Susan Jacobs, the senior vice-president and global brand leader for Dollar Car Rental, told me the company looked at data on its customers by form of payment “with more sophisticated analytics than we’ve ever had” and found paying with a debit card wasn’t a good indicator of risk. That is, they decided they had been alienating potential customers for no good reason. So instead, they’ve decided to attract them, including by sponsoring Ramsey’s radio show with a message about being the debit-card-friendly rental car company.

If Dollar and Thrifty are right about debit cards and customer risk — it’s worth noting, the past debit-card-using customers whose behavior they’ve analyzed comprise a specific set of debit-card holders who have been willing and able to jump through hoops like passing credit checks before rental — then they are making a smart play for an underserved market from which they may be able to gain outsize loyalty.