Okay. The chip based cards. So you need to have credit and debit account(s) in the same bank, right?
That sounds good and very handy.
The chip based cards ( EMV ) are being introduced in India, rather RBI ( Reserve Bank of India - Controls monetary policy of India) has made it mandatory for all banks to replace the present cards and make them all as EMV.
But its not to merge them but to reduce the frauds.
In the US, a debit card can be charged like a credit card but the funds are obviously deducted from the balance on your bank account. It also lacks the protection and rewards that a typical credit card would have. I just want to clarify that you indeed have two separate things here on one card and its nothing like how the US does it correct?
Yes they are separate, debit uses my bank account directly and credit is invoiced every month separately.
The selection process is very simple, you just put your card into the machine (almost all the cards nowadays are chip based nowadays but there is also a magnetic reader usually on the right), something like this
I'm an Indian living in the UK and don't have this figured out yet. What's the difference when you select to pay by credit, if the balance is paid automatically from your account at the end of the month, instead of being debited immediately from your account? Or do you have to manually pay back your balance?
Well, there's the obvious difference, that the money stays in your account for longer with a credit card.
There are legal differences, too: credit cards are regulated by the Consumer Credit Act, which makes the card issuer jointly liable in many cases. So, for example, if you order a product with a credit card, and the retailer goes bust before supplying it, the credit card issuer is also liable. If you'd bought it with a debit card, you'd be out of luck.
Finally, if your card details are compromised, you've slightly longer to sort things out with a credit card: with a debit card, you could find yourself with no cash at all.
It works just like any other card, you just select which one you want to use when you make a payment. Here is an example of how it looks like
http://handelsbanken.fi/shb/inet/icentfi.nsf/vlookuppics/10_...