That's because the Visa debit card will not only break the Laser monopoly on point-of-sale debit payments in Ireland, but it will compete head-to-head with Irish credit cards . . .

among the most profitable in the world. According to a Lafferty report published in February, Irish credit cards earned 142m in profits last year . . . or 66 per card . . . and AIB and Bank of Ireland have sewn up more than 70% of that market between them. The value of Irish credit card transactions, about 11bn last year, is double the level of Laser activity.

Halifax's Visa debit card can be used anywhere a Visa credit card is accepted, unlike Laser which has erratic acceptance through the less widespread Maestro network. That includes millions of vendors across the world and, crucially, internet retailers.

Irish bank customers wishing to pay for goods and services on the internet have usually had to use their credit cards, risking the possibility of running up and rolling over balances. Only some sites would accept Laser . . . all of them based in Ireland.

Now buying a ticket on British Midlands is as easy as booking on Ryanair.

Gabriel Hannigan, Halifax's head of retail banking and a 20year veteran of Bank of Ireland, has seen his rivals weaknesses from the other side. "There are things customers couldn't do because of the monopoly of Laser, which was mirrored in the monopoly of the big banks, " he says. "Our key target is existing customers of AIB and Bank of Ireland because we think they've been taken for granted for years."

Michael Kilcoyne, chairman of the Consumers Association of Ireland, agrees: "The reason the banks haven't promoted this is that it is in their interest for you to spend their money and not yours. We should always remember that they exist for themselves and to make money. They make a huge amount of money from credit cards and Irish people tend to get into debt quite easily."

Hannigan claims the incumbents in the banking market have avoided more customer friendly products like the Visa debit card because they "can't look their customers in the eye and say it's not about protecting profit".