Visa Delta

Visa Delta is the 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 and Halifax. The scheme is also used by many smaller banks icnluding the Coop Bank, and Nationwide.

Contents

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, 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 ca. 80p 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 comptetitor to Visa Delta on the UK debit card market is the Switch card now Maestro, which is issued by NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC. Halifax recently switched to Delta from Switch. Switch is a purely UK domestic debit card system, which is now taken over by Maestro. By many britons switch is viewed as preferable, as it has had longer market presence. Internationally, Visa Delta is however far more accepted and preferred.