Visa Electron is a

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 term '' plastic card'' includes the above and as an identity document. These are similar to a credit card, but ...

product that uses the Visa

payment system A payment system is any system used to settle financial transactions through the transfer of monetary value. This includes the institutions, instruments, people, rules, procedures, standards, and technologies that make its exchange possible.Bia ...

. It is offered by issuing banks in every country with the exception of Canada, Australia, Argentina, Ireland and the United States. The difference between Visa Electron and Visa Debit, a similar product, is that payments with Visa Electron always require on-line electronic authorisation, and typically require that all the funds be available at the time of transfer, i.e., Visa Electron card accounts may not normally be overdrawn. Most Visa Debit cards, on the other hand, may be processed off-line without on-line authorisation and may allow transfers exceeding available funds up to a certain limit. For that reason, Visa Electron cards are more commonly issued to younger customers or customers that have poor credit. Some online stores and all offline terminals do not support Visa Electron because their systems cannot check for the availability of funds. In addition to point of sale debit payments, the card also allows the holder to withdraw cash from

automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fund ...

s (ATMs) using the

Plus Plus may refer to: Mathematics * Addition * +, the mathematical sign Music * ''+'' (Ed Sheeran album), (pronounced "plus"), 2011 * ''Plus'' (Cannonball Adderley Quintet album), 1961 * ''Plus'' (Matt Nathanson EP), 2003 * ''Plus'' (Martin Ga ...

interbank network An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that enables ATM cards issued by a financial institution that is a member of the network to be used to perform ATM transactions through ATMs that belo ...

. In 2001,

Banque Misr Banque Misr ( ar, بنك مصر) is an Egyptian bank co-founded by industrialist Joseph Aslan Cattaui Pasha and economist Talaat Harb Pasha in 1920. The government of the United Arab Republic nationalized the bank in 1960. The bank has branch ...

began offering the cards. Many banks have migrated away from Visa Electron and instead issue Visa Debit cards; as such, Visa Electron issuance is declining. Visa Electron will be discontinued globally by 2024.https://www.aibms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AI08053-Visa-Electron-Will-Be-Discontinued-Globally.pdf

Design

A Visa Electron logo, usually on the bottom right. Most Visa Electron cards do not have the dove hologram as on Visa credit and debit cards, but a few banks do include it. The card number and validity as well as cardholder name are printed rather than embossed, thus the card cannot be used in a card imprinter – for card-present transactions the card requires a reader of magnetic stripe cards, EMV reader or

contactless payment Contactless payment systems are credit cards and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices, including smartphones and other mobile devices, that use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC, e.g. Samsung ...

terminal.

References

{{Credit cards Financial services companies established in 1985 Debit cards Debit card issuer associations 1985 establishments in the United States Visa Inc.