Visa Debit Card

I was mildly interested today, to see I have been sent out a new replacement debit card.

It is a bit different to the traditional cards which I have been used to. I expect those in retail have already seen them but this was my first time. They have removed the embossed number from the front of the card and the front itself is mostly plain. This means there will be no fallback to the old manual card swipe devices with carbon copies should the power or network fail(not sure if there still is, not worked in retail for over 20 years now). No number or name, just the chip and bank name. On the rear the number is printed in black ink with expiry date, hologram and signature area. There is also a mag stripe for older systems.

Not even sure this is thread worthy but here it is.
 
Soldato
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Carbon copies? That’s really old school. Are they even legal any more?

I’ve got two bank cards with no raised lettering on them and I imagine they’ll all be like that soon enough.
 
Man of Honour
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Carbon copies? That’s really old school. Are they even legal any more?

I’ve got two bank cards with no raised lettering on them and I imagine they’ll all be like that soon enough.

Carbon copies are pretty much instantly a breach of PCI compliance rules, because they contain the full card number etc.

Not worth the risk for any good business.
 
Man of Honour
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This has been the case for a few years now.

My Visa Debit Card expired in September 2021, it was replaced by a M/C Debit Card which has 16 embossed digits across the front, a valid from date, an expiry date, my name, Bank Sort Code and account number.
On the back is a strip for my signature, plus the 3 digit security code.
 
Soldato
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When I worked at Natwest, people used to complain about the embossed numbers as the silver wore off and left black numbers that were harder to read.

I'm sure there are a few other factors in the decision to remove the embossing but people definitely preferred 'flat' cards from my experience.

*Clearly misunderstood the OP. I thought it still had the card number on, just flat rather than raised. Seems that the long number is on the back now on some cards.
 
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Associate
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Carbon copies are pretty much instantly a breach of PCI compliance rules, because they contain the full card number etc.

Not worth the risk for any good business.

Last February, just before FlyBe went bust, I was flying EDI-BHX. Bought a drink on the plane, their card reader wasn't working, so out came their carbon copy swipe machine. First time I'd seen one in years.
 
Soldato
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My Starling card has been smooth with all details on the reverse for years. Chase UK are the same and gradually all banks are moving this way.

I worked in a retail shop 10+ years ago and we had one of those old carbon swish swoosh machines but in all my time there it never got used even when the network went down. It was usually the case of 'cash only' if this happened, and I suppose it would be the same case now across retail if their PDQs went down.

If there was a power cut they'd probably have to close anyway.
 
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Not quite what the OP was describing, but still on-topic: I've been with the same bank since 1997 and my cards have always been VISA debit cards. But starting this year, I got issued with a Mastercard. Any idea why's that, and what is the difference between VISA and Mastercard?

I've not come across debit cards without embossed numbers though.
 
Soldato
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Not quite what the OP was describing, but still on-topic: I've been with the same bank since 1997 and my cards have always been VISA debit cards. But starting this year, I got issued with a Mastercard. Any idea why's that, and what is the difference between VISA and Mastercard?

I've not come across debit cards without embossed numbers though.
I believe it's because Visa's ownership in Europe changed a couple of years ago and in doing so gave Mastercard the opportunity to win some business as a debit card issuer.
 
Associate
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My Starling card has been smooth with all details on the reverse for years. Chase UK are the same and gradually all banks are moving this way.

I worked in a retail shop 10+ years ago and we had one of those old carbon swish swoosh machines but in all my time there it never got used even when the network went down. It was usually the case of 'cash only' if this happened, and I suppose it would be the same case now across retail if their PDQs went down.

If there was a power cut they'd probably have to close anyway.

Likewise, my Starling card has been like that for years. This is just the main banks following the trend set by the competitors again. Personally I’m a fan, I’d just pay cash rather than use that click clack machine, I’m getting on now and even I can only remember them from my childhood - gen Z - no chance.

The flat cards fit better in minimalist wallets like the Ridge and Aviator etc.
 
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