Embedded in this story about debit in Australia, which is doing well, is a prediction from Visa on debit.  They predict that Visa debit will exceed Visa credit by a significant margin.  This is significant, considering that Visa debit is not even out of the gate yet.

Use of debit cards on the rise – Breaking News – Business – Breaking News

Visa said the trend to debit cards will continue with the number of global Visa debit card transactions predicted to increase to 91 billion by 2010, compared to 73 billion Visa credit card transactions in 2004.

Relevance to Bankwatch:
If you are a Bank who offers your own debit card, as do most Banks (except Australia) this is either an opportunity or a threat. if you are a MasterCard bank, its certainly a threat.  Either way, it is something to be considered for all banks as part of their payments strategy.