VISA CHANGES DEBIT CARD POLICY.Byline: Patricia Lamiell / Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Visa USA, responding to consumer complaints, said Wednesday that it would not make debit card debit card, card that allows the cost of goods or services that are purchased to be deducted directly from the purchaser's checking account. They can also be used at automated teller machines for withdrawing cash from the user's checking account. holders responsible for fraudulent The description of a willful act commenced with the Specific Intent to deceive or cheat, in order to cause some financial detriment to another and to engender personal financial gain. transactions as long as they promptly notify issuers when a card is lost or stolen. In announcing the change, which will take effect in November, Visa went further in protecting consumers for loss or theft than MasterCard International, which last month capped consumer liability for fraudulent use of debit cards at $50, the same as for credit cards. ``This establishes a new level of card holder security for our newest and fastest growing product,'' said Carl Pascarella, president and chief executive of Visa USA. Visa and its member banks, which claim they handled about 80 percent of the dollar amount of U.S. debit card transactions in 1996, also agreed not to issue unsolicited un·so·lic·it·ed adj. Not looked for or requested; unsought: an unsolicited manuscript; unsolicited opinions. unsolicited Adjective debit cards through the mail that can be used without requiring consumers to call an activation activation /ac·ti·va·tion/ (ak?ti-va´shun) 1. the act or process of rendering active. 2. the transformation of a proenzyme into an active enzyme by the action of a kinase or another enzyme. 3. number and verify their identity. That change will take place in the summer of 1998. Visa also said that, beginning in spring 1998, its issuers would provide provisional Temporary; not permanent. Tentative, contingent, preliminary. A provisional civil service appointment is a temporary position that fills a vacancy until a test can be properly administered and statutory requirements can be fulfilled to make a permanent appointment. credit within five days to customers who have a dispute about their account. Federal rules allow issuers to take 20 days to do so, although Visa contends that most of its member banks make the funds available within two days anyway. Visa also said it would produce an educational brochure about debit cards with the National Consumers League, which had been sharply critical of Visa and MasterCard about their debit card policies. ``What we've tried to do is get out in front of all the issues that have been discussed, and make sure we are making this as consumer friendly as possible,'' Pascarella said. Debit cards with the Visa or MasterCard brand are plastic, wallet-size cards that work in automated teller machines automated teller machine (ATM), device used by bank customers to process account transactions. Typically, a user inserts into the ATM a special plastic card that is encoded with information on a magnetic strip. but also can be used at any business that also accepts Visa or MasterCard. In a debit card transaction, the merchant deducts the price of the transaction immediately from a card holder's account, as opposed to credit cards, in which transactions are billed to card holders and paid for later. |
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