&gt;In the past 5 or so years, both Visa and MasterCard have introduced proper debit cards<p>Visa debit cards have been available in the UK for nearly 20 years. The changes you noticed came about because of the Single Euro Payments Area initiative, which is standardising payment systems across the EU.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Single_Euro_Payments_Area" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Single_Euro_Payments_Area</a>