The Americard Payment Processing debit card service is "direct" or "online" debit, which prompts for and requires a personal identification number (PIN) for authorization. Americard Payment Processing simply offers the best service available in terms of network coverage, routing and availability.

Drawing on its depth of experience in on-line electronic bank networks and ATM processing, Americard Payment Processing provides the best on-line point-of-sale debit applications and has incorporated this functionality along with credit into all of its terminal applications, consistent with its goal of providing true single source service.

The pinned debit option can be a surprising money-saver. "Debit," as promoted by Visa© and MasterCard© (i.e., the Visa "Check" card) is actually a credit transaction with a corresponding discount rate, like standard credit transactions.

Because most of these "off-line" cards are also ATM cards with personal identification numbers, and because Americard Payment Processing has integrated both credit and on-line (or "Pinned") debit into its terminal applications, a Americard Payment Processing terminal presented with a check card can be programmed to process the transaction on a lower-cost on-line basis.