HONG KONG consumers will soon be able to use a direct debit card that can be used worldwide at point-of-sale.
Visa International has secured commitment from four Hong Kong banks to launch the Interlink debit card system this year.
At present, direct debit cards such as Hongkong Bank's SuperEase are limited to domestic use and are signature-based.
Interlink is PIN-based, in which card holders have to key in a personal identification number before the transaction can be authorised by the issuing banks.
'The risk is lower than the signature-based debit system,' said Ivan Yim, Visa's country manager for Hong Kong and Macau.
When customers use the Interlink service, a fully secure real-time processing point-of-sale system will authorise direct access to their own bank accounts for immediate debit.