On holiday with Delta

THIS summer British holidaymakers will spend more than pounds 100m abroad on their Visa Delta cards.

Visa Delta - the debit card used by 11 million current account-holders in Britain - is the only British debit card that can be used abroad.

'The advantage for a lot of people is that the money is coming out of their current account,' says a Visa spokeswoman.

Visa Delta debit card issuers include Barclays, Lloyds, TSB, Abbey National, Nationwide, and Girobank. The banks and building societies will typically levy a 1 to 1.5 per cent charge for cash withdrawals abroad. But payment of hotel and restaurant bills and other goods and services will not trigger other charges, although different banks and societies will charge different exchange rates.