic happens. All the money comes out of your account. And you'll

get a message that says, "Processing. Do not remove card." This means don't take your card

out if it's inserted. If it's a swipe card, there's no problem. But if you take the card

out when it's processing, it means it's working; it's taking your money from your bank account.

You can't remove it. Okay? You have to wait until you get this message. It'll say,

"Transaction complete" or "completed". "Remove card. I don't have to tell you how important this

is. Twice, I have forgotten to remove my card. So I went home, and I said, "Oh, no. Where's

my debit card?" I had to go back to the store, and it was there. I was so lucky. Two times

that's happened. How many times has it happened to you?

Using a credit card is almost exactly the same idea. You're going to swipe it or insert

it. It's going to ask you the amount. When you use a credit card, you will not have a

chequing or savings option. But you will probably have to enter a pin number. It'll tell you

again, "Processing", and then, "Transaction complete."

Some banks offer an option called "tap and go" or "pay as you go" where you just touch

the credit card to a censor, and it subtracts money from your bank account.

I don't trust that one.

Another thing -- a very bad thing, a very tragic thing that could happen when you are

paying with your debit or your credit card is you could get a message -- instead of it

saying, "Transaction complete. Remove card", you could get one of these ones. This one

says, "Incomplete transaction. Please try again." An "incomplete transaction" means

it did not work. There was a problem. There could have been a problem with your chequing

or savings. You could've entered the wrong pin number. Many mistakes happen. And maybe

it wasn't your fault. Maybe it was the bank's fault. So it'll say, "Please try again." Guess

what? You probably would have to enter "chequing or savings" again and your pin number.

One of them -- and the last one that I will teach you today -- is a very, very terrible

one. The horror, the shock! It is called "insufficient funds" "insufficient funds" means there's

no money in your bank account, so the transaction would be incomplete. You don't have enough

money in your bank account to pay for what you wanted to buy. That's a problem with you

and your bank. So my advice is to get a job. Get some money. Make sure you've got lots

of it in your bank account before you go shopping. If you like shopping, next time you go, try

and pay with a credit or a debit card. See if you can do it. I hope so. Goodbye.