Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Visa Debit Cards

Visa Debit Cards
With a visa debit card you can have direct access to the
funds lying in the savings account in your bank. Thus
instead of a regular credit card that operates on the buy
now pay later principle a debit card of the Visa variety
enables you to have the option of paying immediately. This
way with a visa debit card you get to ensure that no
liabilities get accumulated.

Purchases or cash withdrawals

A visa debit card has two utilities. The first is the
ability to purchase goods as per choice from select retail
outlets. Usually you will find a signage in the store that
says that they accept Visa debit cards. The other utility
is to be able to withdraw cash. There are designated ATMs
or Automated Teller Machines in which you swipe the card
and get to receive instant cash from your own savings
account. However whether you choose to purchase goods or
withdraw cash with the help of the visa debit card you need
to verify your identity by typing in the PIN (personal
identification number) into the machine.

Visa debit

This is the first type of the product suite of a visa debit
card. These visa debit types are usually embossed and bear
the acceptance mark which enables the user to leverage the
card across diverse locations in the world. The hallmark of
such a card is the Visa signage or the flag symbol which
appears on the front right side of the card and can be
below or above the hologram.

Unembossed Visa

In such a visa debit card the appearance is just like a
regular Visa card. However the difference lies in several
aspects. The account number of 16 digits is printed instead
of being embossed on the card. The same goes for expiration
date and card holder's name. The 'electronic use only'
legend is located on the front of the card. There is no 'V'
symbol embossed on the card. Since this is an unembossed
card it cannot be used in a zip zap machine and can only be
swiped at the terminal in the store.

Authorization Preferred

In such a visa debit card authorization from the user is
mandatory at the terminal. Therefore usually in such a card
inside the magnetic strip there is a code located which
prompts the terminal to ask for authorization.

Visa Electron

The typical signage of the Visa electron represented by a
flying comet provides a wide degree of utility across over
13 million locations across the globe! You can use this
visa debit card at more than a million ATMs across the
world. The signage is always printed on the front part of
the card. The account number can be present in part or in
full. If present in part the last 4 digits only will be
displayed on the card. The card will also mention the
expiration date of the visa debit card. In addition the
'for electronic use only' legend is present on the front.
The BIN is printed below the account number on the front
side. The CVV2 number is located on the back of the card
only in cases where the full account number has been used.


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Richard Greenwood is founder of the credit & debit card
comparison website http://www.click4credit.com.au and
writes on a variety of financial topics.

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