Debit Card: A Convenient Choice Of Payment Method

Among the best alternatives for purchasing any goods and services is the use of debit card.

Physically ISO 7810 like, debit cards are similar to credit cards yet its service is more alike with writing cheques where funds are withdrawn straight from the bank account of the cardholder or from a remaining balance of a certain gift card.

Varying on the conditions of the merchant or store, a debit card may be swiped or inserted in the terminal or the merchant may do so. The transaction is approved and processed. The customer should verify the transaction by entering the PIN or signing a receipt.

In some countries worldwide, the debit card serves a lot of purpose, as an ATM card to withdraw cash or as a check security card.

The use of a debit card has spread in a lot of countries all over the world. In fact, it has overtaken the use of check and some per volume cash transactions. Like a credit card, the debit card is used widely for Internet and telephone purchases.

During peak shopping seasons, using this kind of payment method may cause delay and inconvenience especially that the transaction volume sometimes excesses the bank network.

There are different kinds of debit cards.

FSA debit card - identified as flexible spending accounts, this only allows payment for medical expenses, health reimbursement accounts and health savings accounts. It contains Mastercard or Visa logos. However, they cannot be utilized as debit cards, yet just as credit cards. The merchant code and the product code are used during the points of sale.

France - the banks in France put annual fee charges however they have no charge for checkbooks and processing checks.

United Kingdom - this country started issuing debit cards during the 80's period, to minimize the use of cheques. The merchants in the United Kingdom usually do not charge a fraction of what was purchased.

Rest of Europe - most merchants in this region accepts a debit card payment method since the fees are lower than the credit card's.


Typically, the front of a debit card bears the logo of the issuing bank, the EMV chip or Europay, Mastercard and VISA incorporation; hologram, the card number, the brand logo of the card, expiry and the name of the cardholder.

Meanwhile, the reverse part of a usual debit card contains magnetic stripe, signature strip and the security code of the card.

In the present day, nearly all establishments accept debit cards as a form of payment to a transaction because this is handy for the customers and cost-efficient for the merchants.