Debit Cards

A method of paying by plastic without borrowing money

Debit cards are a convenient way of paying by plastic without having to borrow or pay interest and charges.

They are linked to a bank account, and rather than allowing you to run up a debt that you later clear, the funds are taken almost immediately from your account as and when you use the card.

Debit cards were introduced to the UK in 1987 with Barclay's Visa Delta Connect card, followed a year later by Switch.

Switch has recently been taken over by Mastercard's Maestro system, and so the major UK debit cards are now run, like credit cards, by Mastercard and Visa. This means they can be used internationally at more or less anywhere that accepts credit cards.