Tips for managing your credit cards

Classic Credit Cards

Classic credit cards is the basic products and is the most widely used bankcard in the world.

Gold Credit Cards

Gold credit cards is an enhancement to the Classic credit cards program and usually offers a higher credit limit as well as other special services. The dominant colour on all Gold Credit Cards is gold. In addition, a darker gold colour may be used for overprinting background designs on the card. The issuer's name and trademark, along with any affinity group name and trademark, may appear once on the front of the card, in black. No pictures, photographs or scenes are permitted on Visa Gold cards, thus ensuring a consistent appearance in the card design.

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Platinum Credit Cards

Global premium cards that offer cardholders world-class features such as high spending power – minimum or no pre-set spending credit limit.

Business Credit Cards (Corporate Credit Cards)

In 1980s so-called business or corporate credit cards were introduced to be issued to both the small business/professional market, as well as middle and large corporations, as a payment vehicle for business travel expenses. The card is issued to specific employees for their individual business related expenses.

Debit Cards

Debit Cards or a “deposit access cards” which accesses the cardholder's funds in a checking, savings or other form of depository account.

This card acts like an “electronic cheque”. The cardholder presents this card at a point of sale, just like any other card, and the merchant handles the debit card transaction like any other transaction. The transaction is then processed through existing international authorisation and clearing and settlement system. The difference is the debit card transaction is settled against funds on deposit rather than against a credit line. Debit card may also replace the cardholders' ATM card which can be used at any available ATM with the cardholders Personal Identification Number (PIN).

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Visa Electron and MasterCard Electronics Cards

A large amount of a bank's costs are associated with handling cash and cheques.

Traditionally, banks have managed the risks associated with new customers and those who have never had a bank account before by requiring them to withdraw their funds in cash from a branch where they are known. Besides being inefficient for the bank, it is inconvenient for the customer. Visa Electron allows the issuing banks to reduce their costs and control risks from new account holders as well as adding point of sale transactions to their existing ATM cash withdrawal services at little or no additional risk. Because every transaction is authorised against a cardholder's own account balance, banks can securely offer these cards to any new customer, regardless of their banking history or credit status. Once the customer demonstrates the ability to manage electronic debit card accounts they can be offered other banking services.

The Electron Card, unlike other cards, has no embossed account number. All Electron Cards will display the first and last four digits of the account number, some cards, depending on the issuer, may have the full account number on the face of the card. In all instances, the account information is laser engraved, not embossed. The Electron Card is a payment card that is processed only through POS electronic terminals utilising the magnetic stripe information on the back of the card.

SMART CARD PRODUCTS

Stored Value Cards

A stored value card is a plastic payment card that contains money (“value”) stored as electronic data in an integrated circuit, or microchip embedded in the card. Targeted to low-value purchases under US $10, it is an alternative to coins and cash.

Credit Card Basics

Transactions are fast – the cardholder inserts the card into a terminal, presses a button to deduct the purchase amount, and the transaction is complete. There is no PIN, no signature and no identification presented by the cardholder. There is no authorisation associated with the transaction; a receipt is not required nor is there an account or monthly statement listing transactions. The purchases are made just like those with cash, thus they are anonymous. An example of stored value cards is the VisaCash Card.

VisaCash

This Visa product is an exciting new product that incorporates the convenience of payment cards with the versatility of chip technology. VisaCash is designed as an easy, quick way to pay for small transactions. This card can be used to purchase small value items such as newspapers, movie tickets, telephone calls or even goods over the Internet. It does not require a Personal Identification Number (PIN), signature nor authorisation for transactions. Customers' privacy is protected through encryption for both Internet and physical world transactions. The VisaCash Card can either be a re-loadable or disposable card. Which feature will be used is dependent on the issuing bank and the customer.

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Visa Chip Card

A chip card is a plastic card with an imbedded integrated circuit (IC) or microchip. Also known as a “smart” card or “relationship” card, it can be used both within and outside the payment system environment. Types of chips currently used range from fairly simple memory devices to sophisticated microprocessors. Chip cards offer substantial advantages over magnetic-stripe based technology used on today's cards. The chip's memory capacity is significantly greater than the capacity of a magnetic stripe, allowing more data to be stored on the card itself, and allowing access to the data in an offline environment. This additional memory also enhances the security of the card, enabling multiple layers of encryption.

Further, the chip is able to function as a small computer. Incorporating internal processing capabilities, the chip can process stored data according to the programs loaded on to the chip, allowing data to be updated independent of an online payment system.

Finally, the chip is more durable than the magnetic stripe, reducing the expense and hassle of card replacement. Chip technology enables secure access to a significantly broader range of card services, through significantly more devices. Chip cards not only facilitate today's transactions such as credit or debit card purchases, but also provide a platform for emerging card products and services, including stored value, chip loyalty programs and chip electronic commerce.

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