Defined Terms and Documents       

Debit Cards means small plastic cards usually issued by Credit Card Issuers that enable a Debit Cardholder to transfer money electronically from its bank account to pay immediately for a Purchase/s.

"debit card" means:

                     (a)  an article intended for use by a person in obtaining access to an account that is:

                              (i)  held by the person for the purpose of withdrawing or depositing cash or obtaining goods or services; and

                             (ii)  a financial product; or

                     (b)  an article that may be used as an article referred to in paragraph (a).

Fees Levied On The Wholesale Supply Side to process the payment of a Purchase using a Debit Card are materially lower because the Debit Card Issuer is not providing a Line Of Credit, rather the Debit Cardholder is paying for the Purchase/s at the time of the Purchase/s.

The majority of Credit Cards enable payment by eftpos, effectively a debit card transaction.

There were an estimated 36 million Debit Cards and 16 million credit cards in circulation in Australia in 2009. (Source: Euromonitor International, January 2010)

A Debit Card is often referred to as Prepaid Card in the USA.

See Payment Cards