I know this seems like a silly question, but when it comes to Debit Card offerings can a bank offer cards from both of the 'majors' VISA and MasterCard, or are there restrictions? It seems like it would be a hassle to keep them straight, but it also seems like customers like to have options. I have heard that they can and can't offer both but never what seemed to be a valid reason for either side of the story.

I don't think there are any restrictions except the practical ones. We used to have a vendor which could only service Visa; we just switched to a vendor which can handle both Visa or Mastercard, and now we can let customers from a recent acquisition keep their MasterMoney cards until they expire, rather than having to reissue all at time of conversion. But it means your employees have to know the ins and outs of two instead of one. And there really isn't much difference in terms of what they offer to the customer in terms of services. So except for the acquisition scenario, I don't see much practical advantage to offering both, and you may be creating alot of confusion for your employees.

I know that VISA and MC have no objection, though most banks that I know about only offer one or the other as a debit card. But it is common, especially in the UK, for them to offer both as a credit card, many people have a matching VISA and MC card from the same bank. Maybe one day they'll be allowed to put both logos on the same card? (It has been suggested in the UK)

I think that VISA and MC used to have a restriction clause (in the UK) - so that one bank couldn't work with both, but that was overturned in the courts as an unfair restriction of trade.

It is in the opersting regualtions of both companies (Visa and MC) that you can be a dual issuer or CREDIT products (issue both MasterCard and Visa credit cards) but you can only be an ACTIVE issuer of one DEBIT brand. During an acquisition you can service both MasterMoney and CheckCards, but upon renewal, you will be required to switch those cards to your debit card issuer.