Visa Debit
Encyclopedia
Visa Debit is a major debit card
issued by Visa
in the United Kingdom
, the Republic of Ireland
and other nations of the European Union
. Prior to October 2004, the debit card was known as Visa Delta. Since June 2009, the major banks in the UK have begun issuing Visa Debit. Barclays, Bank of Scotland
/Halifax, Lloyds TSB
, and Santander
have already issued the card. HSBC
, RBS
(including NatWest and Ulster Bank
) are currently in the process of migrating to the card from the Maestro debit card.
The scheme is also used by many smaller banks and building societies
(some of whom had also previously been Switch issuers) including the Co-operative Bank
, First Trust Bank
, Alliance & Leicester
, Northern Rock
, Reliance Bank
, Nationwide
and Coventry Building Society
. In October 2010, CIBC became the first bank in Canada to offer a Visa-branded debit card (the CIBC Advantage Card).
The obverse and reverse
of the cards are similar to a Visa
credit card
, including the “VISA” logotype and the dove hologram.
logo.
and French Carte Bleue
.
For all Delta cards, the new logo was a white background with the name “VISA” in blue with an orange flick on the 'V' (illustrated). This is immediately followed by the word "Debit". This signalled a definite end of "Visa Delta" in those countries that used it.
The new logotype was also applied to other VISA
operations, including credit cards and the VISA Electron
electronic debit card.
both internationally and in the UK. Retailers in some countries can however accept the card as a debit card rather than a normal Visa card. In this case, the store is not charged a percentage, but rather a small fixed charge of around £0.50 per transaction. All transactions are in any case processed through the Visa clearing system, using the same card number, distinguishing it from other national debit card schemes which can be combined with Visa on a credit card. Customers might be charged a fee by their bank, for example, when buying foreign currency in the UK (up to 2%).
Because of an issue between The Co-operative Bank and Visa, Visa Debit cards starting with the digits 4508 75 are still recognised as Visa Electron by retailers. As such, if a retailer does not accept Visa Electron
, they will not accept Visa Debit cards issued by The Co-operative Bank beginning with these numbers.
market are Maestro
and Debit MasterCard
debit cards. Maestro is issued by Yorkshire Bank
and Clydesdale Bank
. Yorkshire Bank
and Clydesdale Bank
have also begun to issue Debit MasterCard.
In the Republic of Ireland
, currently only Ulster Bank and Permanent tsb offer Visa Debit cards, whereas most other banks issue Laser
or Maestro cards (often co-branded). Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank are due to commence the Visa Debit card service in replacement to the unpopular Laser cards due to their lack of international and online usage.
Visa and MasterCard debit cards are more widely accepted in the UK and internationally than Maestro, as both use either the Visa or MasterCard clearing systems for card payments. (LINK
is used for domestic UK Debit Card ATM
transactions).
Debit card
A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...
issued by Visa
VISA (credit card)
Visa Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered on 595 Market Street, Financial District in San Francisco, California, United States, although much of the company's staff is based in Foster City, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and other nations of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Prior to October 2004, the debit card was known as Visa Delta. Since June 2009, the major banks in the UK have begun issuing Visa Debit. Barclays, Bank of Scotland
Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc is a commercial and clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland. With a history dating to the 17th century, it is the second oldest surviving bank in what is now the United Kingdom, and is the only commercial institution created by the Parliament of Scotland to...
/Halifax, Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB Bank Plc is a retail bank in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1995 by the merger of Lloyds Bank, established in Birmingham, England in 1765 and traditionally considered one of the Big Four clearing banks, with the TSB Group which traces its origins to 1810...
, and Santander
Santander UK
Santander UK plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group. Based in the United Kingdom, it operates under the name of Santander. Santander is the third largest bank in the UK in terms of deposits, the second largest in terms of mortgages held, and the fourth largest in terms of...
have already issued the card. HSBC
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
, RBS
RBS
-Banking:* Royal Bank of Scotland - Scottish high street bank** Royal Bank of Scotland Group - A majority British state owned Scottish holding company, which owns Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and others-Defence:...
(including NatWest and Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank is a large commercial bank, one of the Big Four in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities, Ulster Bank Limited and Ulster Bank Ireland Limited...
) are currently in the process of migrating to the card from the Maestro debit card.
The scheme is also used by many smaller banks and building societies
Building society
A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially mortgage lending. These institutions are found in the United Kingdom and several other countries.The term "building society"...
(some of whom had also previously been Switch issuers) including the Co-operative Bank
Co-operative Bank
The Co-operative Bank plc is a commercial bank in the United Kingdom and Guernsey, with its headquarters in Manchester.The bank markets itself as an ethical bank, and refuses to invest in companies involved in the arms trade, global climate change, genetic engineering, animal testing and use of...
, First Trust Bank
First Trust Bank
First Trust Bank, part of the AIB Group, is a commercial bank in Northern Ireland. The bank was created in 1991 when TSB Northern Ireland merged with the AIB Group's other interests. The bank can trace its existence back to 1816 with the founding of the Belfast Savings Bank...
, Alliance & Leicester
Alliance & Leicester
Alliance & Leicester was a former UK-based bank and PLC, which in later years operated as a trading name of Santander UK before being rebranded as Santander. Alliance & Leicester was legally acquired in May 2010 by Santander UK, and was fully incorporated by 2011...
, Northern Rock
Northern Rock
Northern Rock plc is a British bank, best known for becoming the first bank in 150 years to suffer a bank run after having had to approach the Bank of England for a loan facility, to replace money market funding, during the credit crisis in 2007. Having failed to find a commercial buyer for...
, Reliance Bank
Reliance Bank
Formerly known as The Salvation Army Bank, Reliance Bank Limited was founded in 1890 by William Booth. When he needed to attract investments to finance mortgages on property vital to the work of the movement, his response was to set up the Army's own bank....
, Nationwide
Nationwide Building Society
Nationwide Building Society is a British building society, and is the largest in the world. It has its headquarters in Swindon, England, and maintains significant administration centres in Bournemouth and Northampton...
and Coventry Building Society
Coventry Building Society
The Coventry Building Society is a building society based in Coventry, England. It is the third largest in the United Kingdom with total assets of approximately £22.3 billion at 31 December 2010. It is a member of the Building Societies Association.-History:...
. In October 2010, CIBC became the first bank in Canada to offer a Visa-branded debit card (the CIBC Advantage Card).
Card designs
The obverse and reverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
of the cards are similar to a Visa
VISA (credit card)
Visa Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered on 595 Market Street, Financial District in San Francisco, California, United States, although much of the company's staff is based in Foster City, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout...
credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
, including the “VISA” logotype and the dove hologram.
Previous designs
From the phase-out of the Visa Delta branding until 2006, cards displayed the VISA tricolour flag trademark, with the addition of the words "DEBIT" or "DEBIT CARD". On the back, cards issued before October 2004 display the Delta logo, and usually also a cheque guaranteeCheque guarantee card
A cheque guarantee card is essentially an abbreviated portable letter of credit granted by a bank to a qualified depositor, providing that when he is paying a business by cheque and the retailer writes the card number on the back of the cheque, the cheque is signed in the retailer's presence, and...
logo.
2006 redesign
In 2006, card issuers began removing the Visa trademark "flag" logo from all their cards, websites and retailers' windows. The flag had originated as the branding for the BankAmericard credit card programme, the forerunner of Visa Inc. that included the UK's BarclaycardBarclaycard
Barclaycard, part of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, is a global payment business. The Barclaycard was the first credit card introduced in the UK, coming into service in 1966. It enjoyed a monopoly until the introduction of the Access card in 1972....
and French Carte Bleue
Carte Bleue
Carte Bleue is a major debit card payment system operating in France. Unlike Visa Electron or Maestro debit cards, Carte Bleue allows transactions without requiring authorization from the cardholder's bank. In many situations, the card works like a credit card but without fees for the cardholder...
.
For all Delta cards, the new logo was a white background with the name “VISA” in blue with an orange flick on the 'V' (illustrated). This is immediately followed by the word "Debit". This signalled a definite end of "Visa Delta" in those countries that used it.
The new logotype was also applied to other VISA
Visa
Visa or VISA may refer to:* Visa , a document issued by a country's government allowing the holder to enter or to leave that country...
operations, including credit cards and the VISA Electron
Visa Electron
Visa Electron is a debit card available across most of the world, with the exception of Canada, Australia, Ireland and the United States. The card was introduced by VISA in the 1980s and is a sister card to the Visa Debit card...
electronic debit card.
System
The card can be used just like a Visa credit cardCredit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
both internationally and in the UK. Retailers in some countries can however accept the card as a debit card rather than a normal Visa card. In this case, the store is not charged a percentage, but rather a small fixed charge of around £0.50 per transaction. All transactions are in any case processed through the Visa clearing system, using the same card number, distinguishing it from other national debit card schemes which can be combined with Visa on a credit card. Customers might be charged a fee by their bank, for example, when buying foreign currency in the UK (up to 2%).
Because of an issue between The Co-operative Bank and Visa, Visa Debit cards starting with the digits 4508 75 are still recognised as Visa Electron by retailers. As such, if a retailer does not accept Visa Electron
Visa Electron
Visa Electron is a debit card available across most of the world, with the exception of Canada, Australia, Ireland and the United States. The card was introduced by VISA in the 1980s and is a sister card to the Visa Debit card...
, they will not accept Visa Debit cards issued by The Co-operative Bank beginning with these numbers.
Market competition
The competitors to Visa Debit in the UK debit cardDebit card
A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...
market are Maestro
Maestro (debit card)
Maestro is a multi-national debit card service owned by MasterCard, and was founded in 1990. Maestro cards are obtained from associate banks and can be linked to the card holder's current account, or they can be prepaid cards...
and Debit MasterCard
Debit MasterCard
The Debit MasterCard is a type of debit card in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and other countries. It uses the same systems as the standard MasterCard credit card, but does not use a line of credit to the customer as it is a debit card...
debit cards. Maestro is issued by Yorkshire Bank
Yorkshire Bank
Yorkshire Bank is a commercial bank in England and Wales, a division of Clydesdale Bank, which in turn is a subsidiary of National Australia Bank. It mostly operates in the North of England, especially in Yorkshire. In 2006 underlying profit rose 16.7 per cent to £454 million compared with a...
and Clydesdale Bank
Clydesdale Bank
Clydesdale Bank is a commercial bank in Scotland, a subsidiary of the National Australia Bank Group. In Scotland, Clydesdale Bank is the third largest clearing bank, although it also retains a branch network in London and the north of England...
. Yorkshire Bank
Yorkshire Bank
Yorkshire Bank is a commercial bank in England and Wales, a division of Clydesdale Bank, which in turn is a subsidiary of National Australia Bank. It mostly operates in the North of England, especially in Yorkshire. In 2006 underlying profit rose 16.7 per cent to £454 million compared with a...
and Clydesdale Bank
Clydesdale Bank
Clydesdale Bank is a commercial bank in Scotland, a subsidiary of the National Australia Bank Group. In Scotland, Clydesdale Bank is the third largest clearing bank, although it also retains a branch network in London and the north of England...
have also begun to issue Debit MasterCard.
In the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, currently only Ulster Bank and Permanent tsb offer Visa Debit cards, whereas most other banks issue Laser
Laser (debit card)
Laser Card is a debit card scheme in Ireland. The Laser Scheme is maintained and operated by , a not-for-profit body owned by four leading financial institutions in Ireland and overseen since 2008 by the Oversight Unit of the Central Bank. The scheme was launched in 1996 and in 2010 there were...
or Maestro cards (often co-branded). Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank are due to commence the Visa Debit card service in replacement to the unpopular Laser cards due to their lack of international and online usage.
Visa and MasterCard debit cards are more widely accepted in the UK and internationally than Maestro, as both use either the Visa or MasterCard clearing systems for card payments. (LINK
LINK (UK)
LINK is a shared interbank network of automated teller machines operating in the United Kingdom. The network counts 37 member institutions, of which many are various banks and building societies issuing LINK ATM cards, and the remainder are independent ATM operators who do not issue cards...
is used for domestic UK Debit Card ATM
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
transactions).