The rise of the Debit card in Seychelles |11 April 2013

Debit cards are in vogue nowadays in Seychelles and are being used by ordinary citizens.  Lots of locals are either booking hotel rooms overseas, ordering clothes and other merchandise online with such cards. Slowly but surely the perception of only well-off people can have a Debit card is gradually fading away. You’ll be surprised how many members of the public from all walks of life are doing their purchases both locally and internationally with such cards on a daily basis.

Debit cards are being used by Seychellois to order items from online catalogues such as New Look, Amazon, Ebay, Asos. When one’s going to a party and wants to look that little bit ‘special’, they log on to either one of those online stores, fill in a few details and in a few days that special outfit  is in their hands!

The Debit cards payment method is convenient and secure, and it allows consumers to "pay as they go and track their spending of ready funds”.
When someone swipes a debit card through a merchant's terminal, the terminal reads the magnetic strip on the back of the card and transmits the data to a card-processing network.

The network ensures the pieces of transaction data are correctly formatted. Then, it performs a fraud analysis and forward the information to the bank that issued the debit card. The issuer then validates that the card hasn't been reported as stolen or lost, confirms whether funds are available in the cardholder's account and then notifies the merchant, again through the network, whether the transaction has been approved.

Most customers are happy with Debit cards because they can choose their products anywhere online in the comfort of their seats, and the order is made in seconds.                                                      

This is a sharp contrast from before where acustomer had to go through a long process at the bank and afterwards wait for the bank draft to be sent to company where you’re  placing your order.

The main difference between a Debit Card and a Credit Card is that a Debit card lets you spend your own money without carrying cash while a Credit Card allows you to borrow money from your bank, just as you would write a cheque for more than the amount in your account. Our photos show two of the most popular Debit Cards in Seychelles.