What are Bank cards
A bank card is a means of payment issued by a financial institution in favor of a consumer, through an associated account, and which is accepted in countless merchants and establishments.
His goal is to make withdrawals of money from ATMs or buy any type of good and service, both in physical stores and online mode.
Types of bank Cards
There are numerous types of bank cards in the market. Below we will describe your classes and main characteristics:
- Debit card:
- allows you to use it in shops and establishments that accept it as a means of payment, make cash withdrawals from your ATM network at no charge and other operations (such as recharging your mobile phone, checking the balance of the bank account, etc.). It also facilitates the possibility of having cash at ATMs (or doing business charges) as the available balance in the account associated with the card.
The main difference with a debit is that the credit card is associated (depending on the solvency that the issuing entity recognizes to its owner) a line of a loan. With this document you can buy goods or services by paying a fixed monthly amount, until the amortization of the amount owed, but with a maximum amount of balance (what is called credit line ).
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Wallet or prepaid card:
corresponds to a bank card intended for small payments or small banking users. Among its most important advantages are that you can recharge your balance once exhausted through an income in cash, bank transfer or debit the account; Can be used in stores as long as there is an available balance; The maximum fraud that can cause us in a case of falling into bad hands will be said balance.
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Prepaid Card multicurrency:
is one whose balance can be expressed in currencies other than those in which it is issued, in order to be used in other countries with other currencies. That is, you do not have to make currency changes when paying with her abroad.
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Card trade:
the credit card issued by financial companies large retail chains. They are generally used as a financing instrument for purchases made in the store network of the establishment that issues it; And allow, like the credit card, to delay acquisitions without extra costs for the holder.
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Loyalty card:
an example of this alternative is the free kilometers to which the frequent passengers of the airlines are entitled, or when gifts and discounts are offered when a point limit is reached by acquiring the services of a given establishment.
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Payment with contactless cards
Radio frequency (RFID) or NFC (near field communications) standards have been introduced , which allow a payment to be accepted only by proximity to the retail terminal (POS) for low amounts, where it is assumed that recognition is not necessary Of the client with his identity document.
Card security
In general, all bank cards are quite secure today requiring a PIN or key to operate with them in person or withdraw money from an ATM. In the case of online purchases, many interactive merchants already require 3DSecure or SecureCode payment, which requires consumer confirmation through an additional code sent to their mobile phone or present on a coordinate card.
