Westpac has launched its Debitplus Visa card in New Zealand, making the card, which offers a new way for consumers to pay, the only one of its kind in the country.
The new card product will not be loaded with credit but instead transactions are made with the cardholder’s own money from their account at over 24 million locations, including one million ATMs, over the internet, by phone and by mail order, wherever Visa is accepted.
The debit card is the first of its kind to enter the New Zealand card market, bringing competition to the more popular EFTPOS cards. Like the EFTPOS card, the new Visa card can also be used at New Zealand point of sale terminals to access money from the customer’s check or savings account, as well as carrying the same transaction fees.
We know there are many New Zealanders who would like to use their own money rather than a line of credit to shop overseas and to have access to cheaper airfares or other products available online or in catalogues, said Westpac head of product management Brian Hayr. With the Westpac Debitplus Visa card they now can.
The increasing growth of online shopping is a key driver behind the Visa Debit. Research conducted by Visa International into e-commerce indicates that there are approximately 862,000 online shoppers in New Zealand.
Westpac is the first bank in New Zealand to roll out the Visa Debit product, and and based on Visa’s global trends, the bank expects the product to see significant uptake in this market.