Ways to pay: cash, check, debit card, credit card and mobile payments
Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Use this
Cards A to D on a club's choice of card (cards A and B are summaries; cards C and D are made up). Card A, "Credit card loss rule". Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, read November 2026. Summary in our words, not a quotation: If a lost credit card is reported before anyone uses it, the cardholder owes $0. If it is used before it is reported, the cardholder owes at most $50. If only the card number was stolen, the cardholder generally owes $0. Card B, "Debit card loss rule". Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, read November 2026. Summary in our words, not a quotation: If a lost debit card is reported within 2 business days of learning of the loss, the cardholder owes the lesser of $50 or the amount taken. After 2 business days the cardholder can owe up to $500. If a charge on a statement goes unreported for 60 days, more than $500 can be lost. Card C, "Treasurer's memo (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Our club will use one debit card for every purchase. It spends only money we have, so we can never fall into debt, and a lost card has the same $50 limit as any other card. Card D, "A stolen card (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: A different club's debit card was stolen from a bag. Thieves took $1,200 from its checking account over 6 business days. The club noticed on business day 3 and reported on business day 8. Its $900 rent check bounced on day 5.
Bo must answer the memo on card C using cards A, B and D. Which is the strongest objection?
- A debit card can add ATM fees that a credit card does not, so credit is cheaper to use
- A debit card is not capped at $50; card B lets a late report cost up to $500
- A credit card costs $50 even if the number alone is stolen, so the cards are equal
- A debit card has no cap, so the whole checking balance is at risk in each case
A student says card D shows the debit card's protection failed. Pia tests the claim. What is the best verdict?
- Wrong: a $500 cap means the club was not harmed, because the bank covers the rest of it
- Shown: debit cards cause bounced rent checks, as card D's club found out the hard way
- Partly: card B caps the club at $500, but $1,200 left checking and a check bounced
- Shown: the club lost the full $1,200 under card B, since the report came late
Esme combines cards A, B and D. What is the most the club in card D could owe, and what would a used credit card have cost?
- The full $1,200, since the report came after 2 business days; credit would cost $50
- Up to $500, as it reported 5 business days after noticing; a used credit card, at most $50
- At most $50, since it reported 8 business days after the theft began, within card B's limit
- Up to $500, and a used credit card would have cost $0, since card A waives it
Tala looks for evidence that would most challenge the memo's claim that debit prevents debt. What is missing?
- How much one more club lost in a theft, to add a second case beside card D
- How many clubs in town own debit cards, to show how widely the memo's advice would apply
- The interest rate on credit cards at other banks, to compare with debit's lack of interest
- How often debit-card clubs ran short of cash after thefts or fees, versus credit clubs
Use this
Cards A to D on how the Federal Reserve counts payments (card A is real data; cards B and C are made up). Card A, "Noncash payments, 2024". Who made it: the Federal Reserve (federalreserve.gov), read November 14, 2026. Table, columns Type | Payments (billions) | Value ($ trillions) | Average payment ($): checks | 9.2 | 24.45 | 2,653; all cards | 187.7 | 11.50 | 61; automated clearinghouse (ACH) transfers | 39.7 | 104.06 | 2,622; all noncash payments | 236.6 | 140.01 | 592. Note: the Fed counts payments by consumers and businesses; ACH is the network behind direct deposit and bill pay. Card B, "Headline (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Checks have all but disappeared: they are 4 percent of payments. Card C, "A bank's statement (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Half the payments our business customers send us to process are checks.
Card C says half of a bank's business payments are checks. Ren reconciles it with card A. Which explanation fits best?
- Different groups: small card payments dominate card A; business clients pay larger sums
- Card A must be wrong, since half of the payments the bank handles for firms are checks
- Both hold if checks rose sharply after 2024, since the cards use different years
- Card C must be wrong, since card A shows that checks are 4 percent of payments overall
Noah wants to test whether checks are used mostly by businesses. Which missing figure would help most?
- Checks written each year since 2015, to show whether the decline began much earlier on
- Checks and their values split by who writes them: consumers, businesses or governments
- ACH payments split by type of payment, to see which kind carries the most dollars
- The average card payment in 2021, to compare with the average check size this year
Use this
Cards A to C on moving a card balance (all made up). Card A, "Transfer offer (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: A new card charges 0 percent interest for 12 months on a balance moved to it. It adds a one-time fee of 3 percent of the amount moved to the balance. After 12 months, any balance left is charged 24 percent a year. Card B, "The club's old card (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The old card charges 24 percent a year. Each month's interest is 2 percent of the balance at the start of the month. A payment at the end of the month pays that month's interest first. Card C, "The club's plan (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The club owes $1,000 and can pay $100 at the end of each month. On the old card, the balance is paid off after 12 payments and the interest adds up to $127.03. The club has no other debts.
Kira compares the offer with staying put using cards A to C. Which statement is right?
- Moving costs $30 in fees against $127.03 in interest, a saving of about $97
- Moving saves nothing, since both cards charge 24 percent a year after the first year
- Moving saves the full $127.03, since the new card charges 0 percent for the 12 months
- Moving costs more, because a 3 percent fee is more than the interest on the old card
A friend says a 0 percent offer is free money. Zee tests the claim. What is the best verdict?
- False: the old card's interest costs less than the offer's one-time $30 fee
- Not free: it costs a 3 percent fee, and a balance left after 12 months is charged 24 percent
- True for the fee alone, because the 24 percent rate does not apply to this club
- True: 0 percent for 12 months means the club pays nothing extra, so the fee is not a cost
A treasurer says moving the balance saves about $97. What is Ari's strongest objection from cards A to C?
- The new card should be compared at 2 percent, not 24 percent a year, to be fair to it
- A 3 percent fee costs more than the interest it saves, so the move loses money
- The saving assumes $100 paid each month; a balance left after 12 months is charged 24 percent
- The old card's interest was already counted, so the saving is the full $127.03 on the old card
Before the club moves its balance, Milo asks what is missing. Which fact would matter most?
- How the old card's interest was counted, since 2 percent a month is not 24 percent
- Whether the old card gives a reward on purchases, which the offer might not
- Whether other clubs also have a $1,000 balance on a card with a 24 percent rate
- Whether the club's income will really cover $100 each month for 12 months
