On Sat, 26 May 2012 17:20:22 +0100, Roger Lynn
wrote:

On 26/05/12 13:19, Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
Is it just my age or was it only around the turn of the millenium that the
debit card really took off?

No. All* current accounts came with one when I got my first account in
1994, and they'd been in common use for a good few years before that.

They don't come with all current accounts; they are usually offered by
default with current accounts held by private individuals. While
cheque guarantee cards were generally available there was often an
option to have only the guarantee card in place of a debit/guarantee
card.