Master & Visa Debit Cards

Debits becoming more popular

Posted by visadebit under News

Debit cards in Australia are a growing market with their popularity increasing as more people avoid adding to their established credit cards debt or avoid accumulating one in the first place. In fact, over 2008 the number of transactions made with a debit card grew while the number of credit cards transactions actually declined, further showing consumers preference to the debit cards style of finance.

As far as actual figures go, for the month of April 2009 52.5 percent of all card-based transactions were made via MasterCard or Visa which is down 2 percent from the same month last year. Whereas debit card transactions recorded 35.3 percent of all card transactions for the same time period, an increase from 32.9 percent a year earlier. Charge cards were responsible for all other card-based transactions.

The overall selling point of the debit cards is that they offer all the flexibility of credit cards but eliminate any chance of debt as the money that is being spent is actually the cardholders and not a loan from the lender.

Debit cards allow for the cardholder to use their debit card in all the same situations as a credit card would be such as online or over-the-phone purchases offering great functionality and convenience as credit cards. Yet the debit card is financed solely by the account holders’ funds through a savings or transaction account, meaning that only money that is owned by the account holder can be spent.

Features of some debit cards besides the convenience for electronic transactions include the establishment of a line of credit, meaning the account holder is allowed to overdraw on the account, just like on credit cards. Of course, it is important to note that this action incurs very high overdraw fees.

Another feature of some debit card is the guarantee for internet transactions which provides the purchaser with some security against any unauthorised or fraudulent transactions. This also works with the charge back feature that is found with most credit cards that allows the debit cardholder to charge against a retailer if delivered items are of substandard quality.

Debit cards are offered by both MasterCard and Visa.

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