Decoupled debit card
Open-knowledge reference entry
A decoupled debit card is a debit card in the US that is not issued by and not tied to any particular retail financial institution, such as a bank or credit union. This is based on the ability in the US ACH Network payment system to make an electronic payment from any bank or credit union without needing to use a card issued by the bank or credit union. A third party, such as a retailer, can create a decoupled debit card which will use this system to make a payment from the customer's checking account. They may do this as part of a loyalty scheme or to reduce their own debit card processing costs.
History
In May 2007, Capital One began a one-year decoupled debit card experiment. This card was novel in that prior to this launch, a debit card was always tied to a traditional financial institution. Capital One's MasterCard-branded decoupled card did not require an account be opened with a retail financial institution, and was made in partnership with the Ukrops grocery chain, based in Capital One's hometown of Richmond, Virginia. The card was also tied to a reward program offered by Ukrops. The one-year experiment ended in May 2008, and was followed by a national rollout of its own version of a decoupled debit card tied to its own reward program.
Decoupled Debit gained the attention of the financial services industry in May 2007 when Capital One announced they were going to add a decoupled debit card product.
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