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108-693: CHAPS was originally established in London by the Bankers Clearing House in February 1984, transferring to the CHAPS and Town Clearing Company Limited in December 1985. This company also operated the 'town clearing', where cheques cleared the same day between the 'town' bank branches in central London. Town clearing had been the forerunner of the CHAPS system, and was finally closed in 1995. With

216-447: A credit card , but the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of the purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase. Some debit cards carry a stored value with which a payment is made (prepaid cards), but most relay a message to the cardholder's bank to withdraw funds from the cardholder's designated bank account. In some cases,

324-613: A NFC chip to make transactions. The major debit card flags in Brazil are Visa (with Electron cards ), Mastercard (with Maestro cards ), and Elo . The tap to pay technology has been quite popular in Brazil, you won't need to insert your card with a smart chip and put your password, you just need to approximate the card at the credit card machine, it works for debit and credit cards. Some virtual wallets like Samsung Pay , Google Pay and Apple Pay can be used on time of purchase, you just need to approximate your mobile phone or watch at

432-693: A bank account, for maintenance costs. The most common cards in Bulgaria are contactless (and Chip&PIN or Magnetic stripe and PIN) with the brands of Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit (the most common were Maestro and Visa Electron some years ago). All POS terminals and ATMs accept Visa, Visa Electron, Visa Debit, VPay, Mastercard, Debit Mastercard, Maestro and Bcard. Also some POS terminals and ATMs accept Discover, American Express, Diners Club, JCB and UnionPay. Almost all POS terminals in Bulgaria support contactless payments. Credit cards are also common in Bulgaria. Paying with smartphones/smartwatches at POS terminals

540-469: A bank account. Usually, it is free to use debit cards on national and EU ATMs even if they aren't owned by the issuing bank. Since 2019, a few banks charge a 50ct cost when using ATMs who are not owned by the issuing bank. The debit cards in Belgium are branded with the logo of the national Bancontact system and also with an international debit system, Maestro (for the moment there aren't any banks who issue

648-602: A bank is not given sufficient information to know where to credit the money, or a human delay in operating the machines. As of July 2021 the CHAPS participants are: CHAPS clearing information relating to UK banks may be found in the Industry Sorting Code Directory . Cheque A cheque (or check in American English ; see spelling differences ) is a document that orders a bank , building society (or credit union ) to pay

756-441: A cheque are: As cheque usage increased during the 19th and 20th centuries, additional items were added to increase security or to make processing easier for the financial institution. A signature of the drawer was required to authorize the cheque, and this is the main way to authenticate the cheque. Second, it became customary to write the amount in words as well as in numbers to avoid mistakes and make it harder to fraudulently alter

864-473: A cheque for such amounts instead. A number of countries have announced or have already completed the end of cheques as a means of payment. In October 2023, the average American wrote just over one check, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta . The average value of these checks was $ 504, suggesting that most checks were used for larger purchases. This marks a significant decline from

972-466: A cheque without adequate funds backing it and later making a deposit to the account on which the cheque is drawn in order to cover the cheque amount is called " kiting " or "floating" and is generally illegal in the US, but applicable laws are rarely enforced unless the drawer uses multiple chequing accounts with multiple institutions to increase the delay or to steal funds. Cheque usage has been declining since

1080-604: A cheque, the onus is on the payee to initiate the payment, whereas with a giro transfer, the onus is on the payer to effect the payment. In the United Kingdom, France and Ireland cheques continued to be used as cheque payments were free for the consumer. However these countries have also seen significant declines since 2000. Since 2001, businesses in the United Kingdom made more electronic payments than cheque payments. The UK Payments Council announced in 2011 that cheques would continue as long as customers needed them reversing

1188-406: A cheque, which is also called cutting a cheque , especially in the US. There may also be a beneficiary —for example, in depositing a cheque with a custodian of a brokerage account, the payee will be the custodian, but the cheque may be marked "F/B/O" ("for the benefit of") the beneficiary. Ultimately, there is also at least one endorsee which would typically be the financial institution servicing

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1296-420: A credit card bill or going into debt, the opportunity for anyone over the age of 18 to apply and be accepted without checks on creditworthiness, and the option to deposit paychecks and government benefits directly onto the card for free. A newer advantage is the use of EMV technology and even contactless functionality, which had previously been limited to bank debit cards and credit cards. Prepaid cards vary by

1404-448: A credit card since the money will not immediately leave their control. Fraudulent charges on a debit card can also cause problems with a checking account because the money is withdrawn immediately and may thus result in an overdraft or bounced checks . In some cases, debit card-issuing banks will promptly refund any disputed charges until the matter can be settled, and in some jurisdictions, the consumer's liability for unauthorized charges

1512-641: A credit card transaction (for example, credit not accessible due to being over one's credit limit ). This is especially true in the United States, where check fraud is a crime in every state but exceeding one's credit limit is not. Debit cards may also be used on the Internet, either with or without using a PIN. Internet transactions may be conducted in either online or offline mode. Shops accepting online-only cards are rare in some countries (such as Sweden), while they are common in other countries (such as

1620-682: A credit card was accepted, were first introduced in Canada by Saskatchewan Credit Unions in 1982. In the early 1990s, pilot projects were conducted among Canada's six largest banks to gauge security, accuracy and feasibility of the Interac system. Slowly in the later half of the 1990s, it was estimated that approximately 50% of retailers offered Interac as a source of payment. Retailers, many small transaction retailers like coffee shops, resisted offering IDP to promote faster service. In 2009, 99% of retailers offer IDP as an alternative payment form. In Canada,

1728-414: A debit transaction as occurring in real time: the money is withdrawn from their account immediately after the authorization request from the merchant. In many countries, this is correct for online debit purchases. However, when a purchase is made using the "credit" (offline debit) option, the transaction merely places an authorization hold on the customer's account; funds are not actually withdrawn until

1836-555: A member of the EU-area settlement system TARGET , but this service closed on 16 May 2008. The total value of these in 2007 was £57 trillion. As well as making transfers originated by banks themselves, CHAPS is frequently used by businesses for high-value payments to suppliers, by mortgage lenders issuing advances, and by solicitors and conveyancers on behalf of individuals buying houses. CHAPS transfers are relatively expensive, with banks typically charging as much as £35 for

1944-967: A number of different circumstances. The five major debit card networks are UnionPay , American Express , Discover , Mastercard , and Visa . Other card networks are STAR , JCB , Pulse , etc. There are many types of debit cards, each accepted only within a particular country or region; for example, Switch (since merged with Maestro) and Solo in the United Kingdom; Interac in Canada; Carte Bleue in France; EC electronic cash (formerly Eurocheque ) in Germany; Bancomat/PagoBancomat in Italy; UnionPay in China; RuPay in India; and EFTPOS cards in Australia and New Zealand. The need for cross-border compatibility and

2052-511: A number of different systems around the world that are often incompatible. Since the mid-2000s, a number of initiatives have allowed debit cards issued in one country to be used in other countries and allowed their use for internet and phone purchases. Debit cards usually also allow an instant withdrawal of cash, acting as an ATM card for this purpose. Merchants may also offer cashback facilities to customers so that they can withdraw cash along with their purchase. There are usually daily limits on

2160-408: A phone call or trip to the branch to reactivate with a new PIN, the card being cut up by the merchant, or in the case of an ATM, being kept inside the machine, both of which require a new card to be ordered. Generally credit card transaction costs are borne by the merchant with no fee applied to the end user (although a direct consumer surcharge of 0.5–3% is not uncommon) while EFTPOS transactions cost

2268-411: A previous target to phase out cheques by 2018. France, remains well ahead of its European counterparts in the use of cheque payments, as seen in 2020 where it is estimated that more than 1 billion cheque payments were made, compared to Italy, the country with the next highest number of payments, with under 100 million. Debit card A debit card , also known as a check card or bank card ,

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2376-435: A record of the cheque. Alternatively, cheques may be recorded with carbon paper behind each cheque, in ledger sheets between cheques or at the back of a chequebook, or in a completely separate transaction register that comes with a chequebook. When a cheque is mailed, a separate letter or " remittance advice " may be attached to inform the recipient of the purpose of the cheque – formally, which account receivable to credit

2484-446: A specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing the cheque, known as the drawer , has a transaction banking account (often called a current, cheque, chequing, checking, or share draft account) where the money is held. The drawer writes various details including the monetary amount, date, and a payee on the cheque, and signs it, ordering their bank, known as

2592-450: A specified transactional account held in the drawer's name with that institution. Both the drawer and payee may be natural persons or legal entities . Cheques are order instruments , and are not in general payable simply to the bearer as bearer instruments are, but must be paid to the payee. In some countries, such as the US, the payee may endorse the cheque, allowing them to specify a third party to whom it should be paid. Cheques are

2700-539: A standard for machine-readable characters ( MICR ) was agreed upon and patented in the US for use with cheques. This opened the way for the first automated reader/sorting machines for clearing cheques. As automation increased, the following years saw a dramatic change in the way in which cheques were handled and processed. Cheque volumes continued to grow; in the late 20th century, cheques were the most popular non- cash method for making payments, with billions of them processed each year. Most countries saw cheque volumes peak in

2808-471: A state driver's license or DMV ID card) in the case of Oakland or in conjunction with a prepaid transit pass (in Chicago). These cards have been heavily criticized for their higher-than-average fees, such as excessive flat fees added onto every purchase made with the card. The U.S. federal government uses prepaid debit cards to make benefit payments to people who do not have bank accounts. In July 2013,

2916-494: A temporary virtual card number that works just in 48 hours, according to Itaú , you can use it to buy on unknown websites for safety reasons, because in the case of a data leak, the credit card number that was leaked wouldn't work. In Bulgaria, debit cards are accepted in almost all stores and shops, as well as in most of the hotels and restaurants in the bigger cities. Smaller restaurants or small shops often accept cash only. All Bulgarian banks can provide debit cards when you open

3024-534: A transfer. The cost of fast transfers and the low speed of free transfers (such as BACS ) was a subject of controversy in the UK, until immediate transactions became available from the Faster Payments service. Problems can arise from delays, such as when an exceptional workload at a bank results in the money being cleared too late in a working day to complete related transactions, or inadequate instructions, when

3132-506: A type of bill of exchange that were developed as a way to make payments without the need to carry large amounts of money. Paper money evolved from promissory notes , another form of negotiable instrument similar to cheques in that they were originally a written order to pay the given amount to whoever had it in their possession (the " bearer "). Check is the original spelling in the English language . The newer spelling, cheque (from

3240-488: A type of bill of exchange, then began to evolve. Initially, they were called drawn notes , because they enabled a customer to draw on the funds that he or she had in the account with a bank and required immediate payment. These were handwritten, and one of the earliest known still to be in existence was drawn on Messrs Morris and Clayton, scriveners and bankers based in the City of London , and dated 16 February 1659. In 1717,

3348-429: Is a stale-dated cheque , but this depends on where the cheque is drawn. In Australia, a cheque is typically valid for fifteen months of the cheque date. A cheque that has an issue date in the future, a post-dated cheque , may not be able to be presented until that date has passed. In some countries writing a post dated cheque may simply be ignored or is illegal. Conversely, an antedated cheque has an issue date in

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3456-426: Is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either the front or the back. Many new cards now have a chip on them, which allows people to use their card by touch (contactless), or by inserting the card and keying in a PIN as with swiping the magnetic stripe. Debit cards are similar to

3564-556: Is also getting common. Canada has a nationwide EFTPOS system, called Interac Direct Payment (IDP). Since being introduced in 1994, IDP has become the most popular payment method in the country. Previously, debit cards have been in use for ABM usage since the late 1970s, with credit unions in Saskatchewan and Alberta introducing the first card-based, networked ATMs beginning in June 1977. Debit cards, which could be used anywhere

3672-675: Is early evidence of using bill of exchange. In India, during the Maurya Empire (from 321 to 185 BC), a commercial instrument called the adesha was in use, which was an order on a banker desiring him to pay the money of the note to a third person. The ancient Romans are believed to have used an early form of cheque known as praescriptiones in the 1st century BC. Beginning in the third century AD, banks in Persian territory began to issue letters of credit. These letters were termed čak , meaning "document" or "contract". The čak became

3780-664: Is sometimes, but not always, indicated on the receipt), and this has nothing to do with whether the transaction was conducted in online or offline mode, since both credit and debit transactions may be conducted in both modes. In some countries, banks tend to levy a small fee for each debit card transaction. In other countries (for example, New Zealand and the UK) the merchants bear all the costs and customers are not charged. There are many people who routinely use debit cards for all transactions, no matter how small. Some (small) retailers refuse to accept debit cards for small transactions, where paying

3888-569: Is the necessity of an electronic authorization device at the point of sale (POS) and sometimes also a separate PINpad to enter the PIN, although this is becoming commonplace for all card transactions in many countries. Overall, the online debit card is generally viewed as superior to the offline debit card because of its more secure authentication system and live status, which alleviates problems with processing lag on transactions that may only issue online debit cards. Some online debit systems are using

3996-418: Is the same for both debit and credit cards. In 2010, Bank of America announced that "it was doing away with overdraft fees for debit card purchases." In some countries, such as India and Sweden, consumer protection is the same regardless of the network used. Some banks set minimum and maximum purchase sizes, mostly for online-only cards. However, this has nothing to do with the card networks but rather with

4104-479: Is to prevent fraudulent activities and protect the card holder. If customers want to use card swipe magnet strips aboard and internationally, they will have to activate and enable international card usage. Debit cards and secured credit cards are popular among college students who have not yet established a credit history. Debit cards may also be used by expatriate workers to send money home to their families holding an affiliated debit card. The consumer perceives

4212-703: The Association of Government Accountants released a report on government use of prepaid cards, concluding that such programs offer a number of advantages to governments and those who receive payments on a prepaid card rather than by check. The prepaid card programs benefit payments largely for the cost savings they offer and provide easier access to cash for recipients, as well as increased security. The report also advises that governments should consider replacing any remaining cheque -based payments with prepaid card programs in order to realize substantial savings for taxpayers as well as benefits for payees. In January 2016,

4320-548: The Bank of England pioneered the first use of a pre-printed form. These forms were printed on "cheque paper" to prevent fraud, and customers had to attend in person and obtain a numbered form from the cashier. Once written, the cheque was brought back to the bank for settlement. The suppression of banknotes in eighteenth-century England further promoted the use of cheques. Until about 1770, an informal exchange of cheques took place between London banks. Clerks of each bank visited all

4428-540: The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company to clear cheques, the United Kingdom Office of Fair Trading set up a working group in 2006 to look at the cheque clearing cycle. Their report said that clearing times could be improved, but that the costs associated with speeding up the cheque clearing cycle could not be justified considering the use of cheques was declining. However, they concluded the biggest problem

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4536-567: The Dutch Republic began depositing their money with "cashiers". These cashiers held the money for a fee. Competition drove cashiers to offer additional services including paying money to any person bearing a written order from a depositor to do so. They kept the note as proof of payment. This concept went on to spread to England and elsewhere. By the 17th century, bills of exchange were being used for domestic payments in England. Cheques,

4644-488: The Eurocheque system was phased out and replaced with domestic clearing systems. Old Eurocheques could still be used, but they were now processed by national clearing systems. At that time, several countries took the opportunity to phase out the use of cheques altogether. As of 2010, many countries have either phased out the use of cheques altogether or signaled that they would do so in the future. The four main items on

4752-585: The French ), is believed to have come into use around 1828, when the switch was made by James William Gilbart in his Practical Treatise on Banking . The spellings check , checque , and cheque were used interchangeably from the 17th century until the 20th century. However, since the 19th century, in the Commonwealth and Ireland, the spelling cheque (from the French word chèque ) has become standard for

4860-528: The V-Pay or Visa Electron cards even if they are widely accepted), the Maestro system is used mostly for payments in other countries, but a few national card payment services use the Maestro system. Some banks also offer Visa and MasterCard debit cards but these are mostly online banks. In Brazil debit cards are called cartão de débito (singular) or cartões de débito (plural) and became popular in 2008. In 2013,

4968-439: The drawee , to pay the amount of money stated to the payee. Although forms of cheques have been in use since ancient times and at least since the 9th century, they became a highly popular non- cash method for making payments during the 20th century and usage of cheques peaked. By the second half of the 20th century, as cheque processing became automated, billions of cheques were issued annually; these volumes peaked in or around

5076-492: The payment card number is assigned exclusively for use on the Internet, and there is no physical card. This is referred to as a virtual card . In many countries, the use of debit cards has become so widespread that they have overtaken checks in volume or have entirely replaced them; in some instances, debit cards have also largely replaced cash transactions. The development of debit cards, unlike credit cards and charge cards , has generally been country-specific, resulting in

5184-547: The sakk later used by traders in the Abbasid Caliphate and other Arab-ruled lands. Transporting a paper sakk was more secure than transporting money. In the ninth century, a merchant in one country could cash a sakk drawn on his bank in another country. The Persian poet, Ferdowsi, used the term "cheque" several times in his famous book, Shahnameh, when referring to the Sasanid dynasty. Ibn Hawqal , living in

5292-485: The 100 millionth Brazilian debit card was issued. Debit cards replaced cheques , common until the first decade of the 2000s. Today, the majority of the financial transactions (like buying food at a supermarket), are made using debit cards (and this system is quickly replacing cash payments in Brazil). Nowadays, the majority of debit card payments are processed using a card + PIN combination, and almost every card comes with

5400-525: The 10th century, records the use of a cheque written in Aoudaghost which was worth 42,000 dinars . In the 13th century the bill of exchange was developed in Venice as a legal device to allow international trade without the need to carry large amounts of gold and silver. Their use subsequently spread to other European countries. In the early 1500s, to protect large accumulations of cash, people in

5508-549: The 1790s was discovered by a family in New Jersey. The documents are in some ways similar to modern-day cheques, with some data pre-printed on sheets of paper alongside blank spaces for where other information could be hand-written as needed. It is thought that the Commercial Bank of Scotland was the first bank to personalize its customers' cheques, in 1811, by printing the name of the account holder vertically along

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5616-450: The 1990s, both for point of sale transactions (for which credit cards , debit cards or mobile payment apps are increasingly preferred) and for third party payments (for example, bill payments), where the emergence of telephone banking has accelerated the decline, online banking , and mobile banking . Being paper-based, cheques are costly for banks to process in comparison to electronic payments, so banks in many countries now discourage

5724-574: The Kuwaiti KNET . Bangladesh launched its first domestic card scheme, "Taka Pay" on 1 November 2023. Until now banks were dependent on international card schemes such as Visa , Mastercard , UnionPay etc. From the launching day 3 banks are issuing "Taka Pay" card. Those banks are: Sonali Bank PLC , BRAC Bank PLC and The City Bank Limited . 5 banks ( Dutch Bangla Bank Limited , Estern Bank PLC , Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC , Mutual Trust Bank Limited and United Commercial Bank PLC ) have joined

5832-450: The MICR section to be readable. Not all of the MICR characters have been printed at the time the cheque is written, as additional characters will be printed later to encode the amount; thus a sloppy signature could obscure characters that will later be printed there. Since MICR characters are no longer necessarily printed in magnetic ink and will be scanned by optical rather than magnetic means,

5940-402: The MICR. This can cause considerable inconvenience as the depositor may have to wait days for the bank to be open and may have difficulty getting to the bank even when they are open; this can delay the availability of the portion of a deposit which their bank makes available immediately as well as the balance of the deposit. Terms of service for many mobile (cell phone camera) deposits also require

6048-547: The Netherlands). For a comparison, PayPal offers the customer to use an online-only Maestro card if the customer enters a Dutch address of residence, but not if the same customer enters a Swedish address of residence. Internet purchases can be authenticated by the consumer entering their PIN if the merchant has enabled a secure online PIN pad, in which case the transaction is conducted in debit mode. Otherwise, transactions may be conducted in either credit or debit mode (which

6156-467: The Netherlands. Prepaid debit cards are reloadable and can also be called reloadable debit cards. The primary market for prepaid debit cards has historically been unbanked people; that is, people who do not use banks or credit unions for their financial transactions. Advantages of prepaid debit cards include being safer than carrying cash, worldwide acceptance, not having to worry about paying

6264-502: The Persian word shah , or " king ". The cheque had its origins in the ancient banking system, in which bankers would issue orders at the request of their customers, to pay money to identified payees. Such an order was referred to as a bill of exchange . The use of bills of exchange facilitated trade by eliminating the need for merchants to carry large quantities of currency (for example, gold) to purchase goods and services. There

6372-686: The UK government introduced a requirement for banks to offer fee-free basic bank accounts for all, which had a significant impact on the prepaid industry, including the departure of a number of firms. Consumer protections vary depending on the network used. Visa and MasterCard, for instance, prohibit minimum and maximum purchase sizes, surcharges, and arbitrary security procedures on the part of merchants. Merchants are usually charged higher transaction fees for credit transactions since debit network transactions are less likely to be fraudulent. This may lead them to "steer" customers toward debit transactions. Consumers disputing charges may find it easier to do so with

6480-466: The UK to facilitate the clearing of cheques on banks in the same town. Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, and Southampton all had their own clearinghouses. In America, the Bank of New York began issuing cheques after its establishment by Alexander Hamilton in 1784. The oldest surviving example of a complete American chequebook from

6588-652: The UK, Pinpas cards in the Netherlands, Bancontact cards in Belgium, etc.). The use of a debit card system allows operators to package their products more effectively while monitoring customer spending. Online debit cards require electronic authorization of every transaction, and the debits are reflected in the user's account immediately. The transaction may be additionally secured with the personal identification number (PIN) authentication system; some online cards require such authentication for every transaction, essentially becoming enhanced automatic teller machine (ATM) cards . One difficulty with using online debit cards

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6696-611: The United Kingdom a memo line is not available and such notes may be written on the reverse side of the cheque. In the US, at the top (when cheque oriented vertically) of the reverse side of the cheque, there are usually one or more blank lines labelled something like "Endorse here". Starting in the 1960s, machine-readable routing and account information was added to the bottom of cheques in MICR format, which allowed automated sorting and routing of cheques between banks and led to automated central clearing facilities. The information provided at

6804-481: The ability of banks, who typically provide merchant services to retailers on behalf of Visa or MasterCard, from stopping those retailers charging extra fees to take payment by credit card instead of cash or EFTPOS. In Bahrain debit cards are under Benefit , the interbanking network for Bahrain. Benefit is also accepted in other countries though, mainly GCC, similar to the Saudi Payments Network and

6912-597: The absence of other scheme networks. EFTPOS cards can also be used to deposit and withdraw cash over the counter at Australia Post outlets participating in Giro Post and withdrawals without purchase from certain major retailers, just as if the transaction was conducted at a bank branch, even if the bank branch is closed. Electronic transactions in Australia are generally processed via the Telstra Argent and Optus Transact Plus network—which has recently superseded

7020-404: The account holder's file. The account holder can request a copy of a cancelled cheque as proof of a payment. This is known as the cheque clearing cycle. Cheques can be lost or go astray within the cycle, or be delayed if further verification is needed in the case of suspected fraud. A cheque may thus bounce some time after it has been deposited. Following concerns about the amount of time it took

7128-552: The advent of the euro recently led to many of these card networks (such as Switzerland's "EC direkt", Austria's "Bankomatkasse", and Switch in the United Kingdom) being re-branded with the internationally recognized Maestro logo, which is part of the Mastercard brand. Some debit cards are dual-branded with the logo of the (former) national card as well as Maestro (for example, EC cards in Germany, Switch and Solo in

7236-413: The amount after the cheque had been written. It is not a legal requirement to write the amount in words, although some banks will refuse to accept cheques that do not have the amount in both numbers and words. An issue date was added, and cheques may become invalid a certain amount of time after issue. In the US and Canada, a cheque is typically valid for six months after the date of issue, after which it

7344-526: The amount of cash that can be withdrawn. Most debit cards are plastic , but there are cards made of metal and, rarely, wood.   There are currently three ways that debit card transactions are processed: EFTPOS (also known as online debit or PIN debit ), offline debit (also known as signature debit ), and the Electronic Purse Card System . One physical card can include the functions of all three types, so it can be used in

7452-419: The bank's judgment of the person's age and credit records. Any fees that the customers have to pay to the bank are the same regardless of whether the transaction is conducted as a credit or debit transaction, so there is no advantage for the customers to choose one transaction mode over another. Shops may add surcharges to the price of goods or services in accordance with laws allowing them to do so. Banks consider

7560-806: The black market, and even some building sites are known for cash-in-hand payments in the UK, meaning high amounts of money can be unaccounted for. The banks in Angola issue by official regulation only one brand of debit cards: Multicaixa , which is also the brand name of the one and only network of ATMs and POS terminals. ArCa (Armenian Card), a national system of debit (ArCa Debit and ArCa Classic) and credit (ArCa Gold, ArCa Business, ArCA Platinum, ArCa Affinity and ArCa Co-branded) cards popular in Armenia. Established in 2000 by 17 largest Armenian banks. Debit cards in Australia are called different names depending on

7668-426: The bottom of the cheque is country-specific and standards are set by each country's cheque clearing system. This means that the payee no longer has to go to the bank that issued the cheque, they can instead deposit it at their own bank or any other bank and the cheque would be routed back to the originating bank, and funds transferred to their own bank account. In the US, the bottom 5 ⁄ 8 -inch (16 mm) of

7776-479: The card and then write the cheque-guarantee-card number on the back of the cheque. Such cards were generally phased out and replaced by debit cards , starting in the mid-1990s. From the mid-1990s, many countries enacted laws to allow for cheque truncation , in which a physical cheque is converted into electronic form for transmission to the paying bank or clearing-house. This eliminates the cumbersome physical presentation and saves time and processing costs. In 2002,

7884-442: The card need no network connectivity) have been in use throughout Europe since the mid-1990s, most notably in Germany ( Geldkarte ), Austria ( Quick Wertkarte ), the Netherlands ( Chipknip ), Belgium ( Proton ), Switzerland (CASH), and France ( Moneo , which is usually carried by a debit card). In Austria and Germany, almost all current bank cards now include electronic purses, whereas the electronic purse has been recently phased out in

7992-402: The cheque can only be paid into the bank account of the person initially named as the payee, thus it cannot be endorsed to a different payee. Cheques sometimes include additional documents. A page in a chequebook may consist of both the cheque itself and a stub or counterfoil  – when the cheque is written, only the cheque itself is detached, and the stub is retained in the chequebook as

8100-415: The cheque is reserved for MICR characters only. Intrusion into the MICR area can cause problems when the cheque runs through the clearinghouse, requiring someone to print an MICR cheque correction strip and glue it to the cheque. Many new ATMs do not use deposit envelopes and actually scan the cheque at the time it is deposited and will reject cheques due to handwriting incursion which interferes with reading

8208-402: The cheque to the bank that it was deposited at) because there are insufficient funds for the cheque to clear, it is said that the cheque has been dishonoured . Once a cheque is approved and all appropriate accounts involved have been credited, the cheque is stamped with some kind of cancellation mark, such as a "paid" stamp. The cheque is now a cancelled cheque . Cancelled cheques are placed in

8316-492: The closure of the town clearing, the operating company was renamed to CHAPS Clearing Company Limited (informally CHAPS Co). Responsibility for the CHAPS system transferred from it to the Bank of England in November 2017. On 20 August 2018, the first non-bank institution, ipagoo LLP, joined the CHAPS scheme. A CHAPS transfer is initiated by the sender to move money to the recipient's account (at another banking institution), where

8424-493: The consumer an applicable withdrawal fee charged by their bank. The introduction of Visa and MasterCard debit cards along with regulation in the settlement fees charged by the operators of both EFTPOS and credit cards by the Reserve Bank has seen a continuation in the increasing ubiquity of credit card use among Australians and a general decline in the profile of EFTPOS. However, the regulation of settlement fees also removed

8532-503: The convenience of not having to carry cash, and the availability of automated bank machines (ABMs) and direct payment merchants on the network. Debit cards may be considered similar to stored-value cards in that they represent a finite amount of money owed by the card issuer to the holder. They are different in that stored-value cards are generally anonymous and are only usable at the issuer, while debit cards are generally associated with an individual's bank account and can be used anywhere on

8640-479: The credit card machine. Generally the amount you are allowed to pay without a pin is quite low for security, but is really useful for daily things that won't cost too much. Something that appeared recently is a virtual card by some banks (such as Itaú , Bradesco , Mercado Pago and Nubank ) on your internet banking platform. They give you a card number, expiration date and the CVV code to be used online. They also have

8748-601: The debit card is sometimes referred to as a "bank card". It is a client card issued by a bank that provides access to funds and other bank account transactions, such as transferring funds, checking balances, paying bills, etc., as well as point of purchase transactions connected on the Interac network. Since its national launch in 1994, Interac Direct Payment has become so widespread that, as of 2001, more transactions in Canada were completed using debit cards than cash. This popularity may be partially attributable to two main factors:

8856-629: The destination account. CHAPS is used by twenty direct participants, including the Bank of England , and over 4,500 indirect participants (who process transactions via agency arrangements with direct participants). In its first year of operation, average daily transactions numbered 7,000, with a total annual value of £5 billion. In 2004, twenty years later, average daily transactions numbered 130,000, with an annual value of £300 billion. In 2010 there were 32 million CHAPS transactions, totalling over £61 trillion, down from £73 trillion in 2008. CHAPS used to offer euro fund transfers as

8964-403: The difference between the two being that EFTPOS transactions are authorized by a personal identification number (PIN) while credit card transactions can additionally be authorized using a contactless payment mechanism (requiring a PIN for purchases over $ 200). If the user fails to enter the correct pin three times, the consequences range from the card being locked out for a minimum 24-hour period,

9072-402: The early 1990s. Since then cheque usage has fallen, being replaced by electronic payment systems, such as debit cards and credit cards . In an increasing number of countries cheques have either become a marginal payment system or have been completely phased out. A cheque is a negotiable instrument instructing a financial institution to pay a specific amount of a specific currency from

9180-469: The financial instrument, while check is used only for other meanings, thus distinguishing the two definitions in writing. In American English , the usual spelling for both is check . Etymological dictionaries attribute the financial meaning of check to come from "a check against forgery", with the use of "check" to mean "control" stemming from the check used in chess , a term which came into English through French, Latin, Arabic, and ultimately from

9288-408: The funds must be paid into a bank account. The format and wording varies from country to country, but generally two parallel lines may be placed either vertically across the cheque or in the top left hand corner. In addition the words 'or bearer' must not be used, or if pre-printed on the cheque must be crossed out on the payee line. If the cheque is crossed with the words 'Account Payee' or similar then

9396-404: The funds need to be available (cleared) the same working day. Unlike with a bank giro credit, no pre-printed slip specifying the details of the recipient is required. Unlike cheques , the transfer is performed in real time, removing the issue of float or the potential for payments to be purposely stopped by the sender or returned due to insufficient funds, even after they appear to have arrived in

9504-416: The funds to. This is frequently done formally using a provided slip when paying a bill, or informally via a letter when sending an ad hoc cheque. Parties to regular cheques generally include a drawer , the depositor writing a cheque; a drawee, the financial institution where the cheque can be presented for payment; and a payee, the entity to whom the drawer issues the cheque. The drawer drafts or draws

9612-468: The issuer company: key and niche financial players (sometimes collaborations between businesses); purpose of usage (transit card, beauty gift cards, travel card, health savings card, business, insurance, etc.); and regions. As of 2013, several city governments (including Oakland, California , and Chicago , Illinois ) are now offering prepaid debit cards, either as part of a municipal ID card (for people such as illegal immigrants who are unable to obtain

9720-618: The issuing bank: Commonwealth Bank of Australia : Keycard; Westpac Banking Corporation : Handycard; National Australia Bank : FlexiCard; ANZ Bank : Access card; Bendigo Bank : Easy Money card. A payment in Australia using a debit card can be processed by the local proprietary interbank network called EFTPOS , which is very popular and has been operating there since the 1980s, or it could be processed via an international Card scheme network (ie Visa, Mastercard). Debit cards that were solely EFTPOS-enabled can only be used domestically within Australia and would not be accepted internationally due to

9828-400: The late 1980s or early 1990s, after which electronic payment methods became more popular and the use of cheques declined. In 1969 cheque guarantee cards were introduced in several countries, allowing a retailer to confirm that a cheque would be honored when used at a point of sale . The drawer would sign the cheque in front of the retailer, who would compare the signature to the signature on

9936-591: The left-hand edge. In 1830 the Bank of England introduced books of 50, 100, and 200 forms and counterparts, bound or stitched. These cheque books became a common format for the distribution of cheques to bank customers. In the late 19th century, several countries formalized laws regarding cheques. The UK passed the Bills of Exchange Act 1882 , and India passed the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 ; which both covered cheques. In 1931, an attempt

10044-471: The normal authentication processes of Internet banking to provide real-time online debit transactions. Offline debit cards have the logos of major credit cards (for example, Visa or Mastercard ). These cards connect straight to a person's bank account, but there is a delay before the money is taken out. Smart-card -based electronic purse systems (in which value is stored on the card chip, not in an externally recorded account, so that machines accepting

10152-556: The old Transcend network in the last few years. Most early keycards were only usable for EFTPOS and at ATM or bank branches, whilst the new debit card system works in the same way as a credit card, except it will only use funds in the specified bank account. This means that, among other advantages, the new system is suitable for electronic purchases without a delay of two to four days for bank-to-bank money transfers. Australia operates both electronic credit card transaction authorization and traditional EFTPOS debit card authorization systems,

10260-623: The other banks to exchange cheques while keeping a tally of balances between them until they settled with each other. Daily cheque clearing began around 1770 when the bank clerks met at the Five Bells, a tavern in Lombard Street in the City of London, to exchange all their cheques in one place and settle the balances in cash. This was the first bankers' clearing house . Provincial clearinghouses were established in major cities throughout

10368-399: The past. A cheque number was added and cheque books were issued so that cheque numbers were sequential. This allowed for some basic fraud detection by banks and made sure one cheque was not presented twice. In some countries, such as the US, cheques may contain a memo line where the purpose of the cheque can be indicated as a convenience without affecting the official parts of the cheque. In

10476-422: The payee's account, or in some circumstances may be a third party to whom the payee owes or wishes to give money. A payee that accepts a cheque will typically deposit it in an account at the payee's bank, and have the bank process the cheque. In some cases, the payee will take the cheque to a branch of the drawee bank, and cash the cheque there. If a cheque is refused at the drawee bank (or the drawee bank returns

10584-535: The purchases to have been made at the moment when the card was swiped, regardless of when the purchase settlement was made. Regardless of which transaction type was used, the purchase may result in an overdraft because the money is considered to have left the account at the moment of the card swipe. According to Singapore's local financial and banking laws and regulations, all Singapore-issued credit and debit cards with Visa or MasterCard swipe magnet strips are disabled by default if used outside of Singapore. The whole idea

10692-402: The readers will be unable to distinguish pen ink from pre-printed magnetic ink; these changes allow cheques to be printed on ordinary home and office printers without requiring pre-printed cheque forms, allow ATM deposit capture, allow mobile deposits , and facilitate electronic copies of cheques. For additional protection, a cheque can be crossed , which restricts the use of the cheque so that

10800-460: The scheme and will start issuing cards soon. Bangladesh Bank is working to bring all Bank , Mobile financial service provider and other financial institutions into the scheme. In Belgium, debit cards are widely accepted in most businesses, as well as in most hotels and restaurants. Smaller restaurants or small retailers often accept either debit cards or Payconiq , but generally not credit cards . All Belgian banks provide debit cards when you open

10908-487: The transaction fee would absorb the profit margin on the sale, making the transaction uneconomic for the retailer. Some businesses do not accept card payments at all, even in an era with declining use of cash. This still happens for a variety of reasons, tax evasion by small business included. In 2019, £35,000 million in tax revenue was lost in the United Kingdom due to cash-only payments. Many businesses such as, barber shops, fish & chip shops, Chinese takeaways,

11016-509: The transaction is reconciled and hard-posted to the customer's account, usually a few days later. This is in contrast to a typical credit card transaction, in which, after a few days delay before the transaction is posted to the account, there is a further period of maybe a month before the consumer makes repayment. Because of this, in the case of an error by the merchant or issuer, a debit transaction may cause more serious problems (for example, overdraft/money not accessible/overdrawn account) than

11124-420: The use of cheques, either by charging for cheques or by making the alternatives more attractive to customers. In particular, the handling of money transfers requires more effort and is time-consuming. The cheque has to be handed over in person or sent through mail. The rise of automated teller machines (ATMs) means that small amounts of cash are often easily accessible, so that it is sometimes unnecessary to write

11232-489: The year 2000 when Americans wrote an average of 60 checks annually. In many Asian countries, cheques were never widely used and generally only used by the wealthy, with cash being used for the majority of payments except for India, where cheque usage was prevalent. Where cheques were used they have been declining rapidly, by 2009 there was negligible consumer cheque usage in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan . This declining trend

11340-517: Was accelerated by these developed markets advanced financial services infrastructure. Many of the developing countries in Asia have seen an increasing use of electronic payment systems, 'leap-frogging' the less efficient chequing system altogether. In most European countries, cheques are now rarely used or have been completely phased out, even for third party payments except for the United Kingdom, France and Ireland. In most western European countries, it

11448-661: Was made to simplify the international use of cheques by the Geneva Convention on the Unification of the Law Relating to Cheques. Many European and South American states, as well as Japan, joined the convention. However, countries including the US and members of the British Commonwealth did not participate and so it remained very difficult for cheques to be used across country borders. In 1959

11556-402: Was standard practice for businesses to publish their bank details on invoices, to facilitate the receipt of payments by giro . Even before the introduction of online banking, it has been possible in some countries to make payments to third parties using ATMs, which may accurately and rapidly capture invoice amounts, due dates, and payee bank details via a bar code reader to reduce keying. In using

11664-439: Was the unlimited time a bank could take to dishonour a cheque. To address this, changes were implemented so that the maximum time after a cheque was deposited that it could be dishonoured was six days, what was known as the "certainty of fate" principle. An advantage to the drawer of using cheques instead of debit card transactions is that they know the drawer's bank will not release the money until several days later. Paying with

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