V Pay is a

Single Euro Payments Area The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a payment integration initiative of the European Union for simplification of bank transfers denominated in euros. , there were 41 members in SEPA, consisting of the 27 member states of the European Union ...

(SEPA)

debit card A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, 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 ...

for use in Europe, issued by

Visa Europe Visa Inc. () is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit cards, debit c ...

. It uses the

EMV EMV is a payment method based on a technical standard for smart card, smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines which can accept them. EMV stands for "Europay International, Europay, Mastercard, and Visa Inc., ...

chip Chip may refer to: Food * Chip (snack), thinly sliced and deep-fried gastro item ** Potato chips (US) or crisp (UK) * Chips (fried potato strips) (UK) or french fries (US) (common as a takeout side) * Game chips, thin chip/French fries * Choco ...

and

PIN A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...

system and can be co-branded with various national debit card schemes such as the German

Girocard girocard is an interbank network and debit card service in Germany connecting virtually all automated teller machines (ATMs) and banks. It is based on standards and agreements developed by the German Banking Industry Committee. German girocard ...

or Italy's

PagoBancomat Bancomat is an Italian interbank network for cash withdrawals widely used in Italy. It was first introduced in 1983 for use with automated teller machines. The network is owned by the Rome-based Bancomat, S.p.A. and its cards are issued by Italia ...

Overview

The V Pay debit card system competes with the

Mastercard Maestro Mastercard Maestro is a brand of debit cards and Prepaid debit card, prepaid cards owned by Mastercard that was introduced in 1991. Maestro is accepted at around fifteen million point of sale outlets in 93 countries. On July 1, 2023, Mastercar ...

debit card product. However, unlike Mastercard Maestro, V Pay cards cannot be used in non-EMV environments, limiting its acceptance to those countries and merchants that use this system. Also unlike Mastercard Maestro, which is issued and accepted globally, V Pay is designed as a specifically European product, and is not issued or accepted outside European countries except for some of their overseas territories. However, some cards are co-branded with the

Visa Electron Visa Electron was a debit card product that used the Visa payment system. It was offered by issuing banks in every country with the exception of Canada, Australia, Argentina, Ireland and the United States. The difference between Visa Electron a ...

system, which allows using them outside Europe. V Pay cards began to be accepted at merchants in France and Greece in 2005, and acceptance had since expanded to more European countries. However from 2019, the V Pay system is gradually phased-out in favor of

Visa Debit Visa Debit is a brand of debit card issued by Visa in many countries. Numerous banks and financial institutions issue Visa Debit cards to their customers for access to their bank accounts. In many countries the Visa Debit functionality is often ...

External links

Official website

References

{{Credit cards Debit cards Visa Inc.