Debit Card Services : The History and The Future

For the majority of young adults in the world, there has never been a better time to use credit or debit card services. Debit cards have become the method of choice for daily expenses.  These days, debit cards are used every day and have significantly limited a consumer’s need to carry cash. Debit cards have made banking safer and much easier to manage. But when did this phenomenon happen exactly, and how?[br]

For the majority of young adults in the world, there has never been a better time to use credit or debit card services. Debit cards have become the method of choice for daily expenses.  These days, debit cards are used every day and have significantly limited a consumer’s need to carry cash. Debit cards have made banking safer and much easier to manage. But when did this phenomenon happen exactly, and how?[br]

While the history of debit card services is still relatively new, we can trace the origins of their use to just over twenty years ago. This was essentially when the world began being introduced to the idea of alternative forms of payment, other than cash or check.

Within the first few years of the introduction of debit card services, the industry had a circulation of around 19 million cards. This number has continued to grow, and has boomed to a circulation of over 30 million debit cards since their inception. However, it has appeared that in the past few years, the number of new debit cards being issued in countries where it is the primary form of payment, has been declining. This is likely because there are just so many debit cards already on the market, and that there are not many new consumers being added. But of course, with new countries adding debit cards to their banking system every year, the worldwide circulation of debit card is expected to continue to rise sharply for quite some time.[br]

Debit card services were preceded by the use of credit cards. When debit cards were put in place many people were already accustomed to using credit cards and their usage had shown massive growth. Banks began seeing an opportunity to use this preference to making purchases with a card and allowing a customer to get that card from their bank.

The first known bank to offer a debit card was Seattle’s First National Bank. The bank began issuing them to business executives in 1978. Initially these early debit cards required a signature just like a credit card and were guaranteed to be paid. However, these cards were too much like credit cards to show too much initial success.

It was in 1984 that debit cards became what they are today. Landmark created a nationwide debit card system that allowed debit cards to be used for purchases all across the country in which they were issued; initially this was mainly the United States though debit cards began to expand into Canada as well. This new technology also allowed funds to be taken directly from a consumer’s bank account and set them apart from credit cards. The future for debit card services is bright and will continue to grow as our culture works towards a cashless system.