Solo v Electron

Not quite sure but The Bank Of Scotland seem to be avoiding this change as they are moving away from Switch to Visa debit cards in the summer.

Hmm. One of the reasons I asked is because Halifax are too.

They are all eftpos cards. (eftpos = electronic funds transfer at point of sale).

A few years ago it was not unusual to find a retailer who accepted Visa credit cards but not Master Cards (or vice versa), particularly abroad. It is the same with eftpos cards. Most retailers accept either all eftpos cards or none of them, but if you look hard enough you can find someone who accepts one type but not another.

As long as your eftpos card has one of the major logos on it you shouldn't have many problems. Remember that more retailers accept eftpos cards than credit cards.

Probably because Halifax and BoS are the same group! ie. HBOS.

Doesn't necessarily follow that they will adopt the same strategy, though.

Does really, as since early last year, their current account offerings have been amalgamated in all but name. New BoS customers can login to online banking via the Halifax, and vice versa.

So if one changed to Visa Debit, I think the other would have to follow suit.

Seems that Halifax are now the driving force in HBOS when it comes to personal banking. Wheras BoS are the brains behind the business banking.

In message , freddy writes

True, but it is likely though. The two seem to be aligning their systems and to have two separate card systems would buck their current trend.

In message , DP writes

What does this sentence mean?

Credit Cards are a subset of eftpos cards.

That site is useless, it has no official capacity and is just owned by some pea brain hoping somebody involved with eftpos will buy it.

eftpos cards transfer funds at the point of sale (the pos in eftpos) straight from the customer's account to the retailer's account. Credit cards pay the retailer from the bank's money and the customer pays the bank at a later date (hence the name "credit"). Credit cards and eftpos cards are different. With one you pay now, with the other you pay later.

If you had understood the contents of the site on

In message , DP writes

You misunderstand the term. EFTPOS is named from the retailers point of view. They get dosh, electronically, at point of sale. The source of funds is immaterial. Whether the card is a debit or credit card is immaterial.

f you had understood the contents of the site on

I recall gett-- Quote --

"The illistation of the new electron on the leaflet looks more like a normal Visa card, gone are the words "for electronic use only" and it looks like embossed numbers, So I tkae it this means that they cam be used over the phone/internet?

-- End Quote --

So does anyone know if this is so or will the Electron card be as useless for mail order transactions as it is today?

John.

Without a hint of irony, "DP" astounded uk.finance on 05 Feb

As do credit cards. The funds are just transferred from the CC company rather than the customer.

No, credit & debit cards are both EFTPOS cards. In fact, unless the merchant is using APACS 40, it's unlikely that the transfer is actually done at the POS whether using debit or credit cards.

In message , Alex writes

You are right, but DP doesnt realise that a CC account is just the same thing as a Bank Account.

That would be me. Reading your posts suggests that, while I wouldn't put myself forward as an expert, I know more about eftpos than you. Here is another definition of eftpos (I did not write this one)

You should not be so ready to critisise unless you are willing to produce the authoritative source yourself, and I don't mean just your grumpy old man type posts that litter this news group.

Crocodiles and alligators are actually the same animal and donkeys are really just horses with shortened legs.

In message , DP writes

Never mind, I'm sure you will get over it.

In message , DP writes

Ah HA! The truth is revealed. You are just trying to flog the domain name!

Eh? (Cough splutter) WHAT???

Ah yes, an American site that can't even supply a definition of the word 'cheque'.

Yawn.........

Quote from

" A method of electronic payment which allows money to be transferred from the account of the shopper to the merchant in close-to real-time. Generally the shopper will give the merchant a credit or debit card, which will be swiped to obtain the account information. The shopper will then be required to either sign a receipt or enter a PIN via a keypad to authorise the transaction"

from "

EPOS Electronic Point of Sale. An eletronic till that includes a facility to inform the merchant whether the transaction has been accepted, declined or referred."

From

From

A checkout connected to a computer with a bar code scanner and which can transfer money from a customers account using the customers credit or debit card is called an electronic funds transfer point of sale (EFTPOS) terminal "

You dot seem to understand from that an accounting, legal, and customer relationship point of view, there is no difference between a bank current account and a credit card account. If you dot understand this, then I cant help that, I am just giving you facts. You say elsewhere that when a credit card company pays out to a merchant they are sending 'the banks money' but when it comes from a current account it is sending the 'customer's money. I have no idea where you get this idea. In both cases the bank sends dosh matched by a corresponding contra transaction to the clients account.

You also dont seem able to grasp the concept that EFTPOS is at the merchant end NOT the bank end, and therefore the source of the funds is immaterial. EFTPOS gives the merchant instant doss, end of story.

I have never got involved in one of those long drawn out personal spats that litter some newsgroups, but I will always respond when somebody uses insulting phrases, but, if you are the true student of my posts which you claim to be, you will also know that I always acknowledge when I am wrong and give ground gracefully.

I think your just grumpy 'cos you attempt to promote your fake site has been found out.

Without a hint of irony, john boyle astounded uk.finance on 05 Feb 2004 by announcing:

They're actually quite different under both law and practice. Pay for something with your credit card and you have certain protections under the Consumer Credit Act. Pay with your debit card, and you don't. Then there's charge cards and store cards, both of which are also EFTPOS cards and both of which are different again.

In message , Alex writes

That is true, that is why I defined the terms of reference in my other post as legal & accounting in relation to the accounts.

They are just credit cards. The accounting procedure is just the same.