An online debit card is a debit card which reduces the amount spent instantly from the account of the debit card holder. Online debit card ensures a much faster way of processing the transaction.
The online debit card can have either the Visa logo or the MasterCard logo embossed on it. Online debit card transaction is also known as PIN debit.
Owing to the superior status of the online debit card several banks
in Canada and Brazil issue only online debit card. In United States Of America the regional ATM chains take care of the online debit card transaction. In United Kingdom examples of online debit card are
• Solo and
• Visa Electron.

Online debit cards require electronic authorization of every transaction and the debits are reflected in the user’s account immediately. The transaction may be additionally secured with the personal identification number (PIN) authentication system and some online cards require such authentication for every transaction, essentially becoming enhanced automatic teller machine (ATM) cards.

One difficulty in using online debit cards is the necessity of an electronic authorization device at the point of sale (POS) and sometimes also a separate PINpad to enter the PIN, although this is becoming commonplace for all card transactions in many countries. Overall, the online debit card is generally viewed as superior to the offline debit card because of its more secure authentication system and live status, which alleviates problems with processing lag on transactions that may only issue online debit cards. Some on-line debit systems are using the normal authentication processes of Internet banking to provide real-time on-line debit transactions. The most notable of these are Ideal and POLi.