A payment taken from your account.

A plastic card which allows you to pay for goods or services. If you are in a shop the cashier will insert your card into a machine and you will usually have to type in your PIN. The money is taken almost immediately from your account. You can also use your debit card as a cash withdrawal card, to withdraw money from an ATM.

An amount of money that you owe to a person or company.

Money put into an account, by means of cash, cheque or an electronic transaction.

An instruction from you to your bank or building society allowing someone to take money from your account. The amount of money taken can vary, but you must be told the amounts and dates beforehand. Direct Debits allow you to pay bills automatically from your account on a regular basis.

For example, you might set up a Direct Debit with a mobile phone company, so that they regularly collect the money owing to them each month. This can be an agreed fixed amount or the full bill.