Offline Debit Card

Offline Debit Card

Offline debit cards have the logos of major credit cards (e.g. Visa or MasterCard) or major debit cards (e.g. Maestro in the United Kingdom and other countries, but not the United States) and are used at the point of sale 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 Australia, 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.[3] Discover Card 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, offers prepaid gift cards, which work in a similar fashion.[4]

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.[5] 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, Sunkus will read the magnetic tape, reserve the money immediately, and settle the transactions in batches up to a month later, while Lawson 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 Kingdom, Maestro (formerly Switch) and Visa Debit (formerly Delta) are examples of offline debit cards.[6] This is in contrast to the U.S. where Maestro is an online debit brand.[citation needed]

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 retailer). 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.