Visa Electron is a debit or credit card available across most of the world, with the exception of Canada, Australia, and the United States. The card was introduced by VISA in the 1980s and is a sister card to the Visa Debit card.
The difference between Visa Electron and Visa Debit is that payments with Visa Electron require that all the funds be available at the time of the transfer (i.e., Visa Electron card accounts cannot be overdrawn).
As a comparison, Visa Debit cards allow transfers of unavailable funds below a certain limit. As a result, some online stores and all offline terminals (e.g., onboard trains or planes) do not support Visa Electron because their systems cannot check for the availability of funds.
In different regions, the card is issued with different specifications. For example, one bank may issue it as a debit card, while another may issue it as a credit card. It is most commonly issued as a debit card. In this case applying for a credit card requires the applicant to present some proof of regular income (such as an employment certificate) or financial assets invested elsewhere.
In addition to debit facilities, the card also allows the holder to withdraw cash from ATMs even outside the holder's country of residence unlike normal ATM cards issued in some countries. This is because Visa Electron cards are also linked to the PLUS interbank network. While one may not be able to purchase the card in the United States, it can be used to transfer funds from other countries, for example Lebanon.
In the United Kingdom, the card is not as widely accepted as the brother Visa Debit card, but is often issued by banks as a debit card for children's accounts. In some countries, like Australia, retailers are required to accept the card as part of VISA's Accept All Cards Policy, which also applies to the normal Visa Debit card, although the card is not available locally.[citation needed]
In countries that have stricter criteria for issuing credit cards, Visa Electron has become popular with younger people and students alike. As each transaction requires funds to be checked, there is no chance of accounts going overdrawn. Therefore banks will issue a Visa Electron card to customers who may not qualify for another type of card.
As Visa Electron cards lack embossed details, they cannot be used with older card "imprinters" that transfer payment information to a paper slip, unless the card details are manually entered.
As the card carries a low interchange fee, airlines and other businesses which apply a surcharge for credit and debit card payments generally do not apply one for Visa Electron payments.
April 05, 2009
CHOICE Card
Choice was a credit card test marketed by Citibank in the United States, announced in 1977 and first issued in 1978. It was one of the first cards to offer a cash-refund program and no annual fee. Choice was intended to create a rival to Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, but proved unsuccessful, and was withdrawn in 1987. Citibank has continued to use the "Choice" name on some of its Visa and MasterCard cards.
The card was introduced in 1977, when Citibank bought NAC, a regional credit card based in Baltimore, renaming it Choice. A subsequent campaign in Maryland in 1980 turned the card into a regional success, earning more than one million cardholders in the Baltimore and Washington, DC, area.
With a view to nationwide expansion, the test market was expanded to include Colorado. Ultimately, despite the success of Sears' Discover Card, which offered many of the same features as Choice when it was introduced in 1985 (such as a rebate on purchases and no annual fee), Citibank decided Choice could not compete with Visa and MasterCard in the longer term, and the card was reissued as a Visa at the end of 1987, aimed at entry-level customers and those with poor credit.
Its fate was similar to that of Citibank's first credit card, the "First National City Charge Service" (or "The Everything Card"), introduced on the East Coast in 1967 to compete with BankAmericard (today's Visa) but which became part of Master Charge (now MasterCard) in 1969
The card was introduced in 1977, when Citibank bought NAC, a regional credit card based in Baltimore, renaming it Choice. A subsequent campaign in Maryland in 1980 turned the card into a regional success, earning more than one million cardholders in the Baltimore and Washington, DC, area.
With a view to nationwide expansion, the test market was expanded to include Colorado. Ultimately, despite the success of Sears' Discover Card, which offered many of the same features as Choice when it was introduced in 1985 (such as a rebate on purchases and no annual fee), Citibank decided Choice could not compete with Visa and MasterCard in the longer term, and the card was reissued as a Visa at the end of 1987, aimed at entry-level customers and those with poor credit.
Its fate was similar to that of Citibank's first credit card, the "First National City Charge Service" (or "The Everything Card"), introduced on the East Coast in 1967 to compete with BankAmericard (today's Visa) but which became part of Master Charge (now MasterCard) in 1969
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