Debit Cards date back to about the date of the introduction of e-commerce. The first ‘Switch card’ transaction took place in 1988. By 1995, Debit Cards had overtaken credit cards in popularity, and by 1998 Debit Card transactions were more common than cheque payments. In 1990 there were already over 19 million Debit Cards in circulation. Rapid growth continued through to 2006, when circulation reached 27.8 million. Although growth has slowed a little because of the market reaching saturation point, it is expected that 34.4 million cards will be in circulation by 2016.The most significant driver of growth in the Debit Card market was the advent of ‘chip and PIN’ technology,...
