Debit card

A debit card (also known as a bank card,

plastic card or check card) is a plastic
payment card that can be used instead of
cash when making purchases. It is similar
to a credit card, but unlike a credit card,
the money is immediately transferred
directly from the cardholder's bank
account when performing any transaction.
Some cards might carry a stored value
with which a payment is made, while most
relay a message to the cardholder's bank
to withdraw funds from a payer's
designated bank account. In some cases,
the primary account number is assigned
exclusively for use on the Internet and
there is no physical card.

In many countries, such as most of

Western Europe, the use of debit cards has
become so widespread that their volume
has overtaken or entirely replaced cheques
and, in some instances, cash transactions.
The development of debit cards,unlike
credit cards and charge cards, has
generally been country specific resulting in
a number of different systems around the
world, which were often incompatible.
Since the mid-2000s, a number of
initiatives have allowed debit cards issued
in one country to be used in other
countries and allowed their use for internet
and phone purchases.

Debit cards usually also allow instant

withdrawal of cash, acting as an ATM card
for this purpose. Merchants may also offer
cashback facilities to customers, so that a
customer can withdraw cash along with
their purchase
Types of debit card systems

An example of the front of a typical debit card:

1. Issuing bank logo
2. EMV chip (optional and may depend on the
issuing institution or bank)
3. Hologram (in some cards it's located at the back
especially in most MasterCard)
4. Card number (PAN) (may vary in length but
mostly 16-digits with unique last 4 digits.
However in cases such as Discover, Diner's Club,
UnionPay & American Express it has a unique 15-
digit card number)
5. Card brand logo
6. Expiration date
7. Cardholder's name
An example of the reverse side of a typical debit card:
1. Magnetic stripe
2. Signature strip panel
3. Card Security Code

There are currently three ways that debit

card transactions are EFTPOS (also known
as online debit or PIN debit), offline debit
(also known as signature debit), and the
Electronic Purse Card System.[1] One
physical card can include the functions of
all three types, so that it can be used in a
number of different circumstances.

Although the four largest bank card

issuers (American Express, Discover Card,
MasterCard, and Visa) all offer debit cards,
there are many other types of debit card,
each accepted only within a particular
country or region, for example Switch
(now: Maestro) and Solo in the United
Kingdom, Interac in Canada, Carte Bleue in
France, EC electronic cash (formerly
Eurocheque) in Germany, UnionPay in
China, RuPay in India and EFTPOS cards in
Australia and New Zealand. The need for
cross-border compatibility and the advent
of the euro recently led to many of these
card networks (such as Switzerland's "EC
direkt", Austria's "Bankomatkasse", and
Switch in the United Kingdom) being re-
branded with the internationally
recognized Maestro logo, which is part of
the MasterCard brand. Some debit cards
are dual branded with the logo of the
(former) national card as well as Maestro
(for example, EC cards in Germany, Switch
and Solo in the UK, Pinpas cards in the
Netherlands, Bancontact cards in Belgium,
etc.). The use of a debit card system
allows operators to package their product
more effectively while monitoring
customer spending.
Online debit system

Online debit cards require electronic

authorization of every transaction and the
debits are reflected in the user's account
immediately. The transaction may be
additionally secured with the personal
identification number (PIN) authentication
system; some online cards require such
authentication for every transaction,
essentially becoming enhanced automatic
teller machine (ATM) cards.

One difficulty with using online debit cards

is the necessity of an electronic
authorization device at the point of sale
(POS) and sometimes also a separate
PINpad to enter the PIN, although this is
becoming commonplace for all card
transactions in many countries.

Overall, the online debit card is generally

viewed as superior to the offline debit card
because of its more secure authentication
system and live status, which alleviates
problems with processing lag on
transactions that may only issue online
debit cards. Some on-line debit systems
are using the normal authentication
processes of Internet banking to provide
real-time online debit transactions.
Offline debit system

Offline debit cards have the logos of major

credit cards (for example, Visa[2] or
MasterCard) or major debit cards (for
example, Maestro in the United Kingdom
and other countries, but not the United
States) and are used at the point of sale
like a credit card (with payer's signature).
This type of debit card may be subject to a
daily limit, and/or a maximum limit equal
to the current/checking account balance
from which it draws funds. Transactions
conducted with offline debit cards require
2–3 days to be reflected on users’ account
balances.
In some countries and with some banks
and merchant service organizations, a
"credit" or offline debit transaction is
without cost to the purchaser beyond the
face value of the transaction, while a fee
may be charged for a "debit" or online
debit transaction (although it is often
absorbed by the retailer). Other
differences are that online debit
purchasers may opt to withdraw cash in
addition to the amount of the debit
purchase (if the merchant supports that
functionality); also, from the merchant's
standpoint, the merchant pays lower fees
on online debit transaction as compared to
"credit" (offline).
Electronic purse card system

Smart-card-based electronic purse

systems (in which value is stored on the
card chip, not in an externally recorded
account, so that machines accepting the
card need no network connectivity) are in
use throughout Europe since the mid-
1990s, most notably in Germany
(Geldkarte), Austria (Quick Wertkarte), the
Netherlands (Chipknip), Belgium (Proton),
Switzerland (CASH) and France (Moneo,
which is usually carried by a debit card). In
Austria and Germany, almost all current
bank cards now include electronic purses,
whereas the electronic purse has been
recently phased out in the Netherlands.

Prepaid debit cards

Nomenclature

Prepaid debit cards are reloadable and can

be also called reloadable debit cards.

Users

The primary market for prepaid debit cards

has traditionally been unbanked people;[3]
that is, people who do not use banks or
credit unions for their financial
transactions.[4] But prepaid cards also
appeal to other users attracted by their
advantages.

Advantages

Advantages of prepaid debit cards include

being safer than carrying cash, worldwide
functionality due to Visa and MasterCard
merchant acceptance, not having to worry
about paying a credit card bill or going into
debt, the opportunity for anyone over the
age of 18 to apply and be accepted
without regard to credit quality, and the
option to directly deposit paychecks and
government benefits onto the card for
free.[5]
Risks

If the card provider offers an insecure

website for letting you check the card's
balance, this could give an attacker access
to the card information.[6] If you lose the
card, and have not somehow registered it,
you likely lose the money. If a provider has
technical issues, the money might not be
accessible when you need it. Some
companies' payment systems do not
appear to accept prepaid debit cards.[7]
And there is a risk that prolific use of
prepaid debit cards could lead data
provider companies to miscategorize you
in unfortunate ways.
Providers

Axiom Prepaid Holdings, LLC offers many

different prepaid cards globally to
consumers and offers white-label
solutions to corporations.

Companies

Some of the first companies to enter this

market were: MiCash, RushCard,
Netspend, and Green Dot who gained
market share as a result of being first to
market. However, since 1999, there have
been several new providers, such as
TransCash, 247card, iKobo, Ripae Card,
Argent Card, EuroPYM, AsiaPYM, &
DrawPay Card.These prepaid card
companies offer a number of benefits,
such as money remittance services, card-
to-card transfers, and the ability to apply
without a social security number.

In 2009 a company called PEX Card

launched a corporate expense card service
aimed at business users.

As of 2019, many other companies also

offer the cards.

Governments
As of 2013, several city governments
(including Oakland, California[8] and
Chicago, Illinois[9]) are now offering
prepaid debit cards, either as part of a
municipal ID card (for people such as
illegal immigrants who are unable to
obtain a state driver's license or DMV ID
card) in the case of Oakland, or in
conjunction with a prepaid transit pass
(Chicago). These cards have been heavily
criticized[10][11] for their higher-than-
average fees, including some (such as a
flat fee added onto every purchase made
with the card) that similar products offered
by Green Dot and American Express do not
have.
The U.S. federal government uses prepaid
debit cards to make benefits payments to
people who do not have bank accounts. In
2008, the U.S. Treasury Department paired
with Comerica Bank to offer the Direct
Express Debit MasterCard prepaid debit
card.[12]

In July 2013, the Association of

Government Accountants released a
report on government use of prepaid
cards, concluding that such programs
offer a number of advantages to
governments and those who receive
payments on a prepaid card rather than by
check. The prepaid card programs benefit
payments largely for cost savings they
offer and provide easier access to cash for
recipients, as well as increased security.
The report also advises that governments
should consider replacing any remaining
cheque-based payments with prepaid card
programs in order to realize substantial
savings for taxpayers, as well as benefits
for payees.[13]

Impact of Government-provided
bank accounts

In January 2016, the UK government

introduced fee-free basic bank accounts
for all, having a significant impact on the
prepaid industry, including the departure of
a number of firms.[14]

Consumer protection
Consumer protections vary, depending on
the network used. Visa and MasterCard,
for instance, prohibit minimum and
maximum purchase sizes, surcharges, and
arbitrary security procedures on the part of
merchants. Merchants are usually charged
higher transaction fees for credit
transactions, since debit network
transactions are less likely to be
fraudulent. This may lead them to "steer"
customers to debit transactions.
Consumers disputing charges may find it
easier to do so with a credit card, since the
money will not immediately leave their
control. Fraudulent charges on a debit card
can also cause problems with a checking
account because the money is withdrawn
immediately and may thus result in an
overdraft or bounced checks. In some
cases debit card-issuing banks will
promptly refund any disputed charges until
the matter can be settled, and in some
jurisdictions the consumer liability for
unauthorized charges is the same for both
debit and credit cards.
In some countries, like India and Sweden,
the consumer protection is the same
regardless of the network used. Some
banks set minimum and maximum
purchase sizes, mostly for online-only
cards. However, this has nothing to do
with the card networks, but rather with the
bank's judgement of the person's age and
credit records. Any fees that the
customers have to pay to the bank are the
same regardless of whether the
transaction is conducted as a credit or as
a debit transaction, so there is no
advantage for the customers to choose
one transaction mode over another. Shops
may add surcharges to the price of the
goods or services in accordance with laws
allowing them to do so. Banks consider
the purchases as having been made at the
moment when the card was swiped,
regardless of when the purchase
settlement was made. Regardless of
which transaction type was used, the
purchase may result in an overdraft
because the money is considered to have
left the account at the moment of the card
swiping.

Financial access
Debit cards and secured credit cards are
popular among college students who have
not yet established a credit history. Debit
cards may also be used by expatriated
workers to send money home to their
families holding an affiliated debit card.

Issues with deferred posting

of offline debit
The consumer perceives a debit
transaction as occurring in real time: the
money is withdrawn from their account
immediately after the authorization
request from the merchant, which in many
countries, is the case when making an
online debit purchase. However, when a
purchase is made using the "credit" (offline
debit) option, the transaction merely
places an authorization hold on the
customer's account; funds are not actually
withdrawn until the transaction is
reconciled and hard-posted to the
customer's account, usually a few days
later. However, the previoce applies to all
kinds of transaction types, at least when
using a card issued by a European bank.
This is in contrast to a typical credit card
transaction, in which, after a few days
delay before the transaction is posted to
the account, there is a further period of
maybe a month before the consumer
makes repayment.
Because of this, in the case of an
intentional or unintentional error by the
merchant or bank, a debit transaction may
cause more serious problems (for
example, money not accessible; overdrawn
account) than a credit card transaction
(for example, credit not accessible; over
credit limit). This is especially true in the
United States, where check fraud is a
crime in every state, but exceeding your
credit limit is not.

Internet purchases
Debit cards may also be used on the
Internet either with or without using a PIN.
Internet transactions may be conducted in
either online or offline mode, although
shops accepting online-only cards are rare
in some countries (such as Sweden), while
they are common in other countries (such
as the Netherlands). For a comparison,
PayPal offers the customer to use an
online-only Maestro card if the customer
enters a Dutch address of residence, but
not if the same customer enters a Swedish
address of residence.

Internet purchases can be authenticated

by the consumer entering their PIN if the
merchant has enabled a secure online PIN
pad, in which case the transaction is
conducted in debit mode. Otherwise,
transactions may be conducted in either
credit or debit mode (which is sometimes,
but not always, indicated on the receipt),
and this has nothing to do with whether
the transaction was conducted in online or
offline mode, since both credit and debit
transactions may be conducted in both
modes.

Debit cards around the world

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In some countries, banks tend to levy a

small fee for each debit card transaction.
In some countries (for example, the UK)
the merchants bear all the costs and
customers are not charged. There are
many people who routinely use debit cards
for all transactions, no matter how small.
Some (small) retailers refuse to accept
debit cards for small transactions, where
paying the transaction fee would absorb
the profit margin on the sale, making the
transaction uneconomic for the retailer.

Angola

The banks in Angola issue by official

regulation only one brand of debit cards:
Multicaixa, which is also the brand name
of the one and only network of ATMs and
POS terminals.

Armenia

ArCa (Armenian Card) - a national system

of debit (ArCa Debit and ArCa Classic) and
credit (ArCa Gold, ArCa Business, ArCA
Platinum, ArCa Affinity and ArCa Co-
branded) cards popular in the Republic of
Armenia. Established in 2000 by 17 largest
Armenian banks.

Australia
Debit cards in Australia are called different
names depending on the issuing bank:
Commonwealth Bank of Australia:
Keycard; Westpac Banking Corporation:
Handycard; National Australia Bank:
FlexiCard; ANZ Bank: Access card;
Bendigo Bank: Cashcard.

EFTPOS is very popular in Australia and

has been operating there since the 1980s.
EFTPOS-enabled cards are accepted at
almost all swipe terminals able to accept
credit cards, regardless of the bank that
issued the card, including Maestro cards
issued by foreign banks, with most
businesses accepting them, with 450,000
point of sale terminals.[15]

EFTPOS cards can also be used to deposit

and withdraw cash over the counter at
Australia Post outlets participating in Giro
Post and withdrawals without purchase
from certain major retailers, just as if the
transaction was conducted at a bank
branch, even if the bank branch is closed.
Electronic transactions in Australia are
generally processed via the Telstra Argent
and Optus Transact Plus network - which
has recently superseded the old
Transcend network in the last few years.
Most early keycards were only usable for
EFTPOS and at ATM or bank branches,
whilst the new debit card system works in
the same way as a credit card, except it
will only use funds in the specified bank
account. This means that, among other
advantages, the new system is suitable for
electronic purchases without a delay of
two to four days for bank-to-bank money
transfers.

Australia operates both electronic credit

card transaction authorization and
traditional EFTPOS debit card
authorization systems, the difference
between the two being that EFTPOS
transactions are authorized by a personal
identification number (PIN) while credit
card transactions can additionally be
authorized using a contactless payment
mechanism (requiring a PIN for purchases
over $100). If the user fails to enter the
correct pin three times, the consequences
range from the card being locked out for a
minimum 24-hour period, a phone call or
trip to the branch to reactivate with a new
PIN, the card being cut up by the merchant,
or in the case of an ATM, being kept inside
the machine, both of which require a new
card to be ordered.

Generally credit card transaction costs are

borne by the merchant with no fee applied
to the end user (although a direct
consumer surcharge of 0.5 - 3% is not
uncommon) while EFTPOS transactions
cost the consumer an applicable
withdrawal fee charged by their bank.

The introduction of Visa and MasterCard

debit cards along with regulation in the
settlement fees charged by the operators
of both EFTPOS and credit cards by the
Reserve Bank has seen a continuation in
the increasing ubiquity of credit card use
among Australians and a general decline
in the profile of EFTPOS. However, the
regulation of settlement fees also
removed the ability of banks, who typically
provide merchant services to retailers on
behalf of Visa or MasterCard, from
stopping those retailers charging extra
fees to take payment by credit card
instead of cash or EFTPOS.

Bahrain

In Bahrain debit cards are under Benefit,

the interbanking network for Bahrain.
Benefit is also accepted in other countries
though, mainly GCC, similar to the Saudi
Payments Network and the Kuwaiti KNET.

Belgium
In Belgium debit cards are widely accepted
in most of the stores and shops, as well as
in most of the hotels and restaurants.
Smaller restaurants or small shops often
accept only Debit Cards or cash but no
credit cards. All Belgian banks provide
debit cards when you open a bank
account. Usually, it is free to use debit
cards on national and EU ATMs even if
they are'nt owned by the issuing bank.
Since 2019 a few banks charge a 0,50€
cost when using ATMs who are not owned
by the issuing bank. The debit cards in
Belgium are branded with the logo of the
national Bancontact system and also with
an international debit system, Maestro
(For the moment there are'nt any banks
who issueis the V-Pay or Visa Electron
cards even if they are widely accepted),
the Maestro system is used mostly for
payments in other countries but a few
national card payment services use the
Maestro system. Some banks also offer
Visa and MasterCard debit cards but these
are mostly online banks.

Brazil

In Brazil debit cards are called cartão de

débito (singular) and got popular from
2008 and on. In 2013, the 100 millionth
Brazilian debit card was issued.[16] Debit
cards replaced cheques, common until the
first decade of the 2000s.

Today, the majority of the financial

transactions (like shopping, etc.) are made
using debit cards (and this system is
quickly replacing cash payments).
Nowadays, the majority of debit payments
are processed using a card + pin
combination, and almost every card
comes with a chip to make transactions.

The major debit card vendors in Brazil are

Visa (with Visa Electron cards) and
MasterCard (with Maestro cards), as well
as local brand Elo.
Benin

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, debit cards are accepted in

almost all stores and shops, as well as in
most of the hotels and restaurants in the
bigger cities. Smaller restaurants or small
shops often accept cash only. All
Bulgarian banks can provide debit cards
when you open a bank account, for
maintenance costs. The most common
cards in Bulgaria are contactless (and
Chip&PIN or Magnetic stripe and PIN) with
the brands of Debit Mastercard and Visa
Debit (the most common were Maestro
and Visa Electron some years ago). [17] All
POS terminals and ATMs accept Visa, Visa
Electron, Visa Debit, VPay, Mastercard,
Debit Mastercard, Maestro and Bcard. [18]
Also some POS terminals and ATMs
accept Discover, American Express, Diners
Club, JCB and UnionPay. [19] Almost all
POS terminals in Bulgaria support
contactless payments. Credit cards are
also common in Bulgaria. Paying with
smartphones/smartwatches at POS
terminals is also getting common. [20]

Burkina Faso

Canada
Canada has a nationwide EFTPOS system,
called Interac Direct Payment (IDP). Since
being introduced in 1994, IDP has become
the most popular payment method in the
country. Previously, debit cards have been
in use for ABM usage since the late 1970s,
with credit unions in Saskatchewan and
Alberta introducing the first card-based,
networked ATMs beginning in June 1977.
Debit cards, which could be used
anywhere a credit card was accepted,
were first introduced in Canada by
Saskatchewan Credit Unions in 1982.[2] In
the early 1990s, pilot projects were
conducted among Canada's six largest
banks to gauge security, accuracy and
feasibility of the Interac system. Slowly in
the later half of the 1990s, it was
estimated that approximately 50% of
retailers offered Interac as a source of
payment. Retailers, many small
transaction retailers like coffee shops,
resisted offering IDP to promote faster
service. In 2009, 99% of retailers offer IDP
as an alternative payment form.

In Canada, the debit card is sometimes

referred to as a "bank card". It is a client
card issued by a bank that provides
access to funds and other bank account
transactions, such as transferring funds,
checking balances, paying bills, etc., as
well as point of purchase transactions
connected on the Interac network. Since
its national launch in 1994, Interac Direct
Payment has become so widespread that,
as of 2001, more transactions in Canada
were completed using debit cards than
cash.[21] This popularity may be partially
attributable to two main factors: the
convenience of not having to carry cash,
and the availability of automated bank
machines (ABMs) and direct payment
merchants on the network.

Debit cards may be considered similar to

stored-value cards in that they represent a
finite amount of money owed by the card
issuer to the holder. They are different in
that stored-value cards are generally
anonymous and are only usable at the
issuer, while debit cards are generally
associated with an individual's bank
account and can be used anywhere on the
Interac network.

In Canada, the bank cards can be used at

POS and ABMs. Interac Online has also
been introduced in recent years allowing
clients of most major Canadian banks to
use their debit cards for online payment
with certain merchants as well. Certain
financial institutions also allow their
clients to use their debit cards in the
United States on the NYCE network.[22]

Consumer protection in Canada

Consumers in Canada are protected under

a voluntary code entered into by all
providers of debit card services, The
Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer
Debit Card Services[23] (sometimes called
the "Debit Card Code"). Adherence to the
Code is overseen by the Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC),
which investigates consumer complaints.

According to the FCAC website, revisions

to the code that came into effect in 2005
put the onus on the financial institution to
prove that a consumer was responsible for
a disputed transaction, and also place a
limit on the number of days that an
account can be frozen during the financial
institution's investigation of a transaction.

Chile

Chile has an EFTPOS system called

Redcompra (Purchase Network) which is
currently used in at least 23,000
establishments throughout the country.
Goods may be purchased using this
system at most supermarkets, retail
stores, pubs and restaurants in major
urban centers. Chilean banks issue
Maestro, Visa Electron and Visa Debit
cards.

Colombia

Colombia has a system called Redeban-

Multicolor and Credibanco Visa which are
currently used in at least 23,000
establishments throughout the country.
Goods may be purchased using this
system at most supermarkets, retail
stores, pubs and restaurants in major
urban centers. Colombian debit cards are
Maestro (pin), Visa Electron (pin), Visa
Debit (as credit) and MasterCard-Debit (as
credit).

Côte d'Ivoire

Denmark

The Danish debit card Dankort is

ubiquitous in Denmark. It was introduced
on 1 September 1983, and despite the
initial transactions being paper-based, the
Dankort quickly won widespread
acceptance. By 1985 the first EFTPOS
terminals were introduced, and 1985 was
also the year when the number of Dankort
transactions first exceeded 1 million.[24]
Today Dankort is primarily issued as a
Multicard combining the national Dankort
with the more internationally recognized
Visa (denoted simply as a "Visa/Dankort"
card). In September 2008, 4 million cards
have been issued, of which three million
cards were Visa/Dankort cards. It is also
possible to get a Visa Electron debit card
and MasterCard.

In 2007, PBS (now called Nets), the

Danish operator of the Dankort system,
processed a total of 737 million Dankort
transactions.[25] Of these, 4.5 million
were processed on just a single day, 21
 December. This remains the current
record.
At the end of 2007, there were
3.9 million Dankort cards in
existence.[25]
As of 2012, more than 80,000 Danish
shops had a Dankort terminal, and
another 11,000 internet shops also
accepted the Dankort.[25]

Finland

Most daily customer transactions are

carried out with debit cards or online
giro/electronic bill payment, although
credit cards and cash are accepted.
Checks are no longer used. Prior to
European standardization, Finland had a
national standard (pankkikortti = "bank
card"). Physically, a pankkikortti was the
same as an international credit card, and
the same card imprinters and slips were
used for pankkikortti and credit cards, but
the cards were not accepted abroad. This
has now been replaced by the Visa and
MasterCard debit card systems, and
Finnish cards can be used elsewhere in
the European Union and the world.

An electronic purse system, with a chipped

card, was introduced, but did not gain
much traction.
Signing a payment offline entails incurring
debt, thus offline payment is not available
to minors. However, online transactions
are permitted, and since almost all stores
have electronic terminals, today also
minors can use debit cards. Previously,
only cash withdrawal from ATMs was
available to minors (automaattikortti or
Visa).

France

Carte Bancaire (CB), the national payment

scheme, in 2008, had 57.5 million cards
carrying its logo and 7.76 billion
transactions (POS and ATM) were
processed through the e-rsb network (135
transactions per card mostly debit or
deferred debit). Most CB cards are debit
cards, either debit or deferred debit. Less
than 10% of CB cards were credit cards.

Banks in France usually charge annual

fees for debit cards (despite card
payments being very cost efficient for the
banks), yet they do not charge personal
customers for checkbooks or processing
checks (despite checks being very costly
for the banks). This imbalance dates from
the unilateral introduction in France of
Chip and PIN debit cards in the early
1990s, when the cost of this technology
was much higher than it is now. Credit
cards of the type found in the United
Kingdom and United States are unusual in
France and the closest equivalent is the
deferred debit card, which operates like a
normal debit card, except that all purchase
transactions are postponed until the end
of the month, thereby giving the customer
between 1 and 31 days of "interest-free"[26]
credit.

The annual fee for a deferred debit card is

around €10 more than for one with
immediate debit. Most France debit cards
are branded with the Carte Bleue logo,
which assures acceptance throughout
France. Most card holders choose to pay
around €5 more in their annual fee to
additionally have a Visa or a MasterCard
logo on their Carte Bleue, so that the card
is accepted internationally. A Carte Bleue
without a Visa or a MasterCard logo is
often known as a "Carte Bleue Nationale"
and a Carte Bleue with a Visa or a
MasterCard logo is known as a "Carte
Bleue Internationale", or more frequently,
simply called a "Visa" or "MasterCard".

Many smaller merchants in France refuse

to accept debit cards for transactions
under a certain amount because of the
minimum fee charged by merchants'
banks per transaction (this minimum
amount varies from €5 to €15.25, or in
some rare cases even more). But more
and more merchants accept debit cards
for small amounts, due to the massive
daily use of debit card nowadays.
Merchants in France do not differentiate
between debit and credit cards, and so
both have equal acceptance. It is legal in
France to set a minimum amount to
transactions, but the merchants must
display it clearly.

In January 2016, 57.2% of all the debits

cards in France also had a contactless
payment chip .[27] The maximum amount
per transaction is set to €20 and the
maximum amount of all contactless
payments per day is between 50 and €100
depending on the bank. The per-
transaction limit increased to €30 in
October 2017.[28]

Liability and e-cards

According to French law,[29] banks are

liable for any transaction made with a
copy of the original card and for any
transaction made without a card (on the
phone or on the Internet), so banks have to
pay back any fraudulent transaction to the
card holder if the previous criteria are met.
Fighting card fraud is therefore more
interesting for banks. As a consequence,
French banks websites usually propose an
"e-card" service ("electronic (bank) card"),
where a new virtual card is created and
linked to a physical card. Such virtual card
can be used only once and for the
maximum amount given by the card
holder. If the virtual card number is
intercepted or used to try to get a higher
amount than expected, the transaction is
blocked.

Germany
Debit cards have enjoyed wide acceptance
in Germany for years. Facilities already
existed before EFTPOS became popular
with the Eurocheque card, an authorization
system initially developed for paper
checks where, in addition to signing the
actual check, customers also needed to
show the card alongside the check as a
security measure. Those cards could also
be used at ATMs and for card-based
electronic funds transfer (called Girocard)
with PIN entry. These are now the only
functions of such cards: the Eurocheque
system (along with the brand) was
abandoned in 2002 during the transition
from the Deutsche Mark to the euro. As of
2005, most stores and petrol outlets have
EFTPOS facilities. Processing fees are
paid by the businesses, which leads to
some business owners refusing debit card
payments for sales totalling less than a
certain amount, usually 5 or 10 euro.

To avoid the processing fees, many

businesses resorted to using direct debit,
which is then called electronic direct debit
(German: Elektronisches
Lastschriftverfahren, abbr. ELV). The point-
of-sale terminal reads the bank sort code
and account number from the card but
instead of handling the transaction
through the Girocard network it simply
prints a form, which the customer signs to
authorise the debit note. However, this
method also avoids any verification or
payment guarantee provided by the
network. Further, customers can return
debit notes by notifying their bank without
giving a reason. This means that the
beneficiary bears the risk of fraud and
illiquidity. Some business mitigate the risk
by consulting a proprietary blacklist or by
switching to Girocard for higher
transaction amounts.

Around 2000, an Electronic Purse Card

was introduced, dubbed Geldkarte
("money card"). It makes use of the smart
card chip on the front of the standard
issue debit card. This chip can be charged
with up to 200 euro, and is advertised as a
means of making medium to very small
payments, even down to several euros or
cent payments. The key factor here is that
no processing fees are deducted by banks.
It did not gain the popularity its inventors
had hoped for. However, this could change
as this chip is now used as means of age
verification at cigarette vending machines,
which has been mandatory since January
2007. Furthermore, some payment
discounts are being offered (e.g. a 10%
reduction for public transport fares) when
paying with "Geldkarte". The "Geldkarte"
payment lacks all security measures, since
it does not require the user to enter a PIN
or sign a sales slip: the loss of a
"Geldkarte" is similar to the loss of a wallet
or purse - anyone who finds it can then use
their find to pay for their own purchases.

Guinée Bissau

Please, see below on "UEMOA"

Greece

Debit card usage surged in Greece after

the introduction of Capital Controls in
2015.[30][31]
Hong Kong

Most bank cards in Hong Kong for saving /

current accounts are equipped with EPS
and UnionPay, which function as a debit
card and can be used at merchants for
purchases, where funds are withdrawn
from the associated account immediately.

EPS is a Hong Kong only system and is

widely accepted in merchants and
government departments. However, as
UnionPay cards are accepted more widely
overseas, consumers can use the
UnionPay functionality of the bank card to
make purchases directly from the bank
account.

Visa debit cards are uncommon in Hong

Kong. The British banking firm HSBC's
subsidiary Hang Seng Bank's Enjoy card
and American firm Citibank's ATM Visa are
two of the Visa debit cards available in
Hong Kong.

Debit cards usage in Hong Kong is

relatively low, as the credit card
penetration rate is high in Hong Kong. In
Q1 2017, there are near 20 million credit
cards in circulation, about 3 times the
adult population. There are 145800
thousand transaction made by credit cards
but only 34001 thousand transactions
made by debit cards.[32]

Hungary

In Hungary debit cards are far more

common and popular than credit cards.
Many Hungarians even refer to their debit
card ("betéti kártya") mistakenly using the
word for credit card ("hitelkártya").[33]

India

After the demonetization by current

government there has been a surge in
cashless transactions, so nowadays you
could find card acceptance in most places.
The debit card was mostly used for ATM
transactions. RBI has announced that fees
are not justified so transactions have no
processing fees.[34] Almost half of Indian
debit and credit card users use Rupay
card. Some Indian banks issue Visa debit
cards, though some banks (like SBI and
Citibank India) also issue Maestro cards.
The debit card transactions are routed
through Rupay (mostly),Visa or
MasterCard networks in India and
overseas rather than directly via the
issuing bank.
The National Payments Corporation of
India (NPCI) has launched a new card
called RuPay.[35] It is similar to Singapore's
NETS and Mainland China's UnionPay
[36][37]

Indonesia

Foreign-owned brands issuing Indonesian

debit cards include Visa, Maestro,
MasterCard, and MEPS. Domestically-
owned debit card networks operating in
Indonesia include Debit BCA (and its
Prima network's counterpart, Prima Debit)
and Mandiri Debit.
Iraq

Iraq's two biggest state-owned banks,

Rafidain Bank and Rasheed Bank, together
with the Iraqi Electronic Payment System
(IEPS) have established a company called
International Smart Card, which has
developed a national credit card called 'Qi
Card', which they have issued since 2008.
According to the company's website: 'after
less than two years of the initial launch of
the Qi card solution, we have hit 1.6 million
cardholder with the potential to issue
2 million cards by the end of 2010, issuing
about 100,000 card monthly is a testament
to the huge success of the Qi card
solution. Parallel to this will be the
expansion into retail stores through a
network of points of sales of about 30,000
units by 2015'

Ireland

Today, Irish debit cards are exclusively

Chip and PIN and almost entirely Visa
Debit. These can be used anywhere the
Visa logo is seen and in much the same
way as a credit card. MasterCard debit is
also used by a small minority of
institutions and operates in a very similar
manner.
Irish debit cards are normally multi-
functional and combine ATM card
facilities. The cards are also sometimes
used for authenticating transactions
together with a card reader for 2-factor
authentication on online banking.

The majority of Irish Visa Debit cards are

also enabled for contactless payment for
small, frequent transactions (with a
maximum value of €15 or €30). Three
consecutive contactless transactions are
allowed, after which, the card software will
refuse contactless transactions until a
standard Chip and PIN transaction has
been completed and the counter resets.
This measure was put in place to minimize
issuers' exposure to fraudulent charges.

The cards are usually processed online,

but some cards can also be processed
offline depending on the rules applied by
the card issuer.

A number of card issuers also provide

prepaid debit card accounts primarily for
use as gift cards / vouchers or for added
security and anonymity online. These may
be disposable or reloadable and are
usually either Visa or MasterCard branded.

Previous system (defunct since 28

February 2014):
Laser was launched by the Irish banks in
1996 as an extension of the existing ATM
and Cheque guarantee card systems that
had existed for many years. When the
service was added, it became possible to
make payments with a multifunctional
card that combined ATM, cheque and
debit card and international ATM facilities
through MasterCard Cirrus or Visa Plus
and sometimes the British Link ATM
system. Their functionality was similar to
the British Switch card.

The system first launched as a swipe &

sign card and could be used in Ireland in
much the same way as a credit card and
were compatible standard card terminals
(online or offline, although they were
usually processed online). They could also
be used in cardholder-not-present
transactions over the phone, by mail or on
the internet or for processing recurring
payments. Laser also offered 'cash back'
facilities where customers could ask
retailers (where offered) for an amount of
cash along with their transaction. This
service allowed retailers to reduce
volumes of cash in tills and allowed
consumers to avoid having to use ATMs.
Laser adopted EMV 'Chip and PIN' security
in 2002 in common with other credit and
debit cards right across Europe. In 2005,
some banks issued customers with Lasers
cards that were co-branded with Maestro.
This allowed them to be used in POS
terminals overseas, internet transactions
were usually restricted to sites that
specifically accepted Laser.

Since 2006, Irish banks have progressively

replaced Laser with international schemes,
primarily Visa Debit and by 28 February
2014 the Laser Card system had been
withdrawn entirely and is no longer
accepted by retailers.

Israel
The Israel bank card system is somewhat
confusing to newcomers, comprising a
blend of features taken from different
types of cards. What may be referred to as
a credit card, is most likely to be a deferred
debit card on an associated bank current
account, the most common type of card in
Israel, somewhat like the situation in
France, though the term "debit card" is not
in common usage. Cards are nearly
universally called cartis ashrai (‫כרטיס‬
‫)אשראי‬, literally, "credit card", a term which
may bely the card's characteristics. Its
main feature may be a direct link to a
connected bank account (through which
they are mostly issued), with the total
value of the transactions made on the card
being debited from the bank account in full
on a regular date once a month, without
the option to carry the balance over;
indeed certain types of transactions (such
as online and/or foreign currency) may be
debited directly from the connected bank
account at the time of the transaction. Any
such limited credit enjoyed is a result of
the customer's assets and credibility with
the bank, and not granted by the credit
card company.[38] The card usually enables
immediate ATM cash withdrawals &
balance inquiries (as debit cards do),
instalment & deferred charge interest free
transactions offered by merchants (also
applicable in Brazil), interest bearing
instalment plans/deferred
charge/revolving credit which is
transaction specific at the point of sale
(though granted by the issuer, hence the
interest), and a variety of automated/upon
request types of credit schemes including
loans, some of which revolve or resemble
the extended payment options sometimes
offered by charge cards.

Thus the "true" debit card is not so

common in Israel, though it has existed
since 1994. It is offered by two credit
companies in Israel: One is ICC, short for
"Israeli Credit Cards" (referred to as "CAL",
an acronym formed from its abbreviation
in Hebrew), which issues it in the form of a
Visa Electron card valid only in Israel. It is
offered mainly through the Israel Post
(post office) bank[39] (which is not allowed,
by regulation, to offer any type of credit) or
through Israel Discount Bank, its main
owner (where it is branded as "Discount
Money Key" card). This branded Israel
Discount Bank branded debit card also
offered as valid worldwide card, either as
Visa Electron or MasterCard Debit
cards.[40] The second & more common
debit card is offered by the Isracard
consortium to its affiliate banks and is
branded "Direct". It is valid only in Israel,
under its local & unique - though
immensely popular - private label brand, as
"Isracard Direct" (which was known as
"Electro Cheque" until 2002 and while the
local brand Isracard is often viewed as a
MasterCard for local use only). Since
2006, Isracard has also offered an
international version, branded "MasterCard
Direct", which is less common. These two
debit card brands operate offline in Israel
(meaning the transaction operates under
the credit cards systems & debited
officially from the cardholder account only
few days later, after being processed -
though reflected on the current account
immediately). In 2014 the Isracard Direct
card (a.k.a. the valid only in Israel version)
was relaunched as Isracash,[41] though the
former subbrand still being marketed - &
replaced ICC Visa Electron as Israel Post
bank debit card.[42]

Overall, banks routinely offer deferred

debit cards to their new customers, with
"true" debit cards usually offered only to
those who cannot obtain credit. These
latter cards are not attractive to the
average customer since they attract both a
monthly fee from the credit company and
a bank account fee for each day's debits.
Isracard Direct is by far more common
than the ICC Visa Electron debit card.
Banks who issue mainly Visa cards will
rather offer electronic use, mandate
authorized transaction only, unembossed
version of Visa Electron deferred debit
cards (branded as "Visa Basic" or "Visa
Classic") to its customers - sometimes
even in the form of revolving credit card.

Credit/debit card transactions in Israel are

not PIN based (other than at ATMs) and it
is only in recent years that EMV chip smart
cards have begun to be issued, with the
Bank of Israel ordering the banks and
credit card companies - in 2013 - to switch
customers to credit cards with the EMV
security standard within 3.5 years.[43]
Italy

Debit cards are quite popular in Italy. There

are both classic and prepaid cards. The
main classic debit card in Italy is
Bancomat/PagoBancomat: this kind of
card is issued by Italian banks. Bancomat
is the commercial brand for the cash
withdrawal circuit, while PagoBancomat is
used for POS transactions. Unlike other
European countries such as UK, only a few
Italian banks are issuing Visa/MasterCard
debit cards (such as Intesa Sanpaolo
NextCard). The main international debit
circuit used by Italian banks is
Mastercard's Maestro: for this reason
almost every debit card issued in Italy has
both PagoBancomat and Maestro logos,
with Bancomat/PagoBancomat being
used in Italy and the Maestro circuit when
abroad. Sometimes, instead of using the
Maestro circuit, the
Bancomat/PagoBancomat debit card is
issued along with V-Pay or Visa Electron
logos, or sometimes with credit card
functions (so you get a dual-mode card).
In this last case, only the credit-card mode
is allowed for abroad/Internet
transactions, while the debit card mode is
used only in Italy. The most popular
prepaid debit card is "Postepay". It is
issued by Poste italiane S.p.A., and usually
runs on the Visa Electron circuit, but there
are some versions that run on MasterCard.
It can be used on Poste Italiane's ATMs
(Postamat) and on Visa's Electron-
compatible bank ATMs all over the world.
It has no fees when used on the Internet
and in POS-based transactions. Other
cards are issued by other companies, such
as Vodafone CashCard, Banca Popolare di
Milano's Carta Jeans and Carta Moneta
Online.

Japan

This section needs to be updated.

Learn more
In Japan people usually use their cash
cards (キャッシュカード kyasshu kādo),
originally intended only for use with cash
machines, as debit cards. The debit
functionality of these cards is usually
ジェイデビット
referred to as J-Debit (
Jeidebitto), and only cash cards from
certain banks can be used. A cash card
has the same size as a Visa/MasterCard.
As identification, the user will have to enter
their four-digit PIN when paying. J-Debit
was started in Japan on March 6, 2000.
However, J-Debit has not been that
popular since then.
Suruga Bank began service of Japan's first
Visa Debit in 2006. Rakuten Bank, formally
known as Ebank, offers a Visa debit
card.[44]

Resona Bank and The Bank of Tokyo-

Mitsubishi UFJ bank also offer a Visa
branded debit card.[45][46]

Kuwait

In Kuwait, all banks provide a debit card to

their account holders. This card is branded
as KNET, which is the central switch in
Kuwait. KNET card transactions are free
for both customer and the merchant and
therefore KNET debit cards are used for
low valued transactions as well. KNET
cards are mostly co-branded as Maestro
or Visa Electron which makes it possible
to use the same card outside Kuwait on
any terminal supporting these payment
schemes.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the local debit card network is

operated by the Malaysian Electronic
Clearing Corporation (MyClear), which had
taken over the scheme from MEPS in
2008. The new name for the local debit
card in Malaysia is MyDebit, which was
previously known as either bankcard or e-
debit. Debit cards in Malaysia are now
issued on a combo basis where the card
has both the local debit card payment
application as well as having that of an
International scheme (Visa or
MasterCard). All newly issued MyDebit
combo cards with Visa or MasterCard
have the contactless payment feature. The
same card also acts as the ATM card for
cash withdrawals.

Mali

Please, see below on "UEMOA"

Mexico

In Mexico, many companies use a type of

debit card called a payroll card (tarjeta de
nómina), in which they deposit their
employee's payrolls, instead of paying
them in cash or through checks. This
method is preferred in many places
because it is a much safer and secure
alternative compared to the more
traditional forms of payment.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands using EFTPOS is known

as pinnen (pinning), a term derived from
the use of a personal identification number
(PIN). PINs are also used for ATM
transactions, and the term is used
interchangeably by many people, although
it was introduced as a marketing brand for
EFTPOS. The system was launched in
1987, and in 2010 there were 258,585
terminals throughout the country, including
mobile terminals used by delivery services
and on markets. All banks offer a debit
card suitable for EFTPOS with current
accounts.

PIN transactions are usually free to the

customer, but the retailer is charged per-
transaction and monthly fees. Equens, an
association with all major banks as its
members, runs the system, and until
August 2005 also charged for it.
Responding to allegations of monopoly
abuse, it has handed over contractual
responsibilities to its member banks
through who now offer competing
contracts. The system is organised
through a special banking association
Currence set up specifically to coordinate
access to payment systems in the
Netherlands. Interpay, a legal predecessor
of Equens, was fined €47 million in 2004,
but the fine was later dropped, and a
related fine for banks was lowered from
€17 million to €14 million. Per-transaction
fees are between 5-10 eurocents,
depending on volume.

Credit card use in the Netherlands is very

low, and most credit cards cannot be used
with EFTPOS, or charge very high fees to
the customer. Debit cards can often,
though not always, be used in the entire EU
for EFTPOS. Most debit cards are
Mastercard Maestro cards. Visa's V Pay
cards are also accepted at most locations.
In 2011 spending money using debit cards
rose to 83 billion euro whilst cash
spending dropped to 51 billion euro and
creditcard spending grew to 5 billion.[47]
Electronic Purse Cards (called Chipknip)
were introduced in 1996, but have never
become very popular. The system was
abolished at the end of 2014.

New Zealand

EFTPOS (electronic fund transfer at point

of sale) in New Zealand is highly popular.
In 2006, 70 percent of all retail
transactions were made by Eftpos, with an
average of 306 Eftpos transaction being
made per person. At the same time, there
were 125,000 Eftpos terminals in
operation (one for every 30 people), and
5.1 million Eftpos cards in circulation (1.27
per capita).[48]

The system involves the merchant swiping

(or inserting) the customer's card and
entering the purchase amount. Point of
sale systems with integrated EFTPOS
often sent the purchase total to the
terminal and the customer swipes their
own card. The customer then selects the
account they wish to use: Current/Cheque
(CHQ), Savings (SAV), or Credit Card
(CRD), before entering in their PIN. After a
short processing time in which the
terminal contacts the EFTPOS network
and the bank, the transaction is approved
(or declined) and a receipt is printed. The
EFTPOS system is used for credit cards as
well, with a customer selecting Credit Card
and entering their PIN, or for older credit
cards without loaded PIN, pressing OK and
signing their receipt with identification
through matching signatures. Fixed
EFTPOS terminals today use internet
protocol connections to contact the
EFTPOS network, but some businesses
use the public switched telephone
network, either via dedicated phone lines
or sharing the merchant's voice line
(especially in smaller businesses).
Virtually all retail outlets have EFTPOS
facilities, so much that retailers without
EFTPOS have to advertise so. In addition,
an increasing number of mobile operator,
such as taxis, stall holders and pizza
deliverers have mobile EFTPOS systems.
The system is made up of two primary
networks: EFTPOS NZ, which is owned by
VeriFone[49] and Paymark Limited
(formerly Electronic Transaction Services
Limited), which is owned by ANZ Bank
New Zealand, ASB Bank, Westpac and the
Bank of New Zealand.[50] The two
networks are intertwined and highly
sophisticated and secure, able to handle
huge volumes of transactions during busy
periods such as the lead-up to Christmas:
on 24 December 2012, the Paymark
network alone recorded an average of 132
transactions per second between 12:00
and 13:00.[51] Network failures are rare, but
when they occur they cause massive
disruption, resulting in major delays and
loss of income for businesses.

Depending on the user's bank, a fee may

be charged for use of EFTPOS. Most youth
accounts (the minimum age to obtain an
Eftpos card from most banks in New
Zealand is 13 years) and an increasing
number of 'electronic transaction
accounts' do not attract fees for electronic
transactions, meaning the use of Eftpos by
younger generations has become
ubiquitous and subsequently cash use has
become rare. Typically merchants don't
pay fees for transactions, most only
having to pay for the equipment rental.

One of the disadvantages of New

Zealand's well-established EFTPOS
system is that it is incompatible with
overseas systems and non-face-to-face
purchases. In response to this, many
banks since 2005 have introduced
international debit cards such as Maestro
and Visa Debit which work online and
overseas as well as on the New Zealand
EFTPOS system.

Nigeria

Many Nigerians regard Debit cards as ATM

cards because of its features to withdraw
money directly from the ATM. [52]

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria,

Debit Cards can be issued to customers
having Savings /Current Accounts. There
are three major types of Debit card in
Nigeria: MasterCard, Verve, and Visa card.
These Debit cards companies have other
packages they offer in Nigeria like Naira
MasterCard platinum, Visa Debit (Dual
currency), GTCrea8 Card, SKS Teen Card,
etc. All the packages depend on your
Bank.

Philippines

In the Philippines, all three national ATM

network consortia offer proprietary PIN
debit. This was first offered by Express
Payment System in 1987, followed by
Megalink with Paylink in 1993 then
BancNet with the Point-of-Sale in 1994.

Express Payment System or EPS was the

pioneer provider, having launched the
service in 1987 on behalf of the Bank of
the Philippine Islands. The EPS service has
subsequently been extended in late 2005
to include the other Expressnet members:
Banco de Oro and Land Bank of the
Philippines. They currently operate 10,000
terminals for their cardholders.

Megalink launched Paylink EFTPOS

system in 1993. Terminal services are
provided by Equitable Card Network on
behalf of the consortium. Service is
available in 2,000 terminals, mostly in
Metro Manila.
BancNet introduced their point of sale
system in 1994 as the first consortium-
operated EFTPOS service in the country.
The service is available in over 1,400
locations throughout the Philippines,
including second and third-class
municipalities. In 2005, BancNet signed a
Memorandum of Agreement to serve as
the local gateway for China UnionPay, the
sole ATM switch in the People's Republic
of China. This will allow the estimated
1.0 billion Chinese ATM cardholders to use
the BancNet ATMs and the EFTPOS in all
participating merchants.
Visa debit cards are issued by Union Bank
of the Philippines (e-Wallet & eon),
Chinatrust, Equicom Savings Bank (Key
Card & Cash Card), Banco De Oro, HSBC,
HSBC Savings Bank, Sterling Bank of Asia
(Visa ShopNPay prepaid and debit cards)&
EastWest Bank. Union Bank of the
Philippines cards, EastWest Visa Debit
Card, Equicom Savings Bank & Sterling
Bank of Asia EMV cards which can also be
used for internet purchases. Sterling Bank
of Asia has released its first line of prepaid
and debit Visa cards with EMV chip.

MasterCard debit cards are issued by

Banco de Oro, Security Bank (Cashlink &
Cash Card) & Smart Communications
(Smart Money) tied up with Banco De Oro.
MasterCard Electronic cards are issued by
BPI (Express Cash) and Security Bank
(CashLink Plus).

Originally, all Visa and MasterCard based

debit cards in the Philippines are non-
embossed and are marked either for
"Electronic Use Only" (Visa/MasterCard) or
"Valid only where MasterCard Electronic is
Accepted" (MasterCard Electronic).
However, EastWest Bank started to offer
embossed Visa Debit Cards without the
for "Electronic Use Only" mark. Paypass
Debit MasterCard from other banks also
have embossed labels without the for
"Electronic Use Only" mark. Unlike credit
cards issued by some banks, these Visa
and MasterCard-branded debit cards do
not feature EMV chips, hence they can
only be read by the machines through
swiping.

By March 21, 2016, BDO has started

issuing sets of Debit MasterCards having
the EMV chip and is the first Philippine
bank to have it.[53] This is a response to
the BSP's monitor of the EMV shift
progress in the country.[54] By 2017, all
Debit Cards in the country should have an
EMV chip on it.[55]
Poland

In Poland, the first system of electronic

payments was operated by Orbis, which
later was changed to PolCard in 1991
(which also issued its own cards) and then
that system was bought by First Data
Poland Holding SA. In the mid-1990s
international brands such as Visa,
MasterCard, and the unembossed Visa
Electron or Maestro were introduced.

Visa Electron and Maestro work as a

standard debit cards: the transactions are
debited instantly, although it may happen
on some occasions that a transaction is
processed with some delay (hours, up to
one day). These cards do not possess the
options that credit cards have.

In the late 2000s contactless cards started

to be introduced. The first technology to
be used was MasterCard PayPass, later
joined by Visa's payWave. This payment
method is now universal and accepted
almost everywhere. In an everyday use this
payment method is always called
Paypass. Almost all business and stores in
Poland accept debit and credit cards.

In the mid-2010s Polish banks started to

replace unembossed cards with
embossed electronic cards such as Debit
MasterCard and Visa Debit, allowing the
customers to own a card that has all
qualities of a credit card (given that credit
cards are not popular in Poland).

There are also some banks that do not

possess an identification system to allow
customers to order debit cards online.

Portugal

In Portugal, debit cards are accepted

almost everywhere: ATMs, stores, and so
on. The most commonly accepted are Visa
and MasterCard, or the unembossed Visa
Electron or Maestro. Regarding Internet
payments debit cards cannot be used for
transfers, due to its unsafeness, so banks
recommend the use of 'MBnet', a pre-
registered safe system that creates a
virtual card with a pre-selected credit limit.
All the card system is regulated by SIBS,
the institution created by Portuguese
banks to manage all the regulations and
communication processes proply. SIBS'
shareholders are all the 27 banks
operating in Portugal.

Russia
In addition to Visa, MasterCard and
American Express, there are some local
payment systems based in general on
smart card technology.

Sbercard. This payment system was

created by Sberbank around 1995–
1996. It uses BGS Smartcard Systems
AG smart card technology that is, DUET.
Sberbank was a single retail bank in the
Soviet Union before 1990. De facto this
is a payment system of the SberBank.
Zolotaya Korona. This card brand was
created in 1994. Zolotaya Korona is
based on CFT technology.
 STB Card. This card uses the classic
magnetic stripe technology. It almost
fully collapsed after 1998 (GKO crisis)
with STB bank failure.
Union Card. The card also uses the
classic magnetic stripe technology. This
card brand is on the decline. These
accounts are being reissued as Visa or
MasterCard accounts.

Nearly every transaction, regardless of

brand or system, is processed as an
immediate debit transaction. Non-debit
transactions within these systems have
spending limits that are strictly limited
when compared with typical Visa or
MasterCard accounts.

Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, all debit card transactions

are routed through Saudi Payments
Network (SPAN), the only electronic
payment system in the Kingdom and all
banks are required by the Saudi Arabian
Monetary Agency (SAMA) to issue cards
fully compatible with the network. It
connects all point of sale (POS) terminals
throughout the country to a central
payment switch which in turn re-routes the
financial transactions to the card issuer,
local bank, Visa, Amex or MasterCard.

As well as its use for debit cards, the

network is also used for ATM and credit
card transactions.

Senegal

Serbia

All Serbian banks issue debit cards. Since

August 2018, all owners of transactional
accounts in Serbian dinars are
automatically issued a debit card of the
national brand DinaCard.[56] Other brands
(VISA, MasterCard and Maestro) are more
popular, better accepted and more secure,
but must be requested specifically as
additional cards. Debit cards are used for
cash withdrawal at ATMs as well as store
transactions.

Singapore

Singapore's debit service is managed by

the Network for Electronic Transfers
(NETS), founded by Singapore's leading
banks and shareholders namely DBS,
Keppel Bank, OCBC and its associates,
OUB, IBS, POSB, Tat Lee Bank and UOB in
1985 as a result of a need for a centralised
e-Payment operator.

However, due to the banking restructuring

and mergers, the local banks remaining
were UOB, OCBC, DBS-POSB as the
shareholders of NETS with Standard
Chartered Bank to offer NETS to their
customers. However, DBS and POSB
customers can use their network ATMs on
their own and not be shared with UOB,
OCBC or SCB (StanChart). The mega
failure of 5 July 2010 of POSB-DBS ATM
Networks (about 97,000 machines) made
the government to rethink the shared ATM
system again as it affected the NETS
system too.

In 2010, in line with the mandatory EMV

system, Local Singapore Banks started to
reissue their Debit Visa/MasterCard
branded debit cards with EMV Chip
compliant ones to replace the magnetic
stripe system. Banks involved included
NETS Members of POSB-DBS, UOB-OCBC-
SCB along with the SharedATM alliance
(NON-NETS) of HSBC, Citibank, State Bank
of India, and Maybank. Standard Chartered
Bank (SCB) is also a SharedATM alliance
member. Non branded cards of POSB and
Maybank local ATM Cards are kept without
a chip but have a Plus or Maestro sign
which can be used to withdraw cash
locally or overseas.

Maybank Debit MasterCards can be used

in Malaysia just like a normal ATM or Debit
MEPS card.

Singapore also uses the e-purse systems

of NETS CASHCARD and the CEPAS wave
system by EZ-Link and NETS.

Spain

Debit cards are accepted in a relatively

larger number of stores, both large and
small in Spain. Banks often offer debit
cards for small fees in connection with a
chequing account. These cards are used
more often than credit cards at ATMs
because it is a cheaper alternative.

Taiwan

Most banks issue major-brand debit cards

that can be used internationally such as
Visa, MasterCard and JCB, often with
contactless functionality. Payments at
brick-and-mortar stores generally require a
signature except for contactless
payments.
A separate, local debit system, known as
Smart Pay, can be used by the majority of
debit and ATM cards, even major-brand
cards. This system is available only in
Taiwan and a few locations in Japan as of
2016. Non-contactless payments require a
PIN instead of a signature. Cards from a
few banks support contactless payment
with Smart Pay.

Togo

UAE

Debit cards are widely accepted from

different debit card issuers including the
Network International local subsidiary of
Emirates Bank.

United Kingdom

In the UK debit cards (an integrated

EFTPOS system) are an established part
of the retail market and are widely
accepted both by bricks and mortar stores
and by internet stores. The term EFTPOS
is not widely used by the public; debit card
is the generic term used. Debit cards
commonly issued are Debit MasterCard
and Visa Debit, with Maestro, Visa Electron
and UnionPay also in circulation. Banks do
not charge customers for EFTPOS
transactions in the UK, but some retailers
used to make small charges, particularly
where the transaction amount in question
was small. However, the UK Government
introduced legislation on January 13, 2018
banning all surcharges for card payments,
including those made online and through
services such as PayPal.[57] The UK has
converted all debit cards in circulation to
Chip and PIN (except for Chip and
Signature cards issued to people with
certain disabilities and non-reloadable
prepaid cards), based on the EMV
standard, to increase transaction security;
however, PINs are not required for Internet
transactions (though some banks employ
additional security measures for online
transactions such as Verified by Visa and
MasterCard Secure Code), nor for most
contactless transactions.

In the United Kingdom, banks started to

issue debit cards in the mid-1980s in a bid
to reduce the number of cheques being
used at the point of sale, which are costly
for the banks to process; the first bank to
do so was Barclays with the Barclays
Connect card. As in most countries, fees
paid by merchants in the United Kingdom
to accept credit cards are a percentage of
the transaction amount,[58] which funds
card holders' interest-free credit periods as
well as incentive schemes such as points
or cashback. For consumer credit cards
issued within the EEA, the interchange fee
is capped at 0.3%, with a cap of 0.2% for
debit cards, although the merchant
acquirers may charge the merchant a
higher fee. Although merchants won the
right through The Credit Cards (Price
Discrimination) Order 1990 to charge
customers different prices according to
the payment method, few merchants in the
UK charge less for payment by debit card
than by credit card, the most notable
exceptions being budget airlines and travel
agents. Most debit cards in the UK lack the
advantages offered to holders of UK-
issued credit cards, such as free
incentives (points, cashback etc. (the
Tesco Bank debit card being one
exception )), interest-free credit and
protection against defaulting merchants
under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit
Act 1974 . Almost all establishments in
the United Kingdom that accept credit
cards also accept debit cards, but a
minority of merchants, for cost reasons,
accept debit cards and not credit cards.

UEMOA

It is the West Africa Economic and

Monetary Union federating eight countries:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinée
Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

GIM-UEMOA is the regional switch

féderating more than 120 members
(banks, microfinances, electronic money
issuers, etc.). All interbank cards
transactions between banks in the same
country or between banks in two different
countries UEMOA zone are routed and
cleared by GIM-UEMOA. The settlement is
done on Central Bank RTGS.

GIM-UEMOA also provides some

processing products and services to more
than 50 banks in UEMOA zone and out of
UEMOA zone.

United States

This section may require cleanup to meet

Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific
Learn more

In the U.S., EFTPOS is universally referred

to simply as debit. The largest pre-paid
debit card company is Green Dot
Corporation, by market capitalization. The
same interbank networks that operate the
ATM network also operate the POS
network. Most interbank networks, such
as Pulse, NYCE, MAC, Tyme, SHAZAM,
STAR, and so on, are regional and do not
overlap, however, most ATM/POS
networks have agreements to accept each
other's cards. This means that cards
issued by one network will typically work
anywhere they accept ATM/POS cards for
payment. For example, a NYCE card will
work at a Pulse POS terminal or ATM, and
vice versa. Debit cards in the United States
are usually issued with a Visa, MasterCard,
Discover[59] or American Express[60] logo
allowing use of their signature-based
networks.

U.S. Federal law caps the liability of a U.S.

debit card user in case of loss or theft at
US$50 if the loss or theft is reported to the
issuing bank in two business days after
the customer notices the loss.[61] Most
banks will, however, set this limit to $0 for
debit cards issued to their customers
which are linked to their checking or
savings account.

The fees charged to merchants for offline

debit purchases vs. the lack of fees
charged to merchants for processing
online debit purchases and paper checks
have prompted some major merchants in
the U.S. to file lawsuits against debit-card
transaction processors, such as Visa and
MasterCard. In 2003, Visa and MasterCard
agreed to settle the largest of these
lawsuits for $2 billion and $1 billion
respectively.[62]

Some consumers prefer "credit"

transactions because of the lack of a fee
charged to the consumer/purchaser. A few
debit cards in the U.S. offer rewards for
using "credit". However, since "credit"
transactions cost more for merchants,
many terminals at PIN-accepting merchant
locations now make the "credit" function
more difficult to access. For example, if
you swipe a debit card at Wal-Mart or Ross
in the U.S., you are immediately presented
with the PIN screen for online debit. To
use offline debit you must press "cancel"
to exit the PIN screen, and then press
"credit" on the next screen.

As a result of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street

Reform and Consumer Protection Act, U.S.
merchants can now set a minimum
purchase amount for credit card
transactions, as long as it does not to
exceed $10.[63][64]

FSA, HRA, and HSA debit cards

In the United States, an FSA debit card

only allow medical expenses. It is used by
some banks for withdrawals from their
FSAs, medical savings accounts (MSA),
and health savings accounts (HSA) as
well. They have Visa or MasterCard logos,
but cannot be used as "debit cards", only
as "credit cards". Furthermore, they are not
accepted by all merchants that accept
debit and credit cards, but only by those
that specifically accept FSA debit cards.
Merchant codes and product codes are
used at the point of sale (required by law
by certain merchants by certain states in
the US) to restrict sales if they do not
qualify. Because of the extra checking and
documenting that goes on, later, the
statement can be used to substantiate
these purchases for tax deductions. In the
occasional instance that a qualifying
purchase is rejected, another form of
payment must be used (a check or
payment from another account and a
claim for reimbursement later). In the
more likely case that non-qualifying items
are accepted, the consumer is technically
still responsible, and the discrepancy
could be revealed during an audit. A small
but growing segment of the debit card
business in the U.S. involves access to tax-
favored spending accounts such as FSAs,
HRAs, and HSAs. Most of these debit
cards are for medical expenses, though a
few are also issued for dependent care
and transportation expenses.
Traditionally, FSAs (the oldest of these
accounts) were accessed only through
claims for reimbursement after incurring,
and often paying, an out-of-pocket
expense; this often happens after the
funds have already been deducted from
the employee's paycheck. (FSAs are
usually funded by payroll deduction.) The
only method permitted by the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) to avoid this
"double-dipping" for medical FSAs and
HRAs is through accurate and auditable
reporting on the tax return. Statements on
the debit card that say "for medical uses
only" are invalid for several reasons: (1)
The merchant and issuing banks have no
way of quickly determining whether the
entire purchase qualifies for the
customer's type of tax benefit; (2) the
customer also has no quick way of
knowing; often has mixed purchases by
necessity or convenience; and can easily
make mistakes; (3) extra contractual
clauses between the customer and issuing
bank would cross-over into the payment
processing standards, creating additional
confusion (for example if a customer was
penalized for accidentally purchasing a
non-qualifying item, it would undercut the
potential savings advantages of the
account). Therefore, using the card
exclusively for qualifying purchases may
be convenient for the customer, but it has
nothing to do with how the card can
actually be used. If the bank rejects a
transaction, for instance, because it is not
at a recognized drug store, then it would
be causing harm and confusion to the
cardholder. In the United States, not all
medical service or supply stores are
capable of providing the correct
information so an FSA debit card issuer
can honor every transaction-if rejected or
documentation is not deemed enough to
satisfy regulations, cardholders may have
to send in forms manually.
Uruguay

Debit cards are accepted in a relatively

large number of stores, both large and
small in Uruguay; but their use has so far
remained low as compared to credit cards
at ATMs. Since August 2014, with the
Financial Inclusion Law coming into force,
end consumers obtain a 4% VAT deduction
for using debit cards in their purchases.[65]

Venezuela

There has been a lack of cash due to the

Venezuelan economical crisis and thus the
demand and use of debit cards has
increased greatly during the last years.
One of the reasons why a noticeable
percentage of businesses has been closed
is due to a lack of payment terminals. The
most used brands are Maestro and Visa
Electron.

See also
Alternative Payments
ATM card
Debit card cashback
Electronic funds transfer
Electronic Payment Services
EPAS
 Interac
Inventory information approval system,
a point-of-sale technology used with
FSA debit cards
Payment card
Payments Council
Payoneer
Point-of-sale (POS)
USA Technologies Inc.

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