Visa Delta

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Visa Delta is a major debit card issued by Visa in the United Kingdom. Of the major banks in the UK, the ones issuing debit cards under the Visa Delta scheme are: Barclays Bank, Lloyds TSB, Abbey and Halifax Bank of Scotland who abandoned Switch due to a delay in chip and pin rollout. The scheme is also used by many smaller banks and building societies including the Coop Bank, Alliance & Leicester, Northern Rock and Nationwide.

Design

On the front the card is identical to a Visa credit card, with the exception of the visa logo being above the hologram rather than below it, although not always, and the words "DEBIT CARD" written below the hologram. On the back most cards display the delta logo, and usually also a cheque guarantee logo.

System

The card can be used just like a Visa credit card both internationally and in the UK. Retailers in the UK can however accept the card as a debit card rather than a normal Visa card. In this case, the store is not charged a percentage, but rather a fixed charge of around 50p per transaction. All transactions are in any case processed through the Visa clearing system, using the same card number, distinguising it from other national debit card schemes which can be combined with Visa on a debit card, like Carte Bancaire in France and BankAxept in Norway, where the card in fact contains credentials for two distinct charging systems.

Logo

Visa seems to be in the process of removing the Delta brand from public display, as Visa Delta is not mentioned on their web site any more, and many card issuers and merchants are now removing the logo from display, despite them continuing to offer the debit features of the card.

Market Competition

The only competitor to Visa Delta on the UK debit card market is the Switch card now rebranded as Maestro, which is issued by NatWest and HSBC. Switch was a purely UK domestic debit card system, but newly relaunched as Maestro it now offers worldwide acceptance. By some Britons, Switch is viewed as preferable, as it is perceived to have had longer market presence. In fact, Barclays Connect was the first UK debit card, ahead of NatWest's Switch card. However the Delta branding did not appear until long after Switch's launch. It should however be noted that even in the UK Switch/Maestro is less accepted than Visa Delta. Internationally, Visa Delta is preferred.

See also

• VISA
• Visa Electron
• Switch card

 

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