It’s kinda like that. More of a promissory note bc debit balances can be checked at the point of purchase. Easier to balance your account if you’re not able to use internet reliably too. They almost all have carbon copies for each check and a balance ledger.

I really only have them for big purchases. A lot of businesses added a ~2% fee for using cards on things over $1000. Which is more than I want to pay when I’m already dropping $10k on house repair or something.