Hi everyone, I have been looking at bank accounts with Westpac and ANZ and noticed ANZ have a ANZ Everyday Visa Debit account Are visa debit cards a new thing in Oz??? I noticed its a buck dearer than their normal accounts but is it worth paying the extra money for a visa debit. And if Visa debit cards are new how do you shop online etc????
Very confused.
Kate x

Not sure if visa debit is new but you can only really use a credit card online from what I can see. As I don't have one here we have saved a fortune

Well you will have to open an account and start spending again... One of the ways they are marketing it on their site is the fact you can shop online woohoo.

I've had a Visa Debit card for years, from my Credit Union not a Bank. You can use them as debit or credit card. Your account is debited with the amount either way.

Police and Nurses do a visa card that you pay the money into first before you can use it, so you have to have money in the account before you can buy anything, but at least its a credit card, obviously with no credit history in Aus it isnt that easy to get anybody to give you a 'proper' credit card.

Visa Debit cards are not new although they are not popular from a bank perspective as they are troublesome [for banks] and don't earn as much for the banks as do credit cards. They are great for customers as they provide a visa facility without all the "bad" things a credit card offers, in other words you only take out of the card whatever you have in your account so you never get into debt or pay interest on outstanding purchases.

Westpac already have Debit cards but they are only available in Victoria. There are no plans as yet to introduce them to other parts of Aus although this may change now ANZ have introduced them.

As for debit cards and shopping on line. Just as with credit cards, not all merchants accept debit cards and in fact one of the biggest gripes with people using the debit card is they believe it enables them to shop on the internet because it's a visa. However it is a debit, not credit card....so isn't as widely accepted as a credit card.

It's all about personal choice and preference. There are drawbacks with a debit card just as there is with a credit card. You just need to assess what they are and decide for yourself and your circumstances

I don't want to sound like I'm teaching granny how to suck eggs but a Debit Card and a Credit Card are different beasts with which you can sometimes do the same thing. A debit card is linked to a current account which will have an overdraft limit. If you have a current account with say 1,000 $'s or £'s and an overdraft limit of say 200 $'s or £'s then you can use a debit card for purchases of up to 1,200.

A credit card is not as such linked to an account but has a spending limit which might be 3,000 $'s or £'s and you can spend up to that amount in one hit. If you reach this limit many people just use another credit card! I read the other day that the average adult in the UK carries around £14,000 in their pocket (i.e. credit cards with an average total limit of that amount).

OzTennis

Could someone please enlighten me why the ANZ would bother issuing a Visa Debit only card when they already have an Efpos card?

So you can pay at places where they accept Visa but not Eftpos, eg some restaurants, or phone/internet payments.

Just answered my own question via ANZ website. You can use their Visa to make online purchases, so as I said in my original post it can be used as a debit card, ie with a pin number or by selecting the credit option and signing the docket. In both cases the amount is debited from the balance in your account.

Agree. That's because one is a debit to your account [debit card] so you spend your own money, whilst the other is a credit to your account [credit card] so you spend the banks money

To the poster re EFTPOS/DEBIT card differences:The difference between an EFTPOS and a Debit card is the Debit card can be used *like* a Credit card [but using your own money rather than credit..... whereas an EFTPOS card can't.

It is easy to understand Honest

Visa debit cards work the same as an ordinary visa card.

You can use them online and at shops or over the phone. You just choose the credit function at eftpos machines. And yes they are worth it, you don't have the convenience of credit but then you don't pay any interest or get those nasty statements

I have a visa debit card with barclays and I can use it almost anywhere...online or not! Does it work differently in Oz then?

jackie

I believe that Mastercard Debit Cards are coming our way soon, too.

NO. Works exactly the same.