Bank cards: the same as debit card, or catch-all for debit and credit card?

Question

I've been asked by a student whether 'bank card' is a common synonym for debit card.

I started by checking wikipedia whose article on bank cards points towards it including both debit, credit and other cards. However, the article on debit cards seems to imply that bank card is indeed a synonym of debit card.

While searching EL&U, I found an answer to the question that clearly states that, at least in Canada, bank card is a synonym for debit card.

So... Is bank card a general synonym for debit card, or is this true only in some English-speaking countries? And if so, which countries? In the countries where this is true, which term is preferred in everyday speech?

Answer 1

A debit card is a card issued by a bank, therefore it qualifies as a bank card.

A bank card is not necessarily a debit card, because it could be a credit card etc., as explained in one of the answers to the question you linked to.

debit card -> bank card

bank card -> debit card, credit card, etc.

Because of the relationship, I would say that a debit card is a type of bank card, but not a synonym. The best way to check if bank card works as a synonym of debit card is a simple substitution. If someone said:

Please give me your bank card

Someone who had both a debit or credit card in their pocket might hand the person a credit card, instead of a debit card. Sometimes, you would know based on context which card they wanted you to give them, but it is not explicit. It is however, very obvious which card the person wants if they say:

PLease give me your debit card

Answer 2

In the US bank card is rather ambiguous therefor not really used much unless there is some context.

If someone told me that they had a "bank card" I would think it was just an ATM card. If you open a bank account in the US you get an ATM card from the bank to get your money out. Some of these have a debit card function.

Although it is not wrong to declare your credit or debit card a "bank card" (especially when one is backed by a local bank) but it generally isn't used for that purpose. You would normal say you credit card or debit card and sometimes these two terms are affixed to whatever said person uses the most.

This question has variance because the standards outside the US are for the most part much higher as far as security and because of this cards are wrapped up into one. I still find it ridiculous that people would even use a debit card in the US meaning an informed person probably has an ATM card with various credit cards.

Answer 3

To add to the ambiguity, and the history of the term: the first widely used credit card in Australia and New Zealand, introduced in 1974, was called Bankcard.