Recently, more and more people have begun to move away from the use of credit cards and other forms of payment that have an effect on their credit score. This isn’t because they’re necessarily afraid of defaulting on the loan, but there is a general, unspoken knowledge of the possibility that work won’t be there when you need it. Because of this knowledge, people have started to assume more responsibility when they make purchases by paying in cash or using a debit card. Unfortunately, when you travel, this can become an issue as many hotels, car rental agencies and other travel expenses prefer to not accept cash or debit in lieu of credit.
On the brighter side of things, almost all car rental agencies will, in fact, accept a debit card in the place of a credit card. Generally, the only ones that don’t are those which have special instructions from the franchisee not to. However, just because they will accept debit cards doesn’t mean that they will do so without a fight. In many cases you will have to put a sizable cash deposit down and they will also put a hold of about $500 on your funds in your bank account. This means that you need to be sure you have the money to cover all of your expenses, both while using the rental car and in your regular life, before you use this method of securing a rental.
Unfortunately, while cash is king in many aspects of life, there are few rental agencies that will rent a car with just cash. Those that do will often times require large deposits and extreme insurance requirements that you have to take out at your own expense.