Visa Electron
Encyclopedia
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...
available across most of the world, with the exception of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 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 the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The card was introduced by VISA in the 1980s and is a sister card to the Visa Debit
Visa Debit
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...
card. The difference between Visa Electron and Visa Debit is that payments with Visa Electron require that all the funds be available at the time of transfer, i.e., Visa Electron card accounts may not be overdrawn. Visa Debit cards, on the other hand, allow transfers exceeding available funds up to a certain limit. Some online stores and all offline terminals (like on trains and aircraft) do not support Visa Electron because their systems cannot check for the availability of funds.
Details
In different regions the card is issued with different specifications. For example, one bank may issue a Visa Electron 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...
, while another may issue a 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...
. It is most commonly issued as a debit card. Applying for a credit card requires the applicant to present some proof of regular income (such as an employment certificate) or financial assets invested elsewhere.
In addition to debit facilities, the card also allows the holder to withdraw cash from automated teller machine
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...
s (ATMs) even outside the holder's country of residence unlike normal ATM cards issued in some countries. This is because Visa Electron cards are also linked to the Visa PLUS interbank network
Interbank network
An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that connects the ATMs of different banks and permits these ATMs to interact with the ATM cards of non-native banks....
. While the card is not available in the United States, it can be used to transfer funds from other countries.
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 card is not as widely accepted as the Visa Debit
Visa Debit
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...
card, but is often issued by banks as a debit card for basic bank accounts and children's accounts. As of 2009, most UK banks have migrated away from Visa Electron - of the major banks, only HBOS
HBOS
HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group having been taken over in January 2009...
still issues the card, with others (including Santander who used to issue it also) issuing some form of Visa Debit. Lloyds TSB, Barclays and the Co-operative Bank formerly issued the card - all have now instead moved to "all authorised" Visa Debit
Visa Debit
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...
cards for basic account holders.
In countries that have stricter criteria for issuing credit cards Visa Electron has become popular with younger people and students. As each transaction requires funds to be checked accounts cannot be overdrawn. Therefore banks will issue a Visa Electron card to customers who may not qualify for credit. In some cases, especially in the UK, rather than issuing Electron to customers who should not be allowed to go overdrawn, banks will issue what is ostensibly a full Visa Debit card that authorises online for every transaction, in exactly the same manner as Electron. This can cause these cards to be declined where an actual Visa Debit card would be accepted, for example at petrol pumps or train stations.
As Visa Electron cards do not have embossed details they cannot be used with older card imprinters that imprint a paper slip with the card number and other details which are embossed in raised letters on the card, unless the card details are written on the slip.
As the card carries a low interchange fee
Interchange fee
Interchange fee is a term used in the payment card industry to describe a fee paid between banks for the acceptance of card based transactions. Usually it is a fee that a merchant's bank pays a customer's bank however there are instances where the interchange fee is paid from the issuer to...
, airlines and other businesses which surcharge credit and debit card payments do not usually surcharge Visa Electron payments. Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
and Easyjet
EasyJet
EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...
have become notorious for this, charging disproportionately high fees for other debit cards.
In China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Visa Electron is the only non-UnionPay
China UnionPay
China UnionPay , also known as UnionPay or by its abbreviation, CUP, is the only domestic bank card organization in the People's Republic of China . Founded in March 2002, China UnionPay is an association for China's banking card industry, operating under the approval of the People's Bank of China...
debit card type available for newly issued accounts as of 2009, and only from ICBC
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. is the largest bank in the world by profit and market capitalization. It is one China's 'Big Four' state-owned commercial banks .It was founded as a limited company on January 1, 1984...
.
Former design
Special Visa Electron logo, normally on the bottom right, and the words "DEBIT CARD" for debit cards, normally on the top right. Most VISA Electron cards do not have the dove hologram as on Visa credit and debit cards, but a few banks do include it. The card cannot imprint a paper slip, so for card-present transactions it can only be accepted through a magnetic stripe cardMagnetic stripe card
A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card...
reader or a PIN entry device
PINpad
A PIN pad is an electronic device used in a debit or smart card-based transaction to input and encrypt the cardholder's PIN. PIN pads are normally used with integrated point of sale devices in which an electronic cash register is responsible for taking the sale amount and initiating/handling the...
.
Current design
From mid-2006 Visa removed their trademark "flag" logo from all their cards, websites and retailer's windows. It is the first time that this logo has been omitted since the company was founded.The new logo for all Electron cards is a simple white background with the name Visa in blue with an orange flick on the 'V', followed by the word "Electron" on a separate line. The card number is printed, not embossed in raised letters. Retailers often allow the card number to be keyed in, although an imprint cannot be taken and it leaves them at risk.
External links
- Directory of online shops that accept Visa Electron card
- BBC article on Halifax switch to Electron, 15 May 2004
- List of Banks that issue Visa Electron cards in the UK