Tridata provides professional services to the retail, banking and telecommunications industries.

Typically our customers are card acquirers, banks, payment processors and other financial institutions or telecommunication companies that provide communication services to these industries.

We specialise in:

• Global business introductions

• Product integration

• Business service convergence at retailer's sites

• Migration of dial POS and ATM to xDSL & mobile.

• Economical and Secure ATM deployment over VPN and Secure Internet

• Designing and optimising infrastructure that supports low cost business models.

• Global business and connectivity.

• Go to market plans and research for Australiasia and Asia.

We also engage as a specialised sub-contractor for system integrators or telcos, acting to speed deployment and reliable implementation of electronic payment and e-product solutions.

EFTPOS, Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale, refers to the technology that allows a retailer to directly debit a customer's bank account by using a debit card. The debit card, generally the same as an ATM card, is swiped through a reading device just like a credit card. The customer must enter his or her PIN number, generally requested once the amount of the sale has been entered into the EFTPOS device. There are many advantages to using an EFTPOS for the retailer and customer alike. The retailer is paid 'instantly' without having to accept actual cash. Though cash is certainly preferable over credit cards with surcharges, or personal checks that can bounce, there are many security liabilities surrounding the handling of large amounts of cash. Cash must be manually counted by the cashier at the POS, counted again when the register is balanced out, and finally collected by an armed service or personally deposited. With EFTPOS, the money is wired directly into the retailer's bank account, bypassing those liabilities while saving manual resources. The customer also comes out ahead using EFTPOS, due to its considerable convenience. A shopper need not have cash on hand, credit cards, or a checkbook to make a purchase. This is especially convenient for unplanned or impulse buying. The customer can also get cash back from the transaction -- another convenience. Furthermore, if an item needs to be returned to the store, an EFTPOS sale affords the patron an instant cash refund, notwithstanding store policy. Contrast this with personal checks which require a customer to wait two weeks or more before a cash refund can be offered. Finally, EFTPOS saves the consumer money by sparing personal checks and ATM fees to withdraw cash. EFTPOS is extremely popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Some manufacturers of EFTPOS systems include: EFTPOS, Ingenico, Axalto, Sagem, Thales, Trintech, Verifone, and Hypercom For consumers, the difference between a debit card and a credit card is that the former immediately deducts the balance from a checking or savings account, whereas the latter allows the consumer to spend money they might not actually have (but promise to pay later to the card-issuing bank). In some countries: When a merchant asks credit or debit? the answer determines whether they will use a merchant account affiliated with one or more traditional credit card associations (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, etc.) or an interbank network typically used for debit and ATM cards, like PLUS, Cirrus (interbank network), or Maestro. In other countries: When a merchant asks credit or debit? the answer determines whether the transaction will be handled as a credit transaction or as a debit transaction. In the former case, the merchant is more likely than in the latter case to have to pay a fee defined by fixed percentage to the merchant's bank. In both cases, the merchant may have to pay a fixed amount to the bank. In either case, the transaction will go through a major credit/debit network (such as Visa, MasterCard, Visa Electron or Maestro). In either case, the transaction may be conducted in either online or offline mode, although the card issuing bank may choose to block transactions made in offline mode. This is always the case with Visa Electron transactions, usually the case with Maestro transactions and rarely the case with Visa or MasterCard transactions. In yet other countries: A merchant will only ask for credit or debit? if the card is a combined credit+debit card. If the payee chooses credit, the credit balance will be debited the amount of the purchase; if the payee chooses debit, the bank account balance will be debited the amount of the purchase. This may be confusing because debit cards which are linked directly to a checking account are sometimes dual-purpose, so that they can be used seamlessly in place of a credit card, and can be charged by merchants using the traditional credit networks. There are also pre-paid credit cards which act like a debit card but can only be charged using the traditional credit networks. The card itself does not necessarily indicate whether it is connected to an existing pile of money, or merely represents a promise to pay later. In some countries: The debit networks typically require that purchases be made in person and that a personal identification number be supplied. The credit networks allow cards to be charged with only a signature, and/or picture ID. In other countries: Identification typically requires the entering of a personal identification number or signing a piece of paper. This is regardless of whether the card network in use mostly is used for credit transactions or for debit transactions. In the event of an offline transaction (regardless of whether the offline transaction is a credit transaction or a debit transaction), identification using a PIN is impossible, so only signatures on pieces of paper work. In some countries: Consumer protections also 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 other countries: India 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 overdraught because the money is considered to have left the account at the moment of the card swiping.Although many debit cards are of the Visa or MasterCard brand, 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, Carte Bleue in France, Laser in Ireland, EC electronic cash (formerly Eurocheck) in Germany 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 rebranded with the internationally recognised 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 (e.g. EC cards in Germany, Laser cards in Ireland, Switch and Solo in the UK, Pinpas cards in the Netherlands, Bancontact cards in Belgium, etc.). Debit card systems have become popular in video arcades, bowling centers and theme parks. The use of a debit card system allows operators to package their product more effectively while monitoring customer spending. An example of one of these systems is ECS by Embed International.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; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group: 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. EFTPOS cards can also be used to deposit and withdraw cash over the counter at Australia Post outlets participating in giroPost, 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 (which were called keycards) were only usable for EFTPOS and at ATM or bank branches, whilst the new debit card system works in the same ways a credit card, except it will only use funds in the specified bank account. This means among other things, that it is suitable for electronic purchases without requiring 2 to 4 day 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 are usually authorized by the printing and signing of a receipt. If the user fails to enter the correct pin 3 times, the consequences range from the card being locked out and requiring 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 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, MasterCard or Bankcard, from stopping those retailers charging extra fees to take payment by credit card instead of cash or EFTPOS. Though only a few operators with strong market power have done so, the passing on of fees charged for credit card transactions may result in an increased use of EFTPOS. ATMs are placed not only near or inside the premises of banks, but also in locations such as shopping centers/malls, airports, grocery stores, petrol/gas stations, restaurants, or any place large numbers of people may gather. These represent two types of ATM installations: on and off premise. On premise ATMs are typically more advanced, multi-function machines that complement an actual bank branch's capabilities and thus more expensive. Off premise machines are deployed by financial institutions and also ISOs (or Independent Sales Organizations) where there is usually just a straight need for cash, so they typically are the cheaper mono-function devices. In Canada, when an ATM is not operated by a financial institution it is known as a White Label ATM. EFT transactions require communication between a number of parties. When a card is used at a merchant or ATM, the transaction is first routed to an acquirer, then through a number of networks to the issuer where the cardholder's account is held. A transaction may be authorized offline by any of these entities through a stand-in agreement. Stand-in authorization may be used when a communication link is not available, or simply to save communication cost or time. Stand-in is subject to the transaction amount being below agreed limits. These limits are calculated based on the risk of authorizing a transaction offline, and thus vary between merchants and card types. Offline transactions may be subject to other security checks such as checking the card number against a 'hotcard' (stolen card) list, velocity checks (limiting the number of offline transactions allowed by a cardholder) and random online authorization. A transaction may be authorized via a pre-authorization step, where the merchant requests the issuer to reserve an amount on the cardholder's account for a specific time, followed by completion, where the merchant requests an amount blocked earlier with a pre-authorization. This transaction flow in two steps is often used in businesses such as hotels and car rental where the final amount is not known, and the pre-authorization is made based on an estimated amount. Completion may form part of a settlement process, typically performed at the end of the day when the day's completed transactions are submitted. EFT transactions may be accompanied by methods to authenticate the card and the card holder. The merchant may manually verify the card holder's signature, or the card holder's Personal identification number (PIN) may be sent online in an encrypted form for validation by the card issuer. Other information may be included in the transaction, some of which is not visible to the card holder (for instance magnetic stripe data), and some of which may be requested from the card holder (for instance the card holder's address or the CVV2 value printed on the card). ETSL ANZ CBA NAB Westpac St George Paymark FirstData Cashcard Cashpoint Pulse ePay Bartercard Australia Paypoint icash ATM IP Wireless solutions Diebold Triton Thailand Mann Williamson Telstar Argent TCNZ Telecom New Zealand TNS Transaction Network Services Ray Low Dialect TNSA TNS Transact Plus Optus Tran$end IP temrinals dial to SSL Transend A debit card is a plastic car which provides an alternative payment method to cadsh... when making purchases. In most cases: Physically the card is an ISO 7810 International Standard ISO 7810 defines three formats for identity cards or identification cards, ID-1, ID-2, and ID-3. ID-1 The ID-1 format specifies a size of 85.60 ? 53.98 mm, equal to 3.37 ? 2.125 in. It is commonly used for banking cards (ATM cards, credit cards, debit cards, etc.). It is today also used for driving licences in many countries (e.g., US, EU), retail loyalty cards, and it is one fairly common format for business cards.... card like a credit cardA credit card system is a type of retail transaction settlement and credit system, named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. A credit card is different from a debit card in that the credit card issuer lends the consumer money rather than having the money removed from an account. It is also different from a charge card (though this name is often used to describe credit cards by the public) in that charge cards do not extend the user credit -- the charges must be paid each month in ful... ; however, its functionality is more similar to writing a cheque as the funds are withdrawn directly from either the cardholder's bank accountThe essential function of a bank is to provide services related to the storing of value and the extending of credit. The evolution of banking dates back to the earliest writing, and continues in the present where a bank is a financial institution that provides banking and other financial services. Currently the term bank is generally understood an institution that holds a banking license. Banking licenses are granted by financial supervision authorities and provide rights to conduct the most fundamental ban... (often referred to as a check card), or from the remaining balance on the card. In other cases: some cards are designed exclusively for use on the Internet, and so there is no physical card.[5][6] In potential cases, the card may be completely different compared to these two examples.Depending on the store or merchant, the customer may swipe or insert their card into the terminal, or they may hand it to the merchant who will do so. The transaction is authorized and processed and the customer verifies the transaction either by entering a PINA personal identification number (PIN) is a numeric value that is used in certain systems to gain access, and authenticate. PINs are a type of password. Ignorance of the expansion of the acronym often leads to the erroneous usage PIN number, in which the accidental repetition of the final word is sometimes referred to as RAS syndrome.... or, occasionally, by signing a sales receipt. In some countries the debit card is multipurpose, acting as the ATM card for withdrawing cash and as a check guarantee card. Merchants can also offer cashback / cashout facilities to customers, where a customer can withdraw cash along with their purchase. The use of debit cards has become wide-spread in many countries and has overtaken the check, and in some instances cash transactions by volume. Like credit cards, debit cards are used widely for telephone and Internet purchases. This may cause inconvenient delays at peak shopping times (e.g. the last shopping day before ChristmasChristmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a holiday in the Christian calendar, usually observed on December 25, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. According to the Christian gospels, Jesus was born to Mary in Bethlehem, where she and her husband Joseph had travelled to register in the Roman census. Christ's birth, or nativity, was said by his followers to fulfill the prophecies of Judaism that a messiah would come, from the house of David, to redeem the world from sin. Early Christians celebrated more ... ), caused when the volume of transactions overloads the bank networks. All or part of this article may be confusing or unclear.Please help . Suggestions may be on the talk pageVisa has something called a check card , is this the same thing as a secured credit card? it's tied to a chequing account and any purchase is treated as a withdrawal from that account No, with secured credit cards money deposited must remain untouched. It acts as collateral and defines your credit limit. The Visa check card is a debit card. They named it a check card to make it sound original and stir up additional interest.... . (January 2008) For consumers, the difference between a debit card and a credit card is that the former immediately deducts the balance from a checking or savings account, whereas the latter allows the consumer to spend money they might not actually have (but promise to pay later to the card-issuing bank). In some countries: When a merchant asks credit or debit? the answer determines whether they will use a merchant account affiliated with one or more traditional credit card associations (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, etc.) or an interbank network typically used for debit and ATM cards, like PLUS, Cirrus (interbank network), or Maestro.In other countries: When a merchant asks credit or debit? the answer determines whether the transaction will be handled as a credit transaction or as a debit transaction. In the former case, the merchant is more likely than in the latter case to have to pay a fee defined by fixed percentage to the merchant's bank. In both cases, the merchant may have to pay a fixed amount to the bank. In either case, the transaction will go through a major credit/debit network (such as Visa, MasterCard, Visa Electron or Maestro). In either case, the transaction may be conducted in either online or offline mode, although the card issuing bank may choose to block transactions made in offline mode. This is always the case with Visa Electron transactions, usually the case with Maestro transactions and rarely the case with Visa or MasterCard transactions. In yet other countries: A merchant will only ask for credit or debit? if the card is a combined credit+debit card. If the payee chooses credit , the credit balance will be debited the amount of the purchase; if the payee chooses debit , the bank account balance will be debited the amount of the purchase. This may be confusing because debit cards which are linked directly to a checking account are sometimes dual-purpose, so that they can be used seamlessly in place of a credit card, and can be charged by merchants using the traditional credit networks. There are also pre-paid credit cards which act like a debit card but can only be charged using the traditional credit networks. The card itself does not necessarily indicate whether it is connected to an existing pile of money, or merely represents a promise to pay later. In some countries: The debit networks typically require that purchases be made in person and that a personal identification number be supplied. The credit networks allow cards to be charged with only a signature, and/or picture ID. In other countries: Identification typically requires the entering of a personal identification number or signing a piece of paper. This is regardless of whether the card network in use mostly is used for credit transactions or for debit transactions. In the event of an offline transaction (regardless of whether the offline transaction is a credit transaction or a debit transaction), identification using a PIN is impossible, so only signatures on pieces of paper work. In some countries: Consumer protections also 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 accountIncludes demand deposits, ATS, NOW, and other checkable deposits. See also Money supply ... 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 other countries: India 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 overdraught because the money is considered to have left the account at the moment of the card swiping. Although many debit cards are of the Visa or MasterCardMasterCard Incorporated is a membership organization owned by the 25,000 financial institutions that issue its card. MasterCard is also the company's brand of credit cards. It was originally created as Master Charge by the United California Bank (now part of Wells Fargo) as a competitor to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America. BankAmericard is now the VISA credit card, issued by Visa International. Other California banks involved in the founding of the original MasterCard were Wells Fargo, Crocker ... brand, 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 KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and a member of the European Union. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, UK or, inaccurately, as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent parts. Three of these parts England, Wales and Scotland, are often considered countries or nations in their own right. The fourth is Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland is the current limit of UK sovereignty on the island of Ireland.... , Carte Bleue in FranceThe French Republic or France (French: R?publique fran?aise or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents.... , Laser in IrelandThe Republic of Ireland (Irish: Poblacht na h?ireann) is a state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of Ireland, off the coast of north-west Europe. It is the westernmost state of the European Union, and has a developed economy and a population of around four million. The remaining sixth of the island of Ireland is known as Northern Ireland and is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Under the Irish constitution the state's official name is simply Ireland (Irish... , EC electronic cash (formerly Eurocheck) in Germany The Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the heart of Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east by Poland, and the Czech Republic, to the south by Austria and Switzerland, and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.... and EFTPOS cards in Australia and New Zealand. The need for cross-border compatibility and the advent of the euroThe euro (€; ISO 4217 code EUR) is the currency of twelve of the twenty-five nations that form the European Union (and four outside it, as well as Montenegro and Kosovo), which form the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It is the result of the most significant monetary reform in Europe since the Roman Empire. Though the introduction of the euro can be seen simply as a mechanism for perfecting the Single European Market, facilitating free trade between the members of the Eurozone, the euro is also a k... recently led to many of these card networks (such as SwitzerlandThe Swiss Confederation or Switzerland is a landlocked federal state in Europe, with neighbours Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The country has a strong tradition of political and military neutrality, but also of international co-operation, and is home to many international organisations.... 's EC direkt , AustriaThe Republic of Austria (German Republik ?sterreich) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, lovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The state is a representative democracy governed in accordance with principles of Parliamentarism.... 's Bankomatkasse and Switch in the United Kingdom) being rebranded with the internationally recognised 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 (e.g. EC cards in Germany, Laser cards in Ireland, Switch and Solo in the UK, Pinpas cards in the Netherlands, Bancontact cards in Belgium, etc.). Debit card systems have become popular in video arcades, bowling centers and theme parks. The use of a debit card system allows operators to package their product more effectively while monitoring customer spending. An example of one of these systems is ECS by Embed International. In the U.S.AThe United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., U.S., US, America?, the States, or (archaically) Columbia, is a federal republic of fifty states, mostly in central North America. The U.S. proper has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico, and one territorial waters boundary with Russia. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 50 states, however, there are two, Alaska and Hawaii, which are nei... , a FSA debit card only allows medical expenses. It is used by some banks for withdrawals from their FSAs, MSAs, and HSAs as well. They have Visa or MasterCardMasterCard Incorporated is a membership organization owned by the 25,000 financial institutions that issue its card. MasterCard is also the company's brand of credit cards. It was originally created as Master Charge by the United California Bank (now part of Wells Fargo) as a competitor to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America. BankAmericard is now the VISA credit card, issued by Visa International. Other California banks involved in the founding of the original MasterCard were Wells Fargo, Crocker ... logos, but cannot be used as debit cards , only as credit cards , and they are not accepted by all merchants that accept debit and credit cards, but only by those that accept FSA debit cards. Merchant codes and product codes are used at the point of sale (required by law by certain merchants by certain dates in the USA) 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. Banks in France 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 most probably dates from the unilateral introduction in France of Chip and PINChip and PIN is the name of a government-backed initiative in the United Kingdom to implement the EMV standard for secure payments. There is also a similar initiative in the Republic of Ireland called Chip and PIN Ireland.... 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 StatesThe United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., U.S., US, America?, the States, or (archaically) Columbia, is a federal republic of fifty states, mostly in central North America. The U.S. has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico, and is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 50 states, however, there are two, Alaska an Hawaii, which are neither contiguous with the other forty-eight nor with eac... 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 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 often known as a Carte Bleue Internationale . Many smaller merchants in France refuse to accept debit cards for transactions under €15.25 (equivalent to 100 French Francs) because of the minimum fee charged by merchants' banks per transaction. Merchants in France do not differentiate between debit and credit cards, and so both have equal acceptance. However, Visa's and MasterCard's regulations prohibit merchants from setting minimum charge amounts. American Express's policy is to discourage any merchant practices that create a barrier to acceptance and setting minimum charge limits is such a barrier. Amex does prohibit discrimination against the Amex card, which means they cannot have minimum charge for Amex but not for Visa and MasterCard but they cannot have a minimum charge for Visa and MasterCard because Visa and MasterCard prohibit this.In the United Kingdom, banks started to issue debit cards in the late 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. As in most countries, fees paid by merchants in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and a member of the European Union. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, UK or, inaccurately, as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent parts. Three of these parts England, Wales and Scotland, are often considered countries or nations in their own right. The fourth is Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland is the current limit of UK sovereignty on the island of Ireland.... to accept credit cards are a percentage of the transaction amount, which funds card holders' interest-free credit periods as well as incentive schemes such as points, airmiles or cashback. On the contrary, debit cards do not usually have these characteristics, and so the fee for merchants to accept debit cards is a low fixed amount, regardless of transaction amount. For very small amounts, this means it is cheaper for a merchant to accept a debit card than a credit card. 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 airlinesA low-cost carrier (also known as a no-frills or discount carrier) is an airline that offers low fares but eliminates most traditional passenger services. Typical low-cost carrier business model practices include:... , travel agents A travel agency is a store where individuals or families go to buy travel packages. What they do Travel agencies have been organized mostly since the start of commercial aviation although Thomas Cook was an early, pre-flight pioneer. Some travel agent companies operate with a chain of stores, such as Carlton Wagonlit; others are one store operations. Travel agencies do not sell airline tickets only; their services vary, and many of them sell more cruise ship packages than airline tickets. Most travel agenc... and IKEAIKEA is a Swedish home furnishing retailer. It has 202 large stores in 32 countries as of winter 2005. Most are throughout Europe, the rest are in the US, Canada, Asia and Australia. The IKEA Catalogue, containing about 12,000 IKEA products is reputedly the second most widely distributed book after the Bible with a hundred million copies produced every year.... . Debit cards in the UK lack the advantages offered to holders of UK-issued credit cards, such as free incentives (points, airmiles, cashback etc), 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 (although not always Solo and Visa ElectronVisa Electron is a debit card available across most of the world, with the exception of the USA, Canada and Australia. The card was introduced in the 80s and is a sister card to the Visa Delta card.... ), but a minority of merchants, for cost reasons, accept debit cards and not credit cards (for example the Post OfficePost Office Ltd is a retail post office company in the United Kingdom that provides a wide range of products including postage stamps, welfare and banking to the public through its nationwide network of post office branches. Post Office Ltd was separated from the postal service Royal Mail in 1986, but remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Mail Group plc.... and, until 1999, John LewisThe John Lewis Partnership is a British retailer. It is a partnership, and all of it permanent full-time employees own a share of the business, and receive an annual profit distribution which is usually a significant fraction of their annual salary. As of 2005 the partnership operates 27 department stores. Most of these trade as John Lewis but some trade under other names such as Peter Jones, George Henry Lee and Bainbridge. The stores are in a mixture of city centre and regional shopping centre locations. ... ). Most merchants usually accept debit cards, because the fees for accepting them are much lower than credit card fees, for example in Germany The Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the heart of Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east by Poland, and the Czech Republic, to the south by Austria and Switzerland, and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.... 0.3% with a minimum of €0.08[1] . In PolandThe Republic of Poland, a country in Central Europe, lies between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) to the north. The Polish state is over 1,000 years old. In the XVIth century, under the Jagiellonian dynasty, Poland was one of the richest and most powerful states in Europe. On May 3, 1791 the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania ratified a constitution, bein... , local debit cards, such as PolCard, have become largely substituted with international ones, such as Visa, MasterCard, or the unembossed Visa Electron or Maestro. Most banks in Poland block Internet and MOTO transactions with unembossedEmbossing is the process of creating a three-dimensional image or design in paper. It is typically accomplished with a combination of heat and pressure on the paper. For embossing metal, see repouss?. ... cards, requiring the customer to buy an embossed card or a card for Internet/MOTO transactions only. The number of banks which do not block MOTOIO transactions on unembossed cards has recently started to increase. This article needs additional citationsThis page is a style guide, describing how to write citations in articles. Providing sources for edits is mandated by Wikipedia:No original research and Wikipedia:Verifiability, which are policy. What this means is that any material that is challenged and has no source may be removed by any editor. See those pages and Wikipedia:Reliable sources for more inormation.... for verificationThe goal of Wikipedia is to become a complete and accurate encyclopedia. Verifiability is an important tool to achieve accuracy, so we strongly encourage you to check your facts. We also aim to be informative and neutral.... Please help improve this article by adding reliable references Some definitions Please note the following terms: A fact is an actual state of affairs, which can be an historical event, or a social or natural phenomenon. To say of a sentence or proposition that it is true is to say that it refers to a fact. (Although a fact is always true, by definition, not all claims of fact are true.) An opinion is a view that someone holds, the content of which may or may not be verifiable. However, the idea that a certain person or group of people holds a certain opinion is a veri... . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007) This section overlaps with other sections; it should be combined with the rest of the article. Please post any comments on this issue on the talk pageVisa has something called a check card , is this the same thing as a secured credit card? it's tied to a chequing account and any purchase is treated as a withdrawal from that account No, with secured credit cards money deposited must remain untouched. It acts as collateral and defines your credit limit. The Visa check card is a debit card. They named it a check card to make it sound original and stir up additional interest.... . There are currently two ways that debit card transactions are processed: online debit (also known as PIN debit) and offline debit (also known as signature debit). In some countries including the United StatesThe United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., U.S., US, America?, the States, or (archaically) Columbia, is a federal republic of fifty states, mostly in central North America. The U.S. has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico, and is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 50 states, however, there are two, Alaska and Hawaii, which are neither contiguous with the other forty-eight nor with eac... and Australia The Commonwealth of Australia is governed as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. It is geographically the sixth-largest country in the world, the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia/Oceania. Australia includes a number of secondary islands, the largest of which is Tasmania, an Australian State.... , they are often referred to at point of sale POS must not be confused with EFT/POS and POS Terminal used in Electronic payment POS or PoS is an acronym for point-of-sale (or point of purchase). This can mean a retail shop, a checkout counter in a shop, or a variable location where a transaction occurs.... as debit and credit respectively, even though in either case the user's bank account is debited and no credit is involved. 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) authenticationIn computer security, authentication (Greek: a??e?t????, from 'authentes'='author') is the process by which a computer, computer program, or another user attempts to confirm that the computer, computer program, or user from whom the second party has received some communication is, or is not, the claimed first party. A blind credential, in contrast, does not establish identity at all, but only a narrow right or status of the user or program.... system and some online cards require such authentication for every transaction, essentially becoming enhanced automatic teller machine (ATM) cards. One difficulty in using online debit cards is the necessity of an electronic authorization device at the point of sale POS must not be confused with EFT/POS and POS Terminal used in Electronic payment POS or PoS is an acronym for point-of-sale (or point of purchase). This can mean a retail shop, a checkout counter in a shop, or a variable location where a transaction occurs.... (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 lagLag often refers to delays experienced in computing communications, however it may also apply to written or other forms of communication. Within computing, Lag refers to the time taken for a packet of data to travel between the local computer, the destination and back again. (see: Ping)... on transactions that may have been forgotten or not authorized by the owner of the card. Banks in some countries, such as CanadaCanada is the second largest and the northernmost country in the world, occupying most of the North American land mass. It is a decentralized federation of ten provinces and three territories, governed as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. It was initially constituted through the British North America Act of 1867 and styled The Dominion of Canada.... and Brazil, only issue online debit cards.In the United StatesThe United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., U.S., US, America?, the States, or (archaically) Columbia, is a federal republic of fifty states, mostly in central North America. The U.S. has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico, and is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 50 states, however, there are two, Alaska and Hawaii, which are neither contiguous with the other forty-eight nor with eac... , most online debit transactions are handled by regional ATM networks, though VISA and MasterCardMasterCard Incorporated is a membership organization owned by the 25,000 financial institutions that issue its card. MasterCard is also the company's brand of credit cards. It was originally created as Master Charge by the United California Bank (now part of Wells Fargo) as a competitor to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America. BankAmericard is now the VISA credit card, issued by Visa International. Other California banks involved in the founding of the original MasterCard were Wells Fargo, Crocker ... each own online debit networks (Interlink and Maestro, respectively). Online debit is usually provided as a secondary feature on an offline debit card (Visa Check Card or Debit MasterCard); those customers that do not qualify for offline debit cards are often issued ATM cards with online debit capability through the regional ATM, Interlink and/or Maestro networks.In the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and a member of the European Union. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, UK or, inaccurately, as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent parts. Three of these parts England, Wales and Scotland, are often considered countries or nations in their own right. The fourth is Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland is the current limit of UK sovereignty on the island of Ireland.... , Solo and Visa ElectronVisa Electron is a debit card available across most of the world, with the exception of the USA, Canada and Australia. The card was introduced in the 80s and is a sister card to the Visa Delta card.... are examples of online debit cards, which are typically issued by banks to customers whom the bank does not want to go overdrawn under any circumstances, for example under-18s.In the PhilippinesThe Republic of the Philippines is an island nation consisting of an archipelago of 7,107 islands, lying in the tropical western Pacific Ocean about 100 kilometers southeast of mainland Asia. Spain (1565-1898) and the United States (1898-1946), colonized the country and have been the largest influences on Philippine culture. It is, with East Timor, one of the two predominantly Catholic nations in Southeast Asia and one of the most westernized, a unique blend of East and West.... , all three national ATM network consortia offer proprietary PIN debit. This was first offered by Express Payment System in 19871987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. Events January January 1 - Nunavut's capital changes it name to Iqaluit from Frobisher Bay. January 3 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. January 4 - An Amtrak train en route from Washington, DC to New York collides with CONRAIL engines killing 16. January 5 - US President Ronald Wilson Reagan undergoes prostate surgery causing worries about his health. January 20 - Terry Waite, the spec... , followed by Megalink with Paylink in 19931993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003) ... then BancNetBancNet is an interbank network connecting the ATM networks of thirty-four banks in the Philippines. It is also the largest interbank network in the Philippines in terms of member banks, users, and transactions.... with the Point-of-Sale in 19941994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. Events ... .Online debit transactions may be conducted either as a debit or a credit transaction. For example, most (all?) Japanese shops allowing debit transaction in online mode will conduct the transaction as a credit transaction.Offline debit cards have the logosA logotype, commonly known as a logo, is the graphic element of a trademark or brand, which is set in a special typeface/font, or arranged in a particular, but legible, way.... of major credit cards (e.g. Visa or MasterCardMasterCard Incorporated is a membership organization owned by the 25,000 financial institutions that issue its card. MasterCard is also the company's brand of credit cards. It was originally created as Master Charge by the United California Bank (now part of Wells Fargo) as a competitor to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America. BankAmericard is now the VISA credit card, issued by Visa International. Other California banks involved in the founding of the original MasterCard were Wells Fargo, Crocker ... ) or major debit cards (e.g. Maestro in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and a member of the European Union. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, UK or, inaccurately, as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent parts. Three of these parts England, Wales and Scotland, are often considered countries or nations in their own right. The fourth is Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland is the current limit of UK sovereignty on the island of Ireland.... and other countries, but not the United StatesThe United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., U.S., US, America?, the States, or (archaically) Columbia, is a federal republic of fifty states, mostly in central North America. The U.S. has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico, and is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 50 states, however, there are two, Alaska and Hawaii, which are neither contiguous with the other forty-eight nor with eac... ) and are used at the point of sale POS must not be confused with EFT/POS and POS Terminal used in Electronic payment POS or PoS is an acronym for point-of-sale (or point of purchase). This can mean a retail shop, a checkout counter in a shop, or a variable location where a transaction occurs.... like a credit card. 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 the U.S. and AustraliaThe Commonwealth of Australia is governed as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. It is geographically the sixth-largest country in the world, the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia/Oceania. Australia includes a number of secondary islands, the largest of which is Tasmania, an Australian State.... , offline debit transactions are inaccurately referred to as credit transactions even though no credit is actually involved. This is because they are processed through the Visa or MasterCard networks in the same manner as actual credit card transactions. Since they are handled like any other Visa or MasterCard, U.S. and Australian offline debit cards are also accepted worldwide at virtually all merchants that accept credit cards of the corresponding brand, even if they do not accept their own country's debit cards.In the U.S., Visa calls its debit card Visa Check Card; MasterCard calls its debit card Debit MasterCard. The majority of U.S. debit cards are Check Cards.[2] Discover CardDiscover is a brand of credit card operated by Discover Bank, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. It was originally issued by Sears and later spun off into a separate company, which was acquired by the Dean Witter financial services firm. It became a part of Morgan Stanley when that firm bought Dean Witter Discover in 1997.... has announced an offline debit card through its regional ATM network Pulse; however, few if any banks offer this card. A fourth major U.S. credit card network, American Express American Express (NYSE: AXP) is a diversified global financial services company headquartered in the United States. The company is mainly known for its credit card and charge card business. It is also a large player in the travel services, mutual fund, brokerage, financial advisor, and insurance businesses.... , offers prepaid gift cards, which work in a similar fashion.[3]Some merchants in the U.S. have recently been allowed to bypass the signature requirement for credit sales (including offline debit) if the total sale is under a certain dollar amount.[4] This is based on the assumption that customers want a fast point-of-sale process, and low-value transactions are not the activity of a fraudulent user. Some Japanese stores also allow people to pay using a card without signing or entering a PIN code. When using this feature, SunkusSunkus is a konbini or convenience store franchise chain in Japan. All of the usual Japanese convenience store goods such as magazines, manga, soft drinks, contraceptives, onigiri and bento are available.... will read the magnetic tape, reserve the money immediately, and settle the transactions in batches up to a month later, while LawsonT... will read the chip, reserve the money immediately, and settle the transactions individually just a few days later. Some other Japanese convenience store chains also accept card purchases with neither PIN codes nor signatures, as do some Swedish vending machines (payphones, parking meters, bus/train ticket vending machines), either by reading the magnetic tape (ticket vending machines) or by reading the chip (payphones/parking meters).In the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and a member of the European Union. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, UK or, inaccurately, as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent parts. Three of these parts England, Wales and Scotland, are often considered countries or nations in their own right. The fourth is Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland is the current limit of UK sovereignty on the island of Ireland.... , Maestro (formerly Switch) and Visa Debit (formerly Delta) are examples of offline debit cards.[5] This is in contrast to the U.S. where Maestro is an online debit brand.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 small fee may be charged for a debit or online debit transaction (although it is often absorbed by the retailerIn commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells individual items or small quantities to the general public or end user customers, usually in a shop, also called store. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Marketers see retailing as part of their overall distribution strategy.... ). 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) debit transactions.The fees charged to merchants on offline debit purchases—and the lack of fees charged merchants for processing online debit purchases and paper checks—have prompted some major merchants in the U.S. to file lawsuitsA lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. It usually involves dispute resolution of private law issues between individuals, business entities or non-profit organizations. However, it may involve public law issues in those jurisdictions that enable the government to be treated as if it were a private party in a lawsuit (as plaintiff ... against debit-card transaction processors such as Visa and MasterCard. In 2003, Visa and MasterCard agreed to settle the largest of these lawsuits and agreed to settlements of billions of dollars.Many consumers prefer credit transactions because of the lack of a fee charged to the consumer/purchaser; also, a few debit cards in the U.S. offer rewards for using credit (e.g. Washington Mutual's Wamoola ). However, since credit costs 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 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is the world's largest retailer and the largest company in the world based on revenue. Wal-Mart was founded by Sam Walton in 1962. In the fiscal year ending January 31, 2004, Wal-Mart had $256.3 billion in sales and net income of $8.9 billion (a 3.5% profit margin). Forbes magazine points out that if Wal-Mart were its own economy, it would rank 30th in the world, with a GDP right behind Saudi Arabia. It's the largest private employer in the United States, in Mexico and in ... 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, then press credit on the next screen.One additional problem surrounding the use of debit cards is their use at a self-service gas pump like those common in the U.S. The customer might want to purchase fuel on their debit card, but the pump's computer does not know how much fuel the customer wants. The pump is activated by the customer presenting their card to a card reader (see methods described above) and possibly entering a PIN. At this point the pump will dispense fuel, though no sales transaction has completed. The pump has no way of knowing how much fuel will be sold, nor how much money is available in the customer’s debit account. In a typical sale transaction, trying to spend more money than is available in your account (credit or debit) will result in a no-sale alert to the merchant, and the sale does not occur. At a self-serve fuel pump, the fuel is already in the customer's tank by the time the bank knows the final sale price. Several solutions to this problem are in place, such as denying $1 pre-authorizations when an account holds less than $10 while still allowing transactions for specific amounts, but the concept of delivering the merchandise before the sales transaction plagues the debit card system. The commission is sometimes so high that the gas station sometimes actually loses money when someone pays for gas with credit. When pay at the pump started in the 1980s, many gas stations offered a discount for paying with cash. Most of them stopped doing that because the discount did not significantly increase their cash sales.To the consumer, a debit transaction is perceived as occurring in real-time; i.e. the money is withdrawn from their account immediately following 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. This is in contrast to a typical credit card transaction; though it can also have a lag time of a few days before the transaction is posted to the account, it can be many days to a month or more before the consumer makes repayment with actual money.Because of this, in the case of a benign or malicious error by the merchant or bank, a debit transaction may cause more serious problems (e.g. money not accessible; overdrawn account) than in the case of a credit card transaction (e.g. credit not accessible ETSL Paymark VISA MASTERCARD AMERICAN EXPRESS Citibank Telekom Malaysia Cash+ TelstraClear POS PC-POS Argent IP X.25 JCB PayPal AS2805 ISO8386 Global Payments over credit limit The maximum amount of credit that a bank or other lender will extend to a customer, or the maximum that a credit card company will allow a card holder to borrow on a single card.... ). This is especially true in the United StatesThe United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., U.S., US, America?, the States, or (archaically) Columbia, is a federal republic of fifty states, mostly in central North America. The U.S. has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico, and is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 50 states, however, there are two, Alaska and Hawaii, which are neither contiguous with the other forty-eight nor with eac... , where writing hot checks is a crime in every state, but exceeding your credit limit is not.In many countries, the use of PIN validated transactions with smartcardA smartcard or smart card is a tiny secure cryptoprocessor embedded within a credit card-sized or smaller (like the GSM SIM) card. History Smart cards were invented and patented in France by Roland Moreno in the 1970s. Their first mass usage was payment in the French payphones starting from 1983 (T?l?carte). The second one was the integration of a microchip into all French debit cards (Carte Bleue).... chipA chip is a general term for a splinter or shard of something. In biology, ChIP is an abbreviation for an experimental technique, chromatin immunoprecipitation, which is used to determine whether a given protein binds to a specific DNA sequence in vivo. In computing, the term chip has the following meanings: an integrated circuit (silicon die) more specifically, a microprocessor In telecommunications (according to Federal Standard 1037C): in satellite communications systems, the smallest element of data in ... readersThere are several cities in the United States called Reader, see Reader (place) A Reader is a minor member of the clergy in some Christian churches; see Reader (minor orders).... is being strongly encouraged by the banks as a method of reducing cloned-card fraudIn the broadest sense a fraud is any crime (or civil wrong) for gain that utilises some deception practiced on the victim as its principal method. In law, fraud is the crime or offense of deliberately deceiving another in order to damage them -- usually, to obtain property or services from him unjustly.[1]. Fraud can be accomplished through the aid of forged objects. In criminal law it is called theft by deception. Fraud can be committed through many methods, including mail, wire, phone, and the Internet.... ; to the extent that cardholder-present transactions will soon not be possible in these countries without knowledge of a PIN, and the POS terminal reading the smart card chip on the card.Special pre-paid Visa cards for mail, telephone (MOTO) and Internet use only are made available by a small number of banks. They are sometimes called virtual Visa cards , although they usually do exist in the form of plastic. An example is 3V. Recently, these virtual cards have been increasingly issued by non-financial institutions such as grocery and convenience stores to consumers as a replacement for money orders (such as PaidByCash in the United States). Such cards can be used whenever the remote store accepts Visa cards. Before making the transaction, the customer transfers the required amount of money from his main account to the card's sub-account using the bank's website or the telephone. Next, the customer gives the card number and the CVV2CVV2 (Card Verification Value) is an important security feature for credit card transactions on the Internet and over the phone. It is a 3 or 4 digit value printed nowhere except on the card, and can therefore be used to verify that the buyer has the card in their physical possession, giving some protection against credit card fraud.... code to the merchant, who authorizes the transaction electronically, as with a regular Visa card. If there is enough money on the sub-account, the bank grants the authorization and locks the adequate amount on the sub-account.Such a card prevents fraud by a card number thief even if the card is not blocked, because the customer normally does not store any money on the sub-account and fraudulent transactions do not get authorized by the bank. For extra security, the CVV2 code is not printed on the card but rather sent separately to the customer in a secured envelope.The bank also rejects local transactions, that is ones that are not made over the Internet, mail or telephone. However, some merchants use software incompatible with Visa regulations and send authorization requests that wrongly tell the bank that the transaction is not a MOTO/Internet one, in which case the bank rejects the request. Additionally, some merchants do not use electronic authorization at all, in which case the transaction cannot be completed as well. For these two reasons the card is unusable with a small minority of Internet, telephone and postal stores.Debit cards and secured credit cardsA credit card system is a type of retail transaction settlement and credit system, named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. A credit card is different from a debit card in that the credit card issuer lends the consumer money rather than having the money removed from an account. It is also different from a charge card (though this name is often used to describe credit cards by the public) in that charge cards do not extend the user credit -- the charges must be paid each month in ful... are popular among college students who have not yet established a credit history. Debit cards may also be used by expatriatedAn expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is someone temporarily or permanently in a country and culture other than that of their upbringing and/or legal residence. The word comes for the Latin ex (out of) and patria (country), and is sometimes misspelt as ex-patriot, owing to mispronunciation. The term is often used in the context of Westerners living in non-Western countries, athough there are instances of Westerners living in other Western countries, such as Australians living in the United Kingdom and B... workers to send money home to their families holding an affiliated debit card.In some countries, banks tend to levy a small fee for each debit card transaction. In some countries (e.g. 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 marginProfit margin is a measure of profitability. It's calculated as net income / revenue = profit margin and expressed as a percentage. For example: Suppose a company produces bread and sells it for 5 units of currency. It costs the company 3 units of currency to produce the bread and it also had to pay an additional 1 unit of currency in tax.... on the sale, making the transaction uneconomic for the retailer.CanadaCanada is the second largest and the northernmost country in the world, occupying most of the North American land mass. It is a decentralized federation of ten provinces and three territories, governed as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. It was initially constituted through the British North America Act of 1867 and styled The Dominion of Canada.... has a nation-wide EFTPOS system, called Interac Direct Payment. Since being introduced in 19841984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events January January 1 - Brunei becomes a fully independent state January 1 - AT&T is broken up into 22 independent units January 5 - Richard Stallman starts developing GNU. January 7 - Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). January 9 - Clara Peller is featured in the Where's the Beef? commercial campaign for Wendy's for the first time. January 10 - The United States and the Vatican esta... , IDP has become the most popular payment method in the country.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 InteracInterac Association is a Canadian organization linking enterprises that have proprietary networks so that they may communicate with each other for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. The Association was founded in 1984 by five financial institutions. As of May, 2003 there are over 110 member organizations and membership continues to expand.... 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. 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 cardsA stored-value card represents money on deposit with the issuer, not unlike a debit card. One major difference between stored value cards and debit cards is that debit cards are usually issued in the name of individual account holders, while stored value cards are usually anonymous. The term stored-value card is usually a misnomer, as most indicia of the cards' value are maintained on computers affiliated with the card issuer.... 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 InteracInterac Association is a Canadian organization linking enterprises that have proprietary networks so that they may communicate with each other for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. The Association was founded in 1984 by five financial institutions. As of May, 2003 there are over 110 member organizations and membership continues to expand.... network.In Canada, the bank cards can only be used at POS and ABMs. There are only a couple of MasterCard branded debit cards in Canada. HorizonPlus offers one through Mint, also branded as the MuchMusic card. MoneyMart stores also offer the Titanium MasterCard debit card, all of which function exactly like debit cards do in the US. Select financial institutions allow their clients to use their debit cards in the United States on the NYCE network.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[7] (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.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 used at all by the public, debit card (or Switch card, even when referring to a Solo card) is the generic term used. Cards commonly in circulation include Maestro (previously Switch), Solo, Visa Debit (previously Visa DeltaVisa Delta is the debit card issued by Visa in the United Kingdom. Of the major banks in the UK, the ones issuing debit cards under the Visa Delta scheme are: Barclays Bank, Lloyds TSB and Halifax. The scheme is also used by many smaller banks icnluding the Coop Bank, and Nationwide.... ) and Visa ElectronVisa Electron is a debit card available across most of the world, with the exception of the USA, Canada and Australia. The card was introduced in the 80s and is a sister card to the Visa Delta card.... . Banks do not charge customers for EFTPOS transactions in the UK, but some retailers make small charges, particularly where the transaction amount in question is small. The UK has converted all debit cards in circulation to Chip and PINChip and PIN is the name of a government-backed initiative in the United Kingdom to implement the EMV standard for secure payments. There is also a similar initiative in the Republic of Ireland called Chip and PIN Ireland.... , based on the EMV standard, to increase transaction security; however, PINs are not required for internet transactions.The EFTPOSEFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale) is a device by which sales transactions can be directly debited to the customer's bank account at the point of sale, through the use of a debit card (generally the same card used with ATMs). Merchants using EFTPOS can also offer cashout facilities to customers, where a customer can withdraw cash along with their purchase. EFTPOS are sometime also called POS Terminal or Payment Terminal and must not be confused with traditional Point of sale.... (Electronic Fund Transfer at Point Of Sale) system is highly popular in New ZealandNew Zealand is a country of two major islands and a number of smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A popular Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, often translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud. New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth Realm. New Zealand is responsible for the self-governing states of the Cook Islands and Niue and administers Tokelau and the Ross Dependency.... , with more debit card terminals per head of population than any other country[8], and being used for about 60% of all retail transactions[9]. According to the largest EFTPOS network provider, New Zealanders use EFTPOS twice as much as any other country. [10]Virtually all retail outlets have EFTPOS terminals, particularly supermarkets, dairies (convenience stores), service stations, and bars. Increasingly Taxi operators, businesses operating from stands at events and even pizza delivery people have mobile EFTPOS terminals.New Zealanders use EFTPOS for both small and large transactions. It would not be unusual for a New Zealander to use an EFTPOS card to pay for an amount as small as 50 cents NZDThe New Zealand dollar (ISO 4217: NZD, sometimes NZ$ and often informally known as the Kiwi dollar) is the official currency of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It was introduced in 1967 to replace the New Zealand pound, when the country decimalised its currency.... . Because EFTPOS is such an integral part of spending in New Zealand, rare network failures cause tremendous delays, inconvenience and lost income to businesses who must resort to manual zip-zap swipe machines to process EFTPOS transactions until the network returns to service.[11] Typically New Zealand merchants do not pay a fee per transaction as is the case in Australia and other countries. Transaction fees are typically borne by the customer, and retailers pay a fixed monthly equipment rental fee. As bank accounts for students and children under 18 years old typically attract low or no electronic transaction fees, the use of EFTPOS by the younger generations has become virtually ubiquitous. In recent times, major banks have started to offer accounts with no EFTPOS transaction fees.The Bank of New ZealandThe Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's largest banks. The first branch opened in Dunedin on 2 December 1861. BNZ is owned by National Australia Bank.... introduced EFTPOS to New ZealandNew Zealand is a country of two major islands and a number of smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A popular Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, often translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud. New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth Realm. New Zealand is responsible for the self-governing states of the Cook Islands and Niue and administers Tokelau and the Ross Dependency.... in 1985 through a pilot scheme with petrol stations.EFTPOS is operated through two primary networks. One, EFTPOS NZ, owned by ANZ, and a second operated by Electronic Transaction Services Limited which is owned by ASB BankASB Bank is one of New Zealand's largest banks, with branches throughout the country. It also has insurance and securities arms. It is a subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. History ASB Bank began in 1847 as the Auckland Savings Bank. During the 1980s the association of savings banks amalgamated the local savings banks throughout New Zealand with ASB at their head, and adopted the name ASB Trust Bank. In 1987, ASB wtihdrew from the Trust Bank and became a fully-fledged commercial bank simply to be ... , WestpacWestpac Banking Corporation, usually called Westpac, is the fourth largest bank in Australasia, after the National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ bank. The bank began as the Bank of New South Wales, but after various mergers became Westpac in 1982.... , and the Bank of New ZealandThe Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's largest banks. The first branch opened in Dunedin on 2 December 1861. BNZ is owned by National Australia Bank.... . The ETSL network processes approximately 80% of all EFTPOS transactions in New Zealand on their Paymark EFTPOS network and has over 60,000 points of sale.[12]During July 2006 the five billionth EFTPOS payment flowed across the ETSL/Paymark EFTPOS network since the electronic form of payment was introduced in New Zealand in 1989.[13]On 9 MayMay 9 is the 129th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (130th in leap years). There are 236 days remaining. Events 1300-1899 328 - Athanasius elected bishop of Alexandria. 1092 - Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated. 1429 - Joan of Arc defeats the English troops besieging Orl?ans. 1502 - Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his fourth and final journey to the New World . 1671 - Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. He is immediately caught b... 20072007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. Predicted events January January 1 - Target date for the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union. January 1 - Changing of ISBN Numbering system to be 13 Digit Code. ... , Payment Express was certified as the first (and to date only) IP / broadband certified terminal allowing EFTPOS transactions to be transmitted securely over the Internet.However security issues regarding EFTPOS payments over the public Internet and the costs associated with legacy (dial up) terminal replacement has hampered the growth of the IP medium in New Zealand. One company, Merchant IP Services (MIPS) offers an alternative IP-POS solution allowing for the secure IP connection of most legacy (dial-up) terminals without the need for terminal replacement. The PCI compliant and Paymark certified MIPS IP-POS system consists of a MIPS WebNAC connected to the legacy EFTPOS terminal converting dial up transaction data to IP before transporting the payment securely to the bank switch.Debit cards in AustraliaThe Commonwealth of Australia is governed as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. It is geographically the sixth-largest country in the world, the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia/Oceania. Australia includes a number of secondary islands, the largest of which is Tasmania, an Australian State.... are called different names depending on the issuing bank: Commonwealth Bank of Australia The Commonwealth Bank is the second largest bank in Australia, after National Australia Bank. It was originally a government-owned bank, but the Keating Labor government privatised it in the 1990s.... : Keycard; Westpac Banking Corporation: Handycard; National Australia Bank The National Australia Bank (sometimes the National or the NAB) is the largest bank in Australia. History 1858: Alexander Gibb, a Melbourne gentleman, enlisted Andrew Cruickshank, a local merchant and pastoralist, to raise the capital to establish National Bank of Australasia (NBA) with head quarters in Melbourne. Cruickshank became NBA's first chairman and Gibbs left after being passed over for the position of General Manager. 1858: The bank opened a branch in South Australia. 1859: NBA established a br... : FlexiCard; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group: Access card; Bendigo BankBendigo Bank operates some 230 branches, primarily in Victoria and Queensland. This includes 85+ Community Bank? branches. Community Bank? is an innovative franchise program in which the local community owns and operates a Bendigo Bank branch (which is separately incorporated), and Bendigo Bank provides all the banking infrastructure and support. The community company and Bendigo Bank share all branch revenue with whatever is left over after the company pays its branch running costs remaining as profit. The... : 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.[6]EFTPOS cards can also be used to deposit and withdraw cash over the counter at Australia PostAustralia Post is the government-owned monopoly postal service of Australia. History The first postmaster of Sydney was an ex-convict, Isaac Nichols, who took the post in 1809, and postal services grew throughout the Australian colonies as they were established. A regular Sydney-Melbourne overland service began in 1838, as did the issuance of prepaid postage stamps, and by 1849 uniform postal rates were established by agreement between the colonies. Monthly steamship sea mail to the United Kingdom was estab... outlets participating in giroPost, 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 (which were called keycards) were only usable for EFTPOS and at ATM or bank branches, whilst the new debit card system works in the same ways a credit card, except it will only use funds in the specified bank account. This means among other things, that it is suitable for electronic purchases without requiring 2 to 4 day 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 are usually authorized by the printing and signing of a receipt. If the user fails to enter the correct pin 3 times, the consequences range from the card being locked out and requiring 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 while EFTPOS transactions cost the consumer an applicable withdrawal fee charged by their bank.The introduction of Visa and MasterCardMasterCard Incorporated is a membership organization owned by the 25,000 financial institutions that issue its card. MasterCard is also the company's brand of credit cards. It was originally created as Master Charge by the United California Bank (now part of Wells Fargo) as a competitor to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America. BankAmericard is now the VISA credit card, issued by Visa International. Other California banks involved in the founding of the original MasterCard were Wells Fargo, Crocker ... 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, MasterCard or Bankcard, from stopping those retailers charging extra fees to take payment by credit card instead of cash or EFTPOS. Though only a few operators with strong market power have done so, the passing on of fees charged for credit card transactions may result in an increased use of EFTPOS.Over recent years, in Germany The Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the heart of Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east by Poland, and the Czech Republic, to the south by Austria and Switzerland, and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.... debit cards are well received. 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 were issued a card that needed to be shown along side the check as security measure. Those cards could and can also be used on ATM Terminals and at EFTPOS, which is nowadays their only function, since the Eurocheque system (along with the name) was abandoned in 2002 during the transition from Deutsche MarkThe Deutsche Mark (DM, DEM) was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until re-unification in 1990 and the official currency of Germany from then until the introduction of the euro in 1999 (coins and notes were withdrawn from circulation in 2002, it is guaranteed by the Deutsche Bundesbank that all DM cash may be changed into Euro forever). One Euro was set to be equivalent to DEM 1.95583. 1 Mark = 100 Pfennig (pennies).... to the Euro. In 2005, most stores and petrol outlets have EFTPOS facilities. Processing fees are deducted from businesses, and because of this, some business owners refuse debit card sales for totals below a certain amount, usually 5 or 10 euro.Around 2000, an alternative method for EFTPOS payment was introduced, dubbed Geldkarte ( money card ). It uses a smart card chip on the front of a standard issue Eurocheck card (which still had the magnetic stripe on the back). This chip can be loaded with up to 200 euro, and is advertised as means for medium to very small payments, down to the low euro or even cent range, as no processing fees are deducted by banks. It has not gained the popularity its inventors have hoped for, however this could change as this chip is used as means of age verification at cigarette vending machines, which is mandatory since January 2007. Sometimes even payment discounts are 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.ChileThe Republic of Chile is a republic located on the southwestern coast of South America. It is a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It shares borders with Argentina to the east, Bolivia to the northeast and Peru to the north.... 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.ColombiaThe Republic of Colombia is a country in north-western South America. It is bound to the north and north-west by the Caribbean Sea, to the east by Venezuela and Brazil, to the south by Ecuador and Peru, and to the west by Panama and the Pacific Ocean.... 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).In the NetherlandsThe Netherlands (Dutch Nederland) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch Koninkrijk der Nederlanden), a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch. It is located in northwestern Europe and borders the North Sea, Belgium and Germany. The country is often referred to by the name Holland, although this is technically incorrect; Holland was the economic powerhouse during the time of the United Provinces (1581–1795), during the Napoleonic era it was split into North and S... using EFTPOS is known as pinnen (pinning), a term derived from the use of a Personal Identification Number. PINs are also used for ATM An automatic teller machine (ATM) is an electronic device which allows a bank's customers to make cash withdrawals and check their account balances at any time without the need for a human teller. Many ATMs also allow people to deposit cash or cheques, transfer money between their bank accounts or even buy postage stamps.... 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 currently 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. It has been designated: The International Year of Deserts and Desertification ... has 166,375 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, who now offer competing contracts. Interpay, a legal predecessor of Equens, was fined EUR 47 million in 2004, but the fine was later dropped, and a related fine for banks was lowered from EUR 17 to €14 million. Per-transaction fees are between 5-10 eurocents, depending on volume.Credit cards use in the Netherlands is very low, and most credit cards cannot be used with EFTPOS, or charge very high fees to the customer. Furthermore, debit cards can be used in the entire EU for EFTPOS, and most debit cards are Cirrus cards.In the US, EFTPOS is universally referred to simply as debit. The same interbank networks that operate the ATM An automatic teller machine (ATM) is an electronic device which allows a bank's customers to make cash withdrawals and check their account balances at any time without the need for a human teller. Many ATMs also allow people to deposit cash or cheques, transfer money between their bank accounts or even buy postage stamps.... network also operate the POS network. Most interbank networks, such as Pulse, NYCENYCE based in Montvale NJ developed a ATM network that allows card holders to make purchases with retailers with NYCE access using point of sale devices or POS and related ATMs in the United States. A number of Canadian banking institutions also participate in the network.... , MAC, Tyme, SHAZAM, STAR, etc. 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 issued with a Visa or MasterCard logo allowing use of their signature-based networks.The liability of a US debit card user in case of loss or theft is up to 50 USD if the loss or theft is reported to the issuing bank in two business days after the customer notices the loss. [14]A small but growing segment of the debit card business in the U.S. involves access to tax-favored spending accounts such as flexible spending accountsA flexible spending account is a tax advantaged savings account set up through an employer in the United States to allow tax free savings for qualified medical or dependent care expenses. They are similar to the Health savings accounts (HSA)'s that are available to self employed persons or some small businesses, but they are less flexible in many ways.... (FSA), health reimbursement accounts (HRA), and health savings accounts (HSA). 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 ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States government agency that collects taxes and enforces the tax laws. It is a part of the Department of the Treasury.... (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 hhave 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 tranaction, 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.In JapanJapan (??, Nippon/Nihon, literally the origin of the sun ) is a country east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. It is comprised of a chain of islands. The largest of the islands (known as the Home Islands) are, from north to south, Hokkaido (???), Honshu (??, the largest island), Shikoku (??), and Kyushu (??). A number of smaller islands immediately surround these four, as well as one outlying group o... people usually use their cash cards ), originally intended only for use with cash machines, as debit cards. The debit functionality of these cards is usually referred to as J-Debit ), 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 his or her four-digit PIN when paying. Unlike other debit card services, J-Ddebit is only available during certain times of the day. J-Debit was started in Japan on March 6March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). There are 300 days remaining. It is ?? (Keichitsu) in the Japanese calendar. ... , 20002000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year for a Culture of Peace. The World Mathematical Year. ... .Suruga Bank began service of Japan's first Visa Debit in 2006. Ebank will start service of Visa Debit by the end of 2007.[7]With the exception of VISA and Master Card, there are some local payment system based in general on Smart Card technology.Sbercard. This payment system was created by SberbankSberbank is the largest bank in the Russian Federation. Ownership The Central Bank of the Russian Federation, also known as The Bank of Russia, is a majority shareholder of Sberbank, owning nearly 64% of its ordinary shares.... around 1995-1996. It uses BGS Smartcard Systems AG smart card technology. Sberbank was a single retail bank in USSRSoviet Union (1922-1991) was a short name for The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) .(Russian: ???´? ????´????? ??????????´?????? ?????´???? (????); tr.: Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR)), also called the Sovie... before 1990. De facto this is a payment system of the SberBank. Zolotaya Korona. This card brand was created in 1994. Zolotay 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 to typical Visa or MasterCard accounts.Singapore's debit service is managed by Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), founded by Singapore’s leading banks, DBS, Keppel Bank, OCBC, OUB, POSB, Tat Lee Bank and UOB in 1985 as a result of a need for a centralised e-Payment operator.The Philippines has three local providers of debit service: Expressnet, BancNetBancNet is an interbank network connecting the ATM networks of thirty-four banks in the Philippines. It is also the largest interbank network in the Philippines in terms of member banks, users, and transactions.... , and Megalink.Express Payment System or EPS was the pioneer provider, having launched the service in 1987 on behalf of the Bank of the Philippine IslandsBank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), the country's oldest bank and has a long and colorful history. It began in 1828 when, as the Philippines reaped the benefits of increased trade, King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a decree mandating the establishment of a public bank in the Philippines.... . 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 ManilaMetro Manila (Kalakhang Maynila in Filipino), also simply called Manila outside the metropolis, is the metropolitan area that contains the City of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The metropolis is officially called the National Capital Region (NCR) (Pambansang Kabiserang Rehiyon) and is composed of Manila plus 16 neighboring cities and municipalities, including Quezon City, the capital from 1948-1976. Metro Manila is the political, economic, social, and cultural center of the country, and it is one ... .BancNetBancNet is an interbank network connecting the ATM networks of thirty-four banks in the Philippines. It is also the largest interbank network in the Philippines in terms of member banks, users, and transactions.... 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 SM Supermalls.VISA debit cards are issued by Equitable PCI Bank (Fasteller), Union Bank (VISA e-Wallet) and Chinatrust Bank. Union Bank also issues VISA Electron cards which can be used for internet purchases. MasterCard debit cards, also known as MasterCard PayPass cards are issued by Banco de Oro. MasterCard Electronic cards are issued by BPI (Express Cash) and Security Bank. 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)The debit card has limited popularity in IndiaThe Republic of India is a large country in South Asia, and one of only two countries in the world with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity and is the world's second fastest growing economy. India is also the second most populous country in the world and the world's largest democracy. It is the seventh largest country by geographical size. It has grown significantly, in both population and strategic importance, in the la... as the merchant is charged for each transaction. The debit card therefore is mostly used for ATM An automatic teller machine (ATM) is an electronic device which allows a bank's customers to make cash withdrawals and check their account balances at any time without the need for a human teller. Many ATMs also allow people to deposit cash or cheques, transfer money between their bank accounts or even buy postage stamps.... transactions. Most of the banks issue VISA debit cards, while some banks (like SBI... ) issue MaestroMaestro is a software application used by NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Maestro is also a debit card operated by Mastercard in the European Union.... cards. The debit card transactions are routed through the VISA or MasterCardMasterCard Incorporated is a membership organization owned by the 25,000 financial institutions that issue its card. MasterCard is also the company's brand of credit cards. It was originally created as Master Charge by the United California Bank (now part of Wells Fargo) as a competitor to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America. BankAmericard is now the VISA credit card, issued by Visa International. Other California banks involved in the founding of the original MasterCard were Wells Fargo, Crocker ... networks rather than directly via the issuing bank.Debit and check cards, as they have become widespread, have revealed numerous advantages and disadvantages to the consumer and retailer alike. Advantages are as follows (most of them applying only to a some countries, but the countries to which they apply are unspecified):A consumer who is not credit worthy and may find it difficult or impossible to obtain a credit card can more easily obtain a debit card, allowing him/her to make plastic transactions. Use of a debit card is limited to the existing funds in the account to which it is linked, thereby preventing the consumer from racking up debt as a result of its use, or being charged interest, late fees, or fees exclusive to credit cards. For most transactions, a check card can be used to avoid check writing altogether. Check cards debit funds from the user's account on the spot, thereby finalizing the transaction at the time of purchase, and bypassing the requirement to pay a credit card bill at a later date, or to write an insecure check containing the account holder's personal information. Like credit cards, debit cards are accepted by merchants with less identification and scrutiny than personal checks, thereby making transactions quicker and less intrusive. Unlike personal checks, merchants generally do not believe that a payment via a debit card may be later dishonored. Unlike a credit card, which charges higher fees and interest rates when a cash advance is obtained, a debit card may be used to obtain cash from an ATM or a PIN-based transaction at no extra charge, other than a foreign ATM fee. The debit card has many disadvantages as opposed to cash or credit:Some banks are now charging over-limit fees or non-sufficient funds fees based upon pre-authorizations, and even attempted but refused transactions by the merchant (some of which may not even be known by the client). Many merchants mistakenly believe that amounts owed can be taken from a customer's account after a debit card (or number) has been presented, without agreement as to date, payee name, and dollar and cent amount, thus causing penalty fees for overdrafts, over-the-limit, amounts not available causing further rejections or overdrafts, and rejected transactions by some banks. Debit cards offer lower levels of security protection than credit cards [15]. Theft of the users PIN using skimming devices can be accomplished much easier with a PIN input than with a signature-based credit transaction. In many places, laws protect the consumer from fraud a lot less than with a credit card. While the holder of a credit card is legally responsible for only a minimal amount of a fraudulent transaction made with a credit card, which is often waived by the bank, the consumer may be held liable for hundreds of dollars in fraudulent debit transactions. The consumer also has a much shorter time (usually just two days) to report such fraud to the bank in order to be eligible for such a waiver with a debit card[16], whereas with a credit card, this time may be up to 60 days. A thief who obtains or clones a debit card along with its PIN may be able to clean out the consumer's bank account, and the consumer will have no recourse. In the UK and IrelandThe Republic of Ireland (Irish: Poblacht na h?ireann) is a state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of Ireland, off the coast of north-west Europe. It is the westernmost state of the European Union, and has a developed economy and a population of around four million. The remaining sixth of the island of Ireland is known as Northern Ireland and is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Under the Irish constitution the state's official name is simply Ireland (Irish... , among other countries, a consumer who purchases goods or services with a credit card can pursue the credit card issuer if the goods or services are not delivered or are unmerchantable. While they must generally exhaust the process provided by the retailer first, this is not necessary if the retailer has gone out of business. This protection is not provided when using a debit card. When a transaction is made using a credit card, the bank's money is being spent, and therefore, the bank has a vested interest in claiming its money where there is fraud or a dispute. The bank may fight to void the charges of a consumer who is dissatisfied with a purchase, or who has otherwise been treated unfairly by the merchant. But when a debit purchase is made, the consumer has spent his/her own money, and the bank has little if any motivation to collect the funds. For certain types of purchases, such as gasolinePetrol (gasoline in the United States and Canada) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. The term gasoline is the common usage within the oil industry, even within companies that are not American. Often the term mogas (short for motor gasoline, for use in cars) is used to distinguish it from avgas, used in light aircraft. People in the United States use 360 million gallons (1.36 billion litres) of gasoline each day.... , lodging People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging mainly for sleeping. Other purposes are safety, shelter from cold and rain, having a place to store lugguage and being able to take a shower. They do that in a hotel or hostel, a private home (commercially, i.e. a bed and breakfast place, or non-commercially, with members of hospitality services or in the home of friends), in a tent, caravan/camper (often on a campsite). In addition there are make-shift solutions.... , or car rentalRental cars are leased to people who don't have access to their own cars, such as when traveling. Rental cars can be found in Rental Car Centers typically found near airports.... , the bank may place a hold on funds much greater than the actual purchase for a fixed period of time [17]. Until the hold is released, any other transactions presented to the account, including checks, may be dishonored, or may be paid at the expense of an overdraft fee if the account lacks any additional funds to pay those items. While debit cards bearing the logo of a major credit card are accepted for virtually all transactions where an equivalent credit card is taken, a major exception is at car rental facilities[18]. Car rental agencies require an actual credit card to be used, or at the very least, will verify the creditworthiness of the renter using a debit card. These companies will deny a rental to anyone who does not fit the requirements, and such a credit check may actually hurt one's credit scoreA credit score is a numerical index which represents an estimate of an individual's financial creditworthiness. Lenders, such as banks and credit card companies, use credit scores to determine credit limits and interest rates.... .