online payment---Debit-Card Use Overtakes Credit

The urge to not splurge by thrift-conscious consumers is giving the debit-card revolution a new push. On Wednesday, Visa Inc. reported that the total dollar volume of purchases made using its branded debit cards surpassed credit-card purchases for the first time during the last three months of 2008.

The $206 billion in U.S. debit-card transactions processed by Visa were 50.4% of the San Francisco company's total transaction volume in the period, up from about 40% in 2003.

"A big group of consumers like the discipline that debit spending can bring them, and that is particularly relevant in this kind of environment," said Tim Murphy, who oversees MasterCard Inc.'s main payment products around the world.

Unlike credit cards, which have balances that can be carried month-to-month, debit cards immediately deduct funds directly from a checking account. Debit cards are especially popular with younger consumers.