Credit card: A credit card is a card of plastic (normally PVC) for the payment of goods and services. It is nearly worldwide applicable, in the real everyday business like private life, as well as with online monetary transactions. In the case of MasterCard of Visa it is given by banks in collaboration with the credit card organisations, or - in case of Diners and American Express - directly from the card society. These four societies divide the whole European credit card market. The name Credit Card originated form the fact that credit cards often grant a loan to the card owner.

Debit card:

A debit card (bank card) is a card which can be used to the cashless payment or form removing by cash in the cash dispenser.

It is a plastic card (normally PVC) in the ISO 7810 format. As opposed to credit cards the giro account of the map owner is loaded after the purchase immediately. With a debit card an immediate load of the card owner (normally about the giro account of the card owner) occurs. In Germany the most current debit map is the EC/Maestro's card. However, there is also MasterCard and Visa Cards (above all widespread in the USA).

In the second half on the 1990s debit cards were equipped in several lands of Europe with micochips not to have to unwind map transactions any more about the technically outdated magnetic stripe.

EMV

The abbreviation EMV calls a specification for payment cards which are equipped with a processor chip, and for the accompanying card with electronic chip devices (bottom terminal and cash machines)

The letters EMV stand for three societies which developed the standard: Europay, MasterCard and VISA.

The most essential advantages of the chip technology and with it also reasons for the substitute of the magnetic stripe by the chip are:

• In contrast to the magnetic stripe the chip can be protected efficiently against duplication or change by technical procedures. 
• The chip can explain an encoding, without a used confidential key value could be selected. A theif who has stolen a card with eletronic chip can use this only if he knows the PIN.
• By the application of cards with electronic chip the recognition of the map genuineness (Card autentication) and the check of the PIN (Cardholder Verification) can take place, also without an online connection exists
• In contrast to the magnetic stripe which acts as a purely passive data memory a chip is a miniature computer with protected data areas and application of kryptographic procedures. Additional functions are thereby also possible like an electronic change purse and regular customer's programs. Nevertheless the specification of these additional applications is not a part of EMV, because EMV limits itself to payment applications.