Don't look good:
New car rental rules represent the first case in which debit cards cannot be used in the same way as credit cards. The big car rental companies, including Hertz and Avis, have recently stopped letting people rent cars using just a Visa Check card or the similar Master Money card from MasterCard. The card companies, and the banks that issue these cards - known as debit cards - are furious. And so are some customers.
For years, the car rental companies have used possession of a credit card as a crude way to weed out potentially risky renters, just as they have usually ruled out renters under the age of 25. But this test does not work with debit cards because banks will now give them to nearly any one with a bank account. Charges on debit cards, which go under many names, come directly out of a consumer's checking account almost immediately rather than appearing on a monthly credit card statement. In contrast to using a credit card, which the debit card physically resembles, no loan is involved in the transaction.
Debit cards "provide no qualification of creditworthiness," a Hertz spokesperson said. Car rental companies believe they are entitled to a certain level of confidence because in car rental, unlike almost any other business, the customer is given total control of a vehicle with an approximate value of $20,000.
The rental car companies are requiring a customer with only a debit card to follow the same procedures as someone who pays cash to rent a car. That involves making an application several weeks in advance and leaving a substantial deposit.
http://www.in.gov/dfi/education/debit_vs.htm
