An ATM card is any payment card issued by a financial institution that enables
a customer to access an automated teller machine in order to perform transactions
such as deposits, cash withdrawals, obtaining account information, etc. ATM
cards are known by a variety of names such as bank card, MAC, client card, key
card or cash card, among others. Most payment cards, such as debit and credit
cards can also function as ATM cards, although ATM-only cards are also
available. Charge and proprietary cards cannot be used as ATM cards. The use of
a credit card to withdraw cash at an ATM is treated differently to a POS
transaction, usually attracting interest charges from the date of the cash
withdrawal. Interbank networks allow the use of ATM cards at ATMs of private
operators and financial institutions other than those of the institution that
issued the cards. ATM cards can also be used on improvised
ATMs such as "mini ATMs", merchants' card terminals that deliver ATM features
without any cash drawer. These terminals can also be used as cashless scrip ATMs
by cashing the receipts they issue at the merchant's point of sale.
The first ATM cards were issued in 1967 by Barclays in London.
Dimensions The size of ATM cards is 85.60 × 53.98
mm and rounded corners with a radius of 2.88–3.48 mm, in accordance with ISO/IEC
7810#ID-1, the same size as other payment cards, such as credit, debit and
other cards. They also have an embossed bank card number conforming with the
ISO/IEC 7812 numbering standard. Non-ATM uses
Some ATM cards can also be used: at a branch, as identification for
in-person transactions at Automated Teller Machines for banking
transactions The ability to use an ATM card for
in-store EFTPOS purchases or refunds is no longer allowed. Bank's have long
argued with merchants over the fees that can be charged by the bank for such
transactions. Despite the fact that ATM cards require a PIN for use, the banks
have decided to require the use of a non-PIN based card for all merchant
transactions. For other types of transactions through
telephone or online banking, this may be performed with an ATM card without
in-person authentication. This includes account balance inquiries, electronic
bill payments, or in some cases, online purchases.
Card networks In some banking networks, the two
functions of ATM cards and debit cards are combined into a single card, simply
called a "debit card" or also commonly a "bank card". These are able to perform
banking tasks at ATMs and also make point-of-sale transactions, with both
features using a PIN. Canada's Interac and Europe's Maestro
are examples of networks that link bank accounts with point-of-sale equipment.
Some debit card networks also started their lives as ATM card networks before
evolving into full-fledged debit card networks, example of these networks are:
Development Bank of Singapore's Network for Electronic Transfers and Bank
Central Asia's Debit BCA, both of them were later on adopted by other banks.
Misuse Due to increased illegal copies of cards
with a magnetic stripe, the European Payments Council established a Card
Fraud Prevention Task Force in 2003 that spawned a commitment to migrate all ATMs
and POS applications to use a chip-and-PIN solution until the end of
2010. The "SEPA for Cards" has completely removed the magnetic stripe
requirement from the former Maestro debit cards.
See also Payment card
Credit card Debit card
References