Exam Review

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A debit card

Of course, one of the things you'll want as soon as you open your account is a debit card, so I thought I’d give you a little tour of these essential little pieces of plastic, if you look at the slide, you’ll see that on the front at the top they tend to have either the name of the bank or the company which has issued the card. Then a bit more than halfway down on the right, you'll see this hologram with a picture which appears to move as you move the card around in front of you This sort of detail makes cards very hard to forge, although, like with anything else, there are people out there who'll try Then, on the back there's another of those sophisticated high-tech details, and that's the magnetic strip, which is this black thing going from one side to the other, which contains certain coded details. While we're on the back, you'll see another lighter strip with three numbers at the end. That's your security number, which they always ask for when you use the card for an internet purchase or over the phone, and it also, has a space where you, as the card holder, should put your signature so that shop assistants can compare it when you sign a payment slip.

Going back to the front, in the bottom right-hand corner, you'll usually find the bank logo and just to the left of it, there's your own name in raised print. 

One thing you always need for telephone and internet sales is the expiry date, and on the card in front of you, that’s just above the cardholder’s name Finally, in most places, you have to insert your card into a machine and key in your PIN. Just above the card number on the left, you can see a chip, and that chip is there to verify that the PIN you have entered is correct.