title: Ooty

text: Boarding schools such as the Blue Mountains School have been a feature of Ooty since the days of the British Raj. They offer a significant contribution to the local economy. The facilities and standards of education are considered amongst the highest in India, and so these schools are popular amongst the elite of India and some of the neighbouring countries.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The , abbreviated as PTCG or Pokémon TCG, is a collectible card game developed by Creatures Inc. based on the "Pokémon" franchise. It was first published in October 1996 by Media Factory in Japan. In the US, it was first published by Wizards of the Coast. In June 2003, Nintendo transferred the publishing rights from Wizards of the Coast to The Pokémon Company. As of March 2022, the game has sold over 43.2 billion cards worldwide.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The "Pokémon Trading Card Game" is a strategy-based card game that is usually played on a designated play-mat where two players (assuming the role of Pokémon trainer) use their Pokémon to battle each other. Each player plays one Pokémon onto the field and attacks their opponent's Pokémon. A Pokémon that has sustained enough damage from attacks–that reaches or exceeds its HP–is referred to as being "Knocked Out". For each of the opponent's "Knocked Out" Pokémon the victor scores 1 Prize Card, although some special card mechanics grant up to 2 or 3 Prize cards in accordance with their higher hierarchy. Prize cards are primary win conditions, with the possession of six Prize cards being an instantaneous win. Other ways to win are by "Knocking Out" all the Pokémon the opponent has on their Bench (i.e. the row behind the Active Spot, fighting Pokémon that houses five additional Pokémon to supplant the Active Pokémon if it retreats or is "Knocked Out") so the opponent has no Pokémon left, or if at the opponent's turn there are no cards left to draw into their deck.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Players begin by having one player select heads or tails, and the other flips a coin; the winner of the coin flip will decide who goes first or second. (Dice may be used in place of coins, with even numbers representing heads and odd numbers representing tails; dice are also primarily used in official tournaments organized by The Pokémon Company). The player going first cannot attack on their first turn, unless they have a card that specifies otherwise. Players shuffle their decks and draw seven cards, and then each play one Basic Pokémon onto the field. This Pokémon, or the Active Pokémon is the one that is actively attacking and receiving damage. If a player does not have any Basic Pokémon, they must call mulligan, shuffle, and then draw another hand until they draw a Basic Pokémon; the opponent may draw one additional card per mulligan. Once both players have at least one Basic Pokémon, they can play up to five more Basic Pokémon onto their Bench, and then take the top six cards of their deck and place them to the side as Prize Cards. Play then begins with the player who won the coin flip.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Play alternates between players who may take several actions during their turn, including playing new Basic Pokémon, evolving their Pokémon, using Item cards, playing 1 Stadium card, playing 1 Support card, attaching 1 Energy card, and using Pokémon Abilities and attacking. A player may also retreat their Active Pokémon, switching the Active Pokémon with one on the Bench at a retreat cost of a certain amounts of Energy cards. At the end of their turn, a player may use one of their Active Pokémon's attacks, provided the prerequisite amount and types of Energy are attached to that Pokémon. Effects from that attack are then activated and damage may be placed on the Defending Pokémon; some attacks simply have effects but do not do damage, as they may be modified depending on whether the defender has a weakness or a resistance to the attacker's Pokémon type. Player ends their turn after they attach an Energy card to their Pokémon to attack the opposing, defending Pokémon. If they "Knock Out" the opposing Pokémon, they may take 1 prize card before ending their turn.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: All Pokémon cards depict one or multiple Pokémon from the Pokémon video games series, and they specifies a name, an elemental type, attacks and/or Ability, and a certain amounts of HP. Basic Pokémon are Pokémon that have not evolved and thus can be played directly onto the Bench. Each player may have up to six Pokémon in play at a time: one in the Active Spot and up to five on the Bench.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: All Pokémon include attacks that require a certain amounts Energy cards to use, unless a card in-hand specifies otherwise. Attacks deal damage to the opponent's Active Pokémon and sometimes deal additional damage to their Benched Pokémon; additionally, an attack may also perform other functions, such as drawing cards, inflicting Special Conditions, or altering the opponent's board state. The vast majority of these attacks require Energy cards. Abilities, also called Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies until 2011, are not attacks but special effects that the player can use once or multiple during their turn; such as drawing additional cards or switching opponent's Active Pokémon with one of their Benched Pokémon; they remain in effect as long as the Pokémon with the Ability remains in play.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The other type of Pokémon card are Evolved Pokémon. In contrast to a Basic Pokémon, an Evolved Pokémon cannot be placed directly onto the field; they must be placed on top of the corresponding lower-stage Pokémon to evolve it. Stage 1 Pokémon evolve from Basic Pokémon, and Stage 2 Pokémon evolve from Stage 1 Pokémon. As a Pokémon evolves, it gains HP and their attacks change, usually becoming more powerful. Pokémon EX cards were first introduced in "Pokémon TCG: EX Ruby and Sapphire". These cards usually have higher attacks and HP than lower-hierarchy Pokémon, and they grant an extra (2 in-total) prize card to the opponent when "Knocked Out."


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Baby Pokémon, introduced in "Pokémon TCG: Neo Genesis", are a special set of Basic Pokémon with lower HP and usual and occasionally very-powerful attacks. Mega Evolution Pokémon, introduced in "Pokémon TCG: XY", are evolved from Pokémon EX and is of a special stage that makes them immune to Stage 1 Pokémon do attacks. Break Pokémon were also introduced in the BreakThrough Expansion later in the "XY" Series. Variations of Basic, Evolved, and Baby Pokémon cards have appeared in many sets, usually indicated with a word before or after the Pokémon's name. Secret Rare, as its name implies, are Pokémon of the some of the rarest collectibles. They are usually indicated by shiny holofoil and gold outline textures. Secret Rare Pokémon comprise Shiny Pokémon, Trainers, Alternate Art Pokémon, and some even rarer Mega Evolution Pokémon cards. Pokémon GX cards were debuted in "Pokémon TCG: Sun and Moon". These cards have a special attack at the bottom of the card that can only be used once per game. Also Introduced in the "Sun and Moon" expansion series are Alolan forms, which are reprints of existing Pokémon in alternative form with different designs and types.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Pokémon V and Pokémon VMAX did not appear until "Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield"; they grant 2 and 3 Prize cards when "Knocked Out," respectively. Pokémon V are played as Basic Pokémon that evolves into the higher Dynamax/Gigantamax-form Pokémon VMAX. Later mechanics also introduced in the Sword and Shield series are SV-Union, which are 1 "unified" card with multiple attacks/Abilities form from 4 separate cards that grants 3 Prize cards when "Knocked Out"; and 2-Prize-card-cost VSTAR mechanic that features special VSTAR Powers that can be used only once per game. VSTAR offers an alternative evolution of Pokémon V besides Pokémon VMAX but does not necessarily intends to supersede the latter.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Energy cards are attached to the Active or Benched Pokémon to power their attacks. Only one Energy card may be attached per turn, unless a player possesses a card that specifies otherwise. There are two main categories of Energy cards: Basic Energy and Special Energy. The nine different Basic Energy types, which correspond to Pokémon card types, are Grass, Fire, Water, Lightning, Psychic, Fighting, Darkness, Metal, Fairy, and Colorless. The Dragon type do not have their corresponding Energy card and instead use other types of Energy cards. Basic Energy cards are used only to fulfill costs for attacking and retreating, while Special Energy cards have additional usages. Most attacks require a certain type and amount of Energy. If the attack has a Colorless Energy requirement, then that requirement can be met by any Energy card.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Trainer cards perform various functions to affect the game, for example healing Pokémon, discarding energy from the opposing Pokémon or retrieving cards from the discard pile. Before the Diamond & Pearl expansion, all cards that were not Pokémon or Energy were considered Trainer cards. Trainers have since been subdivided into categories. Item cards directly affect the battling Pokémon, Tool cards are attached to a Pokémon and modify their features, Stadium cards affect the entire field, and Supporters are more powerful Items, only one of which can be played per turn.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Pokémon Types are elemental attributes determining the strengths and weaknesses for each Pokémon and its attacks. Pokémon take double damage from attacks of types they are weak to and less damage from attacks they resist. These type matchups offset one another in rock–paper–scissors-style relationships. Pokémon Types in the TCG include Fire, Fighting, Dragon, Lightning, Grass, Water, Fairy, Psychic, Darkness, Metal, and Colorless. Other Pokémon types such as Ice and Ground types from the rest of the Pokémon franchise, however, does not have their own types in the TCG and instead are categorized/incorporated inside other types; for example, Ice type and Ground type are categorized under Water type and Fighting type, respectively.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Beginning "Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield", Poison type Pokémon are categorized under Darkness-type; Poison-type were previously Psychic type, and before that they were categorized under Grass type. Beginning "Pokémon TCG: EX Dragon", Dragon type Pokémon are now listed as Dragon-type, and they were previously listed as Colorless type.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: A simplified type system was adopted from the video games for use in the trading card game. Darkness and Metal types was introduced alongside the corresponding "Pokémon Gold" and "Silver" video game, the Dragon-type was introduced in the Japanese "Dragon Selection" set; and Fairy type was introduced in the "XY" set to correspond to its introduction in the video games, but they were later removed in "Pokémon TCG: Sword and Pokémon Shield". While most Pokémon have only one type, three exceptions are "Pokémon TCG: EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua" which introduced dual-type Pokémon that have two different types, "Pokémon TCG: XY Steam Siege", and "Pokémon TCG: HeartGold and SoulSilver" era sets. Dual types were also utilized in Pokémon Legend cards to emphasize the multiple Pokémon the mechanic has in the "HeartGold and SoulSilver". In August 2016, "XY" "Steam Siege" reintroduced the dual-type mechanic, but this time it is on regular and EX Pokémon.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The release of "Pokemon TCG: Astral Radiance" in North America and its Japanese counterpart the dual "Pokemon TCG: Time Gazer" and "Pokemon TCG: Space Juggler" marks the 92nd expansion set released in English and the 85th released in Japanese. The "Pokémon TCG" debuted In Japan in 1996 with the release of "1st Starter & Expansion Pack/Base Set" (第1弾スターターパック & 第1弾拡張パック), which was the original core series of cards and Theme Decks released in Japan on October 20, 1996, and in the United States on January 9, 1999. The "1st Starter & Expansion Pack" contained a mixed variety of Pokémon cards depicting the original 150 Pokémon species in the main Pokémon franchise, and it is the only expansion to not have a set logo or symbol (i.e. except for the error "no-symbol" "Pokemon TCG: Jungle" cards).


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: In the United States, the "1998 Pokémon Demo Game Plastic Pack" was the earliest introduction to the Pokémon TCG, preceding the "1st Starter & Expansion Pack"; and consisting of 24 Base Set shadowless cards and an instruction manual. "The Pokémon Demo Game Plastic Pack", "Base Set", along with the subsequent expansions "Jungle," "Fossil," "Base Set 2," "Team Rocket," "Gym Heroes," "Gym Challenge," make up the "First Generation Sets" published by the original English-edition publisher Wizards of the Coasts. Similarly, the "Second Generation Sets" published by Wizards comprised "Neo Genesis," "Neo Discovery," "Southern Islands," "Neo Revelation," "Neo Destiny," "Legendary Collection," "Expedition Base Set," "Aquapolis", and "Skyridge." The "Second Generation Sets" is the last collection set published by Wizards before Nintendo transferred the publishing right to The Pokémon Company In July 2003. Since July 2003, The Pokémon Company has published eight additional "Generation" sets, which has gradually transitioned the TCG to more modern gameplay and mechanics.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Pokémon cards are sold at stores in many different formats including pre-constructed decks, booster-packs-bundled promo cards set, booster box of 36 packs, or individual packs. Subsequently, cards are also available through e-commerce websites and individual sellers. However, buyers should be cautioned of fake Pokémon cards.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Pokémon card collectables are worth different values in accordance with their levels of rarity. From the lowest to the highest level, cards rarities are indicated by different shapes on the bottom corner, i.e. "Common" (circle), "Uncommon" (diamond), and "Rare" (star). Japanese-edition cards use letters rather than shapes to denote rarities; i.e. from the lowest to the highest level, "C", "U", "R", "RR", "SR", and "UR". In a single "Pokémon TCG" booster pack, a consumer can usually expect to pull 10 cards in total, i.e. five Common cards, three Uncommon cards, a reverse holographic card of any rarity, and sometimes a Rare card. In contrast to the basic "Common and Uncommon, Rare" collectables are branched into many different variants, comprising Holo Rare, Reverse Holo, Half Art/Half Body, Full Art/Full Body, Secret Rare, Ultra Rare, Rainbow Rare, Promo, and card mechanics including EX/GX, V/VSTAR/VMAX, and Tag Team. Rarities also account for old card collectibles such as "1st-edition Base Set" and "First Generation Sets," and such collectibles are some of the rarest and most expensive Pokémon cards with some valuing at thousands and millions of dollars.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Holo Rare are Rare cards that have a holographic illustration, whereas Reverse Holo are any-rarity cards that have holographic textures elsewhere on the surface except for the main illustration. Half Art and Full Art, as the name imply, are Half Body and Full Body that depicts artworks covering the entire/half the card surface, respectively. In comparison, Secret Rares are reprints of Full Art or Half Arts but with additional artwork schemes such as alternative holofoil scheme, shiny scheme, or a gold trim; they are characterized by a set number past the actual printed size of the set (ex. 242/220). Secret Rares also comprise the subset Rainbow Rare, which features similar materials but in rainbow-color foil schemes. In response to these collectible's considerable rarities, card collectors have use protective card sleeves to preserve them from wear and tear.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: From least to most, the top 15 most rare and expensive Pokémon cards are "20th Anniversary 24-karat real-gold Pikachu", "Prerelease Raichu", "Master’s Key, "Espeon and Umbreon Gold Star POP Series 5", "2002 Pokémon World Championships No. 1 Trainer", "1996 Pokémon Japanese Base Set No Rarity Symbol Holo Venusaur", "1999 Pokémon Japanese Promo Tropical Mega Battle Tropical Wind", "1999 Super Secret Battle No. 1 Trainer, "2006 Pokémon World Championships Promo No. 2 Trainer", "2000 Pokémon Neo Genesis 1st Edition Holo Lugia #9", "Kangaskhan-Holo #115 Family Event Trophy Card", "Black Star Ishihara Signed GX Promo Card", "Pokémon Blastoise #009/165R Commissioned Presentation Galaxy Star Hologram", "1999 First Edition Shadowless Holographic Charizard #4", and a PSA-graded 10 "Pikachu Illustrator".


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The "Pikachu Illustrator" is the rarest and most expensive Pokémon card ever sold in history, and it was acquired by the celebrity and collector Logan Paul for $5,275,000 in July 2021. Created as a prize for the 1997-1998 Pokémon design contests organized by the Japanese manga-magazine CoroCoro Comic and with only 41 copies printed, it is the only Pokémon card to say “Illustrator” instead of "Trainer" like other Trainer cards. The card was illustrated by Atsuko Nishida, the original designer of the Pokémon species including Pikachu. The Japanese imprint reads: “We certify that your illustration is an excellent entry in the Pokémon Card Game Illust Contest. Therefore, we state that you are an Officially Authorized Pokémon Card Illustrator and admire your skill."


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: In addition to the collectible aspect of the card game, The Pokémon Company International (formerly known as Pokémon USA) has also organized Play! Pokémon, formerly known as Pokémon Organized Play (POP), players can battle others in tournaments and earn player points, two-card booster packets for promotional sets, badges, stickers and other prizes. POP are governed by League Leaders and League Owners The Play also features a professor program, where individuals aged 18 or over may be nominated as a "professor," who can help sanction the tournament.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: League Leaders assist in organizing the league, while League Owners are the main organizer of the event. The latter report directly to the Organized Play program every seven weeks. A league cycle is usually divided into eight seasons, each of which lasts about five weeks and is typically represented by themes found in Pokémon (e.g. gym badges, starter Pokémon). Play! Pokémon supports both standard and expanded card format, however in its competitive tournaments only standard format (i.e. card rotation format that discontinues older Pokémon cards to foster new strategies and a healthy competitive environment) are permitted. In contrast to the former, expanded card format permits inclusion of any Pokémon cards, regardless if they are older cards.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Prerelease tournaments are organized just before each expansion each set is released, usually on the two weekends before a set is released. At Prerelease Tournaments players are given three booster packs from the judge to construct a 40-card deck, with only 4 prize cards, using only the cards pulled from the packs and basic energy cards provided by the judges.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Players in a tournament are split into three age categories: Junior (10 years old and younger), Senior (11 to 14 years old), and Master (15 years old and older). Notable references include Austin Brewen who won the first junior tournament, Brenden Zhang who won the first Senior Tournament, and Arturo Heras who won the first Master Tournament. These tournaments play several rounds, where players will play a standard game against each other and wins and losses will be recorded. In most tournaments, there are some Swiss-style rounds where players are paired up against others of similar win/loss ratios, usually from their age group (this does not always occur in smaller events, though). Afterward, there will be a cut off the top record-holders (approximately the top 1/8 of participants) where players will play best two out of three matches and the loser gets eliminated (standard tournament bracket style), with an eventual winner.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: POP runs a season for these tournaments, which allows players to earn larger prizes and play in a more competitive environment in comparison to League. These range from City and Regional Championships, all the way up to the Pokémon World Championships, the single invite-only event of the year. Players can earn invites to the World Championships by winning or ranking high at International Championships, doing well at tournaments to get Championship Points, or by qualifying in the Last Chance Qualifier. The World Championships is a three-day tournament, with one eventual winner in each age group; the winner of the Masters Division age group is generally noticed as the best player in the world for that season. Some of these methods are only used in the United States, as PUI and POP are based in the United States, but they are represented by local distributors who provide the Organized Play program to their own country.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: On August 26–27, 2000, forty-two Pokémon players from around the world met at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu for the Tropical Mega Battle, an international communication event for the "Pokémon Trading Card Game". The Tropical Mega Battle brought together children aged 14 and under from the United States, Japan, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom for two days in Honolulu, Hawaii. Children participating in the Tropical Mega Battle received invitations through Qualifier tournaments, DCI rankings, and other events in their respective countries.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The Super Trainer Showdowns are large-scale "Pokémon TCG" tournaments held in the United States by the TCG's original publisher Wizards of the Coast between 2000 and 2001. The tournaments are divided into three age groups: 10 and under, 11 to 14 years old, and 15 years and older. The Super Trainer Showdowns are preceded by a series of Qualifier Tournaments held across the United States where players can compete for qualification of the Super Trainer Showdowns, and where 10-under and 11–14 years players can win additional trips and tickets to the Showdowns for themselves and a parent/guardian.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: As of 2018, there have been a total of four Super Trainer Showdowns events. The first Super Trainer Showdown was held at Long Beach, California inside of a cruise liner, the Queen Mary on July 22, 2000; the playing format was "Unlimited", meaning that all Pokémon cards released in the United States were legal for deck construction. The second Super Trainer Showdown was held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey on November 18, 2000, with over 700 players in all three age divisions competing for the title and comprised eight rounds of Swiss-style pairings followed by a cut to a top-eight single-elimination playoff.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The third Super Trainer Showdown was held again in the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey on June 23–24, 2001 with more than 1,600 players attended the event; the playing format for this event was called "Modified" and allowed players to construct 60-card decks using a maximum of four of any card other than basic energy from specific sets. The fourth and final Super Trainer Showdown was held at the San Antonio Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas on December 1–2, 2001. The format was again "Modified", however the newest set Neo Discovery was also legal for the tournament.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: Although The Pokémon Company International tries to keep Organized Play as uniform as possible globally, there are some notable differences in how POP is run outside of the United States. The Pokémon Card Laboratory (PCL), located in Japan, is the designer of new cards and the ultimate authority on any matter relating to the "Pokémon Trading Card Game". It can declare rulings on any in-game circumstance, issue errata, change card text after publishing, and change the basic game rules, although the latter three rarely occur. PCL runs Organized Play in Japan. The "Pokémon Trading Card Game" in most European countries is currently handled by The Pokémon Company International. Certain countries have no direct official presence; in these regions, distributors of the game run tournaments. European countries can qualify for positions at the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships each year, through National Championships and European Rankings.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The reviewer from the online second volume of "Pyramid" in 1999 stated that ""Pokémon" is the second most popular CCG in Japan (behind ""), and it's no fluke. The game plays like a kinder, gentler version of "Magic", with easier rules and graphics geared to the younger crowd." In the United States, Wizards of the Coast reported in early 1999 that it had sold 400,000 packs of "Pokémon" trading cards in less than six weeks of its release.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: In 2016, it was the year's top-selling toy in the strategic card game subclass. In 2017, it had an 82% share of Europe's strategic card game market. As of March 2022, the game has sold over 43.2 billion cards worldwide.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The "Pokémon Trading Card Game" video game adaptation was developed by Hudson Soft and Creatures and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color console. It was released in Japan in December 1998 and later in North American and Europe in 2000, reappearing in the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console released in 2014. The adaptation are similar in gameplay and rules, featuring 226 cards from the TCG with infrared linking for multiplayer and trading. The video game was accompanied by "Pokémon Card GB2: Great Rocket-Dan Sanjō!", a Japan-exclusive sequel released in March 2001. In addition to the "Pokémon Trading Card Game" video game, Wizards has developed another digitalized adaptation, Pokémon Play It!, which consisted of two versions that offer players a beginner's introduction to the different gameplay aspects of TCG as they slowly transitioned into "Advanced Challenges" in the 2nd version. The first version of Pokémon Play It! was released in 1999, followed by its sequel "Pokémon Play It! Version 2" in 2000.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: The "Pokémon Trading Card Game Online" is the most prominent and the latest video game adaptation of the "Pokémon TCG." It was released on March 24, 2011, as "Pokémon Trainer Challenge" for Microsoft Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. The game initially offered three starting decks but has significantly expanded its card collection shortly after released. Beginning April 6, 2011, players can redeem digital booster packs using a promo code card bundled inside printed booster packs; they can also redeem such packs using in-game currencies and rewards. The "" how-to-guide video game adaptation was released in Japan on on August 5, 2011, for Nintendo DS, alongside three bundled 30-card decks, a play mat, and damage counters tokens.


title: Pokémon Trading Card Game

text: On September 20, 2021, another "Pokémon Trading Card Game"-based video game was announced, titled "Pokémon Trading Card Game Live". It will be available for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, and macOS. Upon release, "Pokémon Trading Card Game Live" will be replacing "Pokémon Trading Card Game Online", and the latter will be discontinued shorty after. Existing players of "Pokémon Trading Card Game Online" will be able to transfer their account and in-game data to "Pokémon Trading Card Game Live." In November 2021, it was announced that the game would be delayed until 2022. A closed beta of "Pokémon Trading Card Game Live" was released for Canadian players on February 22, 2022.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: The Coca-Cola Company's formula for Coca-Cola syrup, which bottlers combine with carbonated water to create the company's flagship cola soft drink, is a closely guarded trade secret. Company founder Asa Candler initiated the veil of secrecy that surrounds the formula in 1891 as a publicity, marketing, and intellectual property protection strategy. While several recipes, each purporting to be the authentic formula, have been published, the company maintains that the actual formula remains a secret, known only to a very few select (and anonymous) employees.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: Coca-Cola inventor John Pemberton is known to have shared his original formula with at least four people before his death in 1888. In 1891, Asa Candler purchased the rights to the formula from Pemberton's estate, founded the Coca-Cola Company, and instituted the shroud of secrecy that has since enveloped the formula. He also made changes to the ingredients list, which by most accounts improved the flavor, and entitled him to claim that anyone in possession of Pemberton's original formula no longer knew the "real" formula.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: In 1919, Ernest Woodruff led a group of investors in purchasing the company from Candler and his family. As collateral for the acquisition loan, Woodruff placed the only written copy of the formula in a vault at the Guaranty Trust Company of New York. In 1925, when the loan had been repaid, Woodruff relocated the written formula to the Trust Company Bank (Truist Financial) in Atlanta. On December 8, 2011, the company placed it in a vault on the grounds of the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, with the vault on public display.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: According to the company, only two employees are privy to the complete formula at any given time and they are not permitted to travel together. When one dies, the other must choose a successor within the company and impart the secret to that person. The identity of the two employees in possession of the secret is itself a secret.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: However, the company's "secret formula" policy is more of a marketing strategy than an actual trade secret: any competitor in possession of the genuine Coke recipe would be unable to obtain key ingredients such as processed coca leaf, and even if all components were available, could not market the product as Coca-Cola.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: During the late 19th century, Coca-Cola was one of many popular coca-based drinks with purported medicinal properties and benefits to health; early marketing materials claimed that Coca-Cola alleviated headaches and acted as a "brain and nerve tonic". Coca leaves were used in Coca-Cola's preparation; the small amount of cocaine they contained – along with caffeine originally sourced from kola nuts – provided the drink's "tonic" quality. In 1903, cocaine was removed, leaving caffeine as the sole stimulant ingredient, and all medicinal claims were dropped. By one account, the FDA continued to screen random samples of Coca-Cola syrup for the presence of cocaine.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: Some sources claim that coca leaves, chemically processed to remove the cocaine, remain part of the formula as a flavoring. According to these accounts, the company obtains the ingredient from the Stepan Company of Maywood, New Jersey, which legally extracts cocaine from coca leaves for use in pharmaceuticals, then sells the processed leaf material for use in Coca-Cola. the company would neither confirm nor deny this, deferring to the secret nature of the formula.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: In 1911, the United States government sued the Coca-Cola Company for violations of the Pure Food and Drug Act, claiming that the high concentration of caffeine in Coca-Cola syrup was harmful to health. The case was decided in favor of Coca-Cola, but a portion of the decision was set aside in 1916 by the Supreme Court. As part of a settlement, the company agreed to reduce the amount of caffeine in its syrup.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: The company protects the secrecy of its syrup recipe by shipping ingredients to its syrup factories in the form of anonymous "merchandises", numbered 1 through 9. Factory managers are told the relative proportions of each numbered merchandise, and the mixing procedure, but not the ingredients in the merchandises, some of which are themselves mixtures of more basic ingredients. Merchandise no. 1 is known to be sugar, in the form of high-fructose corn syrup or sucrose (see variations, below); caramel coloring is no. 2, caffeine is no. 3, and phosphoric acid is no. 4. The identities of merchandises 5 through 9 are a matter of debate – particularly "merchandise 7X" (the "X" has never been explained), which is thought to contain a mixture of essential oils such as orange, lime, lemon, and lavender.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: Despite the implications of its name, there is no evidence that the current version of Coca-Cola syrup contains kola nut extract, which was originally included for its caffeine content. The modern source of that additive is probably caffeine citrate, a byproduct of the decaffeination of coffee.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: The primary taste of Coca-Cola is thought to come from vanilla and cinnamon, with trace amounts of essential oils, and spices such as nutmeg. A 2014 study identified and measured 58 aroma compounds in the top three US brands of cola, confirming significant amounts of compounds found in the essential oils of cinnamon, lemon, orange, neroli, coriander, nutmeg and vanilla.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: During the 1980s, most U.S. Coca-Cola bottlers switched their primary sweetening ingredient from cane sugar (sucrose) to the cheaper high-fructose corn syrup. , the only U.S. bottler still using sucrose year-round was the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Cleveland, which serves northern Ohio and a portion of Pennsylvania. Many bottlers outside the U.S. also continue to use sucrose as the primary sweetener. glass bottles of sucrose-sweetened Coca-Cola imported from Mexico are available in many U.S. markets for those consumers who prefer the sucrose version (see "Mexican Coke", below).


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: Coca-Cola was certified kosher in 1935 by Rabbi Tobias Geffen after beef tallow-derived glycerin was replaced with vegetable glycerin. However, the high-fructose corn syrup used by most U.S. bottlers since the 1980s renders it kitniyot by the definitions of Jewish kosher law, and therefore forbidden during Passover according to certain traditions. Each year, in the weeks leading up to Passover, bottlers in markets with substantial Jewish populations switch to sucrose sweetener in order to obtain Kosher for Passover certification.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: In April 1985, in response to marketing research suggesting that a majority of North American consumers preferred the taste of rival Pepsi to Coca-Cola, the company introduced a sweeter, less effervescent version of Coca-Cola in the U.S. and Canada. Although the new formulation had beaten both Pepsi-Cola and the old Coke formula in multiple blind taste tests, consumer response was overwhelmingly negative. The company quickly reintroduced the original beverage, rebranded as "Coca-Cola Classic", while continuing to market the new version as simply "Coke".


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: The new version remained on the market, in North America only, for 17 years—the last 10 as "Coke II"—until it was quietly discontinued in 2002. The "Classic" designation remained on the original product's label, its prominence gradually decreasing over the years, until it was removed entirely in 2009.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: In the early 2000s, cane-sugar-sweetened Coca-Cola produced in Mexico began to appear in bodegas and Hispanic supermarkets in the Southwestern United States; in 2005, Costco began offering it. All were obtaining the Mexican product—which was not labeled in accordance with U.S. food labeling laws—outside the official Coca-Cola distribution network. In 2009, the Coca-Cola Company began officially importing Coca-Cola produced in Mexico, with proper labeling, for distribution through official channels.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: Coca-Cola inventor John Pemberton is said to have written this recipe in his diary shortly before his death in 1888. The recipe does not specify when or how the ingredients are mixed, nor the flavoring oil quantity units of measure (though it implies that the "Merchandise 7X" was mixed first). This was common in recipes at the time, as it was assumed that preparers knew the method.


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: Recipe is from "Food Flavorings: Composition, Manufacture and Use". Makes one of syrup. Yield (used to flavor carbonated water at per bottle): 128 bottles, .


title: Coca-Cola formula

text: In 2011, Ira Glass announced on his Public Radio International show, "This American Life", that show staffers had found a recipe in "Everett Beal's Recipe Book", reproduced in the February 28, 1979, issue of "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution", that they believed was either Pemberton's original formula for Coca-Cola, or a version that he made either before or after the product was first sold in 1886. The formula is very similar to the one found in Pemberton's diary. Coca-Cola archivist Phil Mooney acknowledged that the recipe "could be a precursor" to the formula used in the original 1886 product, but emphasized that the original formula is not the same as the one used in the current product.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Dispensationalism is a system that was formalized in its entirety by John Nelson Darby. Dispensationalism maintains that history is divided into multiple ages or "dispensations" in which God acts with humanity in different ways. Dispensationalists generally maintain a belief in premillennialism, a future restoration of Israel and in a rapture that will happen before the second coming, generally seen as happening before the tribulation.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Progressive revelation is the doctrine in some forms of Christianity that each successive book of the Bible provides further revelation of God and his program. For instance, the theologian Charles Hodge wrote:


title: Dispensationalism

text: The New Testament writings, then, contain additional information regarding God and his program beyond the writings of the Old Testament.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Disagreement exists between covenant theology and dispensationalism regarding the meaning of revelation. Covenant theology views the New Testament as the key to interpreting the Old Testament. Therefore, concepts such as the biblical covenants and promises to Israel are believed to be interpreted by the New Testament as applying to the church.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Dispensationalism holds that both the Old Testament and New Testament are interpreted using literal grammatical-historical interpretation. As a result, they reject the idea that the meaning of the Old Testament was hidden and that the New Testament can alter the straightforward meaning of the Old Testament. Their view of progressive revelation is that the New Testament contains new information which can build on the Old Testament but cannot change its meaning.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Dispensationalists profess that there exists a historic and demographic distinction between Israel and the Christian Church. For dispensationalists, Israel is an ethnic nation consisting of Hebrews (Israelites), beginning with Abraham. The Church, on the other hand, consists of all saved individuals in this present dispensation—i.e., from the "birth of the Church" in Acts until the time of the rapture. According to progressive dispensationalism in contrast to the older forms, the distinction between Israel and the Church is not mutually exclusive, as there is a recognized overlap between the two. The overlap includes Jewish Christians like James, brother of Jesus, who integrated Jesus' teachings into the Jewish faith, and Christians of Jewish ethnicity who held varying opinions on compliance with Mosaic law, like Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Classical dispensationalists refer to the present-day Church as a "parenthesis" or temporary interlude in the progress of Israel's prophesied history. Progressive dispensationalism "softens" the Church/Israel distinction by seeing some Old Testament promises as expanded by the New Testament to include the Church. However, progressives never view this expansion as replacing promises to its original audience, Israel. Dispensationalists believe that Israel as a nation will embrace Jesus as their messiah toward the end of the Great Tribulation, right before the Second Coming.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Classic dispensationalism began with John Nelson Darby. Darby was succeeded by the theologian C. I. Scofield, the Bible teacher Harry A. Ironside, Lewis Sperry Chafer, William R. Newell, and Miles J. Stanford, each of whom identified Pentecost (Acts 2) with the start of the Church as distinct from Israel; this may be referred to as the "Acts 2" position. Other Acts 2 Pauline dispensationalists include R. B. Shiflet, Roy A. Huebner, and Carol Berubee.


title: Dispensationalism

text: In contrast, Grace Movement Dispensationalists believe that the church started later in Acts and emphasize the beginning of the church with the ministry of Paul. Advocates of this "mid-Acts" position identify the start of the church occurring between the salvation of Saul in Acts 9 and the Holy Spirit's commissioning of Paul in Acts 13.


title: Dispensationalism

text: The "Acts 28" position posits that the church began in Acts chapter 28 where the Apostle Paul quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 concerning the blindness of Israel, announcing that the salvation of God is sent to the Gentile world ().


title: Dispensationalism

text: Premillennialists are dispensationalists who affirm a future, literal 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ (), which merges with and continues on to the eternal state in the "new heavens and the new earth" (Revelation 21). They claim that the millennial kingdom will be theocratic in nature and not mainly soteriological, as it is considered by George Eldon Ladd and others with a non-dispensational form of premillennialism.


title: Dispensationalism

text: The vast majority of dispensationalists profess a pretribulation rapture, with small minorities professing to either a mid-tribulation, or post-tribulation rapture.


title: Dispensationalism

text: The number of dispensations vary typically from three to eight. The typical seven-dispensation scheme is as follows:


title: Dispensationalism

text: Dispensationalists authors have quoted Papias of Hierapolis for embracing premillennialism in the 2nd century.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Pseudo-Ephraim said that all believers will be gathered to the Lord prior to the tribulation, but it is debated what he meant by the statement and if he had a pretribulational view. The Apocalypse of Elijah mentions believers being "taken up upon their wings and lifted up before his wrath".


title: Dispensationalism

text: The interpretation of Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy taught by Julius Africanus was similar to the interpretation set out by Scofield.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Advocates of Dispensationalism have sought to find similar views of dispensations in Church history, referencing theologians or groups such as Francisco Ribera, the Taborites, Joachim of Fiore and others. Joachim's theory of three stages of human history has been argued to have anticipated the later dispensationalist view of organizing history into different dispensations. Fra Dolcino also taught Fiore's theory of the stages of history, but he was said to have taught that his followers would be taken away or raptured prior to the tribulation, after which God will send Enoch and Elijah to the Earth.


title: Dispensationalism

text: William C. Watson argued that multiple 17th century theologians anticipated dispensational views, he argued that Ephraim Huit and John Birchensa in his "The History of Scripture" published in 1660 taught that God has differing plans for Jews and Gentiles. He also argued that Nathaniel Holmes taught a pretribulational rapture.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Pierre Poiret wrote a book called "The Divine Economy", this work had multiple similarities to dispensationalism. Poiret has been said to have been the first theologian to develop a Dispensationalist system. He taught that history should be organized into multiple dispensations in which God works with humans in different ways, including the millennium as a future dispensation. Pierre also held that in the future the Jews will convert into Christianity and in a future restoration of national Israel.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Dispensationalism developed as a system from the teachings of John Nelson Darby, considered by some to be the father of dispensationalism (1800–82), who strongly influenced the Plymouth Brethren of the 1830s in Ireland and England. The original concept came when Darby considered the implications of Isaiah 32 for Israel. He saw that prophecy required a future fulfillment and realization of Israel's kingdom. The New Testament church was seen as a separate program not related to that kingdom. Thus arose a prophetic earthly kingdom program for Israel and a separate "mystery" heavenly program for the church. In order to not conflate the two programs, the prophetic program had to be put on hold to allow for the church to come into existence. Then it is necessary for the church to be raptured away before prophecy can resume its earthly program for Israel.


title: Dispensationalism

text: In Darby's conception of dispensations, the Mosaic dispensation continues as a divine administration over earth up until the return of Christ. The church, being a heavenly designated assembly, does not have its own dispensation as per Scofield. Darby conceives of dispensations relating exclusively to the divine government of the earth and thus the church is not associated with any dispensations.


title: Dispensationalism

text: While his Brethren ecclesiology failed to catch on in America, his eschatological doctrine became widely popular in the United States, especially among Baptists and Old School Presbyterians.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Dispensationalism was adopted, modified, and made popular in the United States by the Scofield Reference Bible.


title: Dispensationalism

text: It was introduced to North America by James Inglis (1813–72) through the monthly magazine "Waymarks in the Wilderness", published intermittently between 1854 and 1872. During 1866, Inglis organized the Believers' Meeting for Bible Study, which introduced dispensationalist ideas to a small but influential circle of American evangelicals. They were disturbed by the inroads of religious liberalism and saw premillennialism as an answer. Dispensationalism was introduced as a premillennial position, and it largely took over the fundamentalist movement, over a period of several decades. The American church denominations rejected Darby's ecclesiology but accepted his eschatology. Many of these churches were Presbyterian and Baptist, and they retained Darby's Calvinistic soteriology.


title: Dispensationalism

text: After Inglis' death, James H. Brookes (1830–98), the pastor of Walnut Street Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, organized the Niagara Bible Conference (1876–97) to continue the dissemination of dispensationalist ideas. Dispensationalism was boosted after Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) learned of dispensational theology from an unidentified member of the Brethren during 1872. Moody worked with Brookes and other dispensationalists and encouraged the spread of dispensationalism. The efforts of C.I. Scofield and his associates introduced dispensationalism to a wider audience in America by his Scofield Reference Bible. The publication of the Scofield Reference Bible during 1909 by the Oxford University Press for the first time displayed overtly dispensationalist notes on the pages of the biblical text. The Scofield Bible became a popular Bible used by independent Evangelicals in the United States. Evangelist and Bible teacher Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952) was influenced by Scofield; he founded the Dallas Theological Seminary during 1924, which has become the main institution of dispensationalism in America. The Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania became another dispensational school. Grace School of Theology opened in Houston, TX in 2003 as a dispensational school. Founded by graduates of Dallas Theological Seminary, it holds "that the Bible must be interpreted as language is normally used, recognizing the importance of dispensational distinctions."


title: Dispensationalism

text: Other prominent dispensationalists include Reuben Archer Torrey (1856–1928), James M. Gray (1851–1925), William J. Erdman (1833–1923), A. C. Dixon (1854–1925), A. J. Gordon (1836–95), and William Eugene Blackstone, author of the book "Jesus is Coming" (endorsed by Torrey and Erdman). These men were active evangelists who promoted a host of Bible conferences and other missionary and evangelistic efforts. They also gave the dispensationalist philosophy institutional permanence by assuming leadership of new independent Bible institutes, such as the Moody Bible Institute during 1886, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University) during 1908, and Philadelphia College of Bible (now Cairn University, formerly Philadelphia Biblical University) during 1913. The network of related institutes that soon developed became the nucleus for the spread of American dispensationalism.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Dispensationalism has become very popular with American evangelicalism, especially among nondenominational Bible churches, Baptists, Pentecostal, and Charismatic groups. Conversely, Protestant denominations that embrace covenant theology as a whole tend to reject dispensationalism. For example, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) (which subsequently merged with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA), in which dispensationalism existed) termed it "evil and subversive" and regarded it as a heresy. The Churches of Christ underwent division during the 1930s as Robert Henry Boll (who taught a variant of the dispensational philosophy) and Foy E. Wallace (representing the amillennial stance) disputed severely over eschatology.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Israel has allied with U.S. evangelicals and dispensationalists to influence U.S. foreign policy, including protection of the Jewish people in Israel and continued aid for the state of Israel. Israel's alliance with televangelist John Hagee began in the early 1980s as he met with every Prime Minister of Israel since Menachem Begin. Since the mid-2000s Israel has been in commercial alliance with televangelist and sometime-politician Pat Robertson.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Political commentator Kevin Phillips claimed in "American Theocracy" (2006) that dispensationalist and other fundamentalist Christians, together with the oil lobby, provided political assistance for the invasion of Iraq during 2003.


title: Dispensationalism

text: Nancy LeTourneau of Washington Monthly has called dispensationalist theology "a somewhat twisted form of anti-semitism", remarking, "None of this will end well for the Jewish people, or the rest of us."


title: Emirates of the United Arab Emirates

text: The United Arab Emirates consists of seven emirates ( '; singular: '), which were historically known as the Trucial States. There are no internal barriers hindering movement between the emirates.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha Jones is a fictional character from the HBO franchise "Sex and the City", portrayed by Kim Cattrall. Candace Bushnell created the character, based on a real-life friend, for her column "Sex and the City" in "The New York Observer", which was later compiled into the book "Sex and the City" and adapted into the television series. Cattrall received two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal. Cattrall reprised the role in the films "Sex and the City" and "Sex and the City 2," but declined to participate in the HBO Max series "And Just Like That..." where Samantha is an unseen character.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Bushnell also authored the young adult novels "The Carrie Diaries" and "Summer and the City" featuring the character. "The Carrie Diaries" was adapted into a CW prequel series of the same name, with Samantha portrayed by Lindsey Gort in the second season.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha Jones originally appeared in Candace Bushnell's column "Sex and the City" in "The New York Observer," where she is introduced as a "40-ish movie producer" known for dating a multitude of younger men. Bushnell based the character on a friend she described as "kind of an expert on men and dating".


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: In the second season of the prequel series, Samantha is introduced as Carrie's enemy Donna Ladonna's cousin who was in her mid 20s and is portrayed by Lindsey Gort. In the second episode of the second season, she said that she came from the Everglades, and that she used to have alligator overturned by car for breakfast.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha Jones is one of four single friends portrayed in the series, a public relations professional who is a proud, confident, highly sexual woman. Most of her story lines revolve around the frequent sex and brief affairs she has. She is outspoken and a self-proclaimed "try-sexual" (meaning she'll try anything at least once). She is portrayed as brash, straightforward, highly protective of her friends and unafraid of confrontation. She also displays nonchalance toward dating and monogamy and becomes uncomfortable whenever her sexual relationships take an emotional turn.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Not much is known about Samantha's younger years. It is known that she came from a working class background, and she spent most of her teenage years selling Dilly bars at Dairy Queen to earn pocket money. Season 3 implies that she has at least two siblings, when she mentions that at her age, her mother "was saddled with three kids and a drunk husband". She later mentions partying at Studio 54 during its heyday, implying she moved sometime in the mid- to late-1970s from wherever she grew up to New York City. She has mentioned having had at least two abortions, one of which occurred while she was in college.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha is the oldest of the four friends (in the final scene of the "Sex and the City" film, her 50th birthday is celebrated), though it is implied during the early seasons that the other three are not aware of how much older Samantha is than they are. She has her own public-relations company. In the book's prequel series, it is revealed that Carrie met Samantha first.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: In the early part of the series, she lives on the Upper East Side, but ends up moving to an expensive apartment in the Meatpacking District. The move is provoked after one of her late-night visitors lets in a mugger who attacks one of her older female neighbors and Samantha incurs the wrath of a tribelike commune of her elderly neighbors.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: One of Samantha's best qualities is her loyalty to her friends. When Carrie confesses to her that she's having an affair with her married ex-boyfriend "Mr. Big," and is cheating on her boyfriend, Aidan, Samantha tells her that judging is not her style and offers her support. Although she fights with Charlotte a few times, they always manage to get past their differences and make up. Despite having trouble adjusting to Miranda having a child, she willingly gives up a coveted hair appointment with a distinguished hairdresser and sends Miranda in her place, staying behind to babysit and give her friend a much-needed break. Although Miranda is usually considered Carrie's best friend, Samantha is shown to be closer with Carrie on several occasions; such as when Carrie hates an engagement ring that Miranda picks out for Aidan to give to Carrie, but loves the replacement ring selected with Samantha's help.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: In the show's last season, Samantha is diagnosed with breast cancer. She faces the challenge head-on, playing with her look by wearing outrageous wigs, hats, and headscarves after she loses her hair to chemotherapy. In one of the final episodes, she gives a speech for a cancer benefit dinner, and receives a standing ovation for removing her wig onstage and admitting that she was suffering with hot flashes. The audience appreciated her candor and honesty, and many of the women in the audience stood up and removed their own wigs.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Four years later, Samantha has moved to Los Angeles with Smith to further his acting career; he's now playing a doctor on a popular daytime drama. Samantha, who visits New York City as much as possible, finds herself attracted to a hunky exhibitionist neighbor, Dante, whom she regularly sees nude when he takes a shower or has sex with various women. Dante's escapades reminds Samantha of her sexually free past and he could be considered the male version of Samantha. While she remains faithful to Smith, she finds herself questioning whether or not her strained relationship with him should be continued as she simultaneously uses food as an outlet for her sexual desires for Dante, flagrantly gaining weight in the later stages of the movie. Samantha claims 'I eat, so I won't cheat'. Samantha, realizing her true unhappiness, breaks up with Smith. Samantha seemingly returns to reside New York City. Our last view of Samantha is her celebrating her 50th birthday in Manhattan and toasting to the next fifty with Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha is approached by an Arab sheikh to devise a PR campaign for his business, and he flies her and her friends on an all-expenses-paid luxury vacation to Abu Dhabi. When the girls are picnicking they meet an architect named Rikhard Spirt (Max Ryan). Meeting him later that evening out with the girls, she addresses him as "Dick Spurt" and declines his offer for a drink because of her devotion to her friends' "girls night out" but agrees to meet the next evening. While on that date Samantha is detained for having sex on the beach. With the Sheik's intervention Samantha is released, leaving her with a permanent police record. The PR meeting is cancelled, and their luxurious perks are no longer paid for. They quickly pack their bags and attempt to leave but have to retrieve Carrie's passport that she unknowingly left at the souk. Due to a mix-up the men there believe Samantha has stolen a bag. They confront her and Samantha's real bag rips open in the middle of a bustling souk and the contents, including strips of condoms, falls out. Disgusted Muslim men crowd around and Samantha brashly responds that what they were viewing were indeed condoms and that she 'has sex'. Samantha has to be pulled away by her fearful friends. They are helped by Muslim women in traditional wear, who let them into their home and reveal that they are wearing Louis Vuitton underneath. The Muslim women aid the girls in escaping the souk by giving them full-body niqabs to hide their identities. They leave Abu Dhabi and return to New York City. At the end of the movie Samantha has sex with Rikhard in "the land of the free and home of the hormones", at an East Hampton sand dune.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha does not appear in "And Just Like That...", the sequel series to "Sex and the City". She is mentioned as having moved to London and being estranged from the group after Carrie dropped her as her publicist. After Mr. Big's death, Samantha sends flowers to Carrie. Carrie thanks her and is occasionally shown conversing with Samantha via text message. When Carrie travels to Paris to spread Big's ashes, she texts Samantha, who agrees to meet in London and rekindle their lost friendship.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha's main love is men – many of them. Over the course of the series, she sleeps with plenty of interesting characters, including a man who will only "swing" with her if she takes an HIV test, a college student from the Midwest with the same name (Sam Jones) who is eager to lose his virginity, a guy with "funky spunk", and a trainer from her gym who brands her by shaving her pubic hair into a lightning bolt. She never lets the men stay for long, usually requiring them to leave "an hour after [she] climaxes". One of her sexual antics includes making a sex-tape to disprove tabloids' claims that she is a fag hag. She once said that she frequently loses underwear because she leaves them at the guys' places and never returns. She even slept with her good friend Charlotte's brother, prompting an angry Charlotte to call Samantha's vagina "the hottest spot in town: it's always open".


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha rarely dates men more than once or twice. She does, however, have a few "serious" relationships throughout the run of the series, and it was being said that before the Pilot, she was once ‘heartbroken’ by a man named Dominic Delmonico, whom she briefly met again during series.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha meets a man named James (James Goodwin) in a jazz bar at the end of season one. Unusually for Samantha, she doesn't have sex with him immediately, taking a leaf instead from Charlotte's book, because she felt he was a man she would marry. After declaring that she was in love with him, the two finally have sex, only for Samantha to discover that James was seriously under-endowed, to the point where she could not enjoy sex. In the last episode of season one, ("Oh Come All Ye Faithful") she tells Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda that he is only three inches long when hard, and that she doesn't even receive any pleasure out of giving him a blowjob because his penis is so small. Though she tries to work through it, she eventually ends things with him when they attend a couples' counseling session. She confesses she is unable to feel someone as small as a baby carrot, to which he replies angrily by saying that maybe her vagina is too big.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: In a funny counterpoint to her predicament with James, in the second-season episode "Ex and the City," Samantha meets Mr. Too Big, who warns her of his huge endowment as he undresses. Samantha squeals with delight as the story segues to another character. Later in the episode, when Samantha reappears, she is slowly guiding Mr. Too Big between her legs. After much hesitation, she seems to finally relax while drawing him in (she thinks), only to be asked if he can start. A shocked and fearful Samantha pushes him away with her foot on his chest and begs off the encounter. At the end of this episode she unexpectedly yells "I miss James!" while her friends goofishly sing "The Way We Were" in a crowded restaurant - the exclamation is tearful, suggesting that her feelings for James may have been legitimate.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: In season four, Samantha flirts with lesbianism, entering into a brief but serious relationship with an artist named Maria Reyes (Sônia Braga). The girls are completely shocked by this, more so that she is in a relationship than the fact that it's with a woman. Charlotte proclaims, "She's not a lesbian, she probably just ran out of men!". Samantha feels she is not a relationship person, and she initially only wants to be friends with Maria. Maria tells Samantha she cannot continue being just friends with her, and Samantha decides to take a chance and kisses Maria. Samantha seems intrigued about learning the act of pleasing another woman, thus learning more about her own sexuality. Once the sex begins to dwindle and they spend a lot of time talking, Samantha begins to tire of their relationship. Maria also becomes upset when Samantha's sexual past catches up with them. Samantha ultimately misses men too much and, although Maria decides to try strap-on dildos, the two break up due to Maria's belief that Samantha has "intimacy issues".


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Later in season four, Samantha meets and falls in love with hotel magnate Richard Wright (James Remar). Though the two seemed well-matched, as they are both confident, highly successful, and like sleeping around and are uninterested in relationships, Samantha finds herself becoming increasingly attached to Richard. The two eventually agree to try for a monogamous relationship. However, Samantha is heart broken when she catches him cheating on her. Despite giving Richard a second chance, she decides to end the relationship when she realizes she doesn't trust him. In the last season, she runs into Richard while out at a party with her new boyfriend, Smith, and Samantha and Richard go upstairs to have sex. During intercourse, Samantha is seen looking uninterested and pained at being with Richard. Smith waits for her downstairs, knowing what she has done, and she breaks down in his arms, apologizing to him.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Samantha sees a 28-year-old waiter/aspiring actor (Jason Lewis) while dining with the girls at a new, hip restaurant called "Raw". She later returns to the restaurant alone, with the sole mission of taking him home; she succeeds, outlasting numerous other women who are there for the same purpose. At first it seems he is to be just another notch on her bedpost, and she doesn't even know his name, referring to him as "Smith" to her Jones in elaborate sexual scenarios they enact. They have adventurous, "out-of-the-box" sex, which Samantha finds exciting and refreshing. She is turned off by learning anything personal about him, such as that he is a recovering alcoholic. But she finds she is enjoying her time with him so much that she keeps seeing him.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Seeing that he is broke and struggling, Samantha uses her PR skills to jump-start Jerry's modeling and acting career, and, once she learns his birth name (Jerry Jerrod), changes it to Smith Jerrod. Samantha likes that he is not intimidated by her success (in contrast to Carrie's ex-boyfriend, Jack Berger), and with her assistance, he quickly becomes a celebrity. He first gains attention when he models naked in an Absolut Vodka ad in Times Square, in which he appears as the "Absolut Hunk". This publicity leads to a role in a Gus Van Sant film.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Reluctant at first to admit she cares about him, Samantha misses him while he is on location. Smith returns from his film and shows her true affection, which Samantha finds unsettling. (As she explains to Carrie, he tried to do something purely perverse to her in public: "He tried to hold my hand.") Samantha struggles with Smith's status as a teen icon and their age difference. She ends up deliberately humiliating him by hooking up with her ex-flame Richard at a party she went to with Smith. After a quick bout of clearly meaningless sex with Richard, during which he talks about himself, Samantha seeks out Smith, who has been waiting for her to realize she made a mistake and come back. She tearfully confesses that she hates what she just did to him. Eventually, she begins referring to Smith as her boyfriend. It appears that the two live together, since Smith refers to her place as "home," and he has keys to the apartment.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: Smith supports Samantha through her brush with cancer, even shaving his hair when her hair began falling out, and then shaving hers. Samantha has no sexual libido during chemotherapy and encourages Smith to have sex with anyone he wants while he is in Canada filming his next movie. Smith refuses, comparing her situation to winter: "just because the trees are bare doesn't mean they're dead." While he is away, he sends her unbloomed flowers with a message on the card reading "Looking forward to spring." She calls him to tell him she changed her mind about Smith having sex with other women, and Smith happily complies. Smith returns to New York in the middle of the night, flying back after their phone call to say that he loves her. Samantha replies that he "means more to [her] than any man [she's] ever known," which, for Samantha, is a huge statement. Their last scene together in the TV series shows the two having sex and Samantha enjoying herself; the previously unbloomed flowers have now begun to open.


title: Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

text: In the movies, four years later, the pair are still together, with Samantha giving up her job and home to live in Los Angeles with him and be his publicist supporting his booming acting career. But Samantha has become restless with monogamy and resents that Smith's career has taken over her life. After a struggle with her weight and self-control, Samantha eventually decides to end their relationship. She explains that she loves herself and that’s the one relationship she needed to work on. As seen in the "Sex and the City 2" movie, the two remain friends, with Smith inviting her to be his date to the premiere of his summer blockbuster, saying “my career would have never happened if it’s not for you”; and introduces her to the film's Arab financier, who invites Samantha to visit his resort in Abu Dhabi so she can plan an advertising campaign for his businesses.


title: Debit card

text: A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The term "plastic card" includes the above and as an identity document. These are similar to a credit card, but unlike a credit card, the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of a purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase.


title: Debit card

text: Some debit cards carry a stored value with which a payment is made (prepaid card), but most relay a message to the cardholder's bank to withdraw funds from the cardholder's designated bank account. In some cases, the payment card number is assigned exclusively for use on the Internet and there is no physical card. This is referred to as a virtual card.


title: Debit card

text: In many countries, the use of debit cards has become so widespread they have overtaken checks in volume, or have entirely replaced them; in some instances, debit cards have also largely replaced cash transactions. The development of debit cards, unlike credit cards and charge cards, has generally been country-specific, resulting in a number of different systems around the world, which were often incompatible. Since the mid-2000s, a number of initiatives have allowed debit cards issued in one country to be used in other countries and allowed their use for internet and phone purchases.


title: Debit card

text: Debit cards usually also allow an instant withdrawal of cash, known as a cash advance, acting as an ATM card for this purpose. Merchants may also offer cashback facilities to customers, so that a customer can withdraw cash along with their purchase. There are usually daily limits on the amount of cash that can be withdrawn. Most debit cards are plastic, but there are cards made of metal, and rarely wood.


title: Debit card

text: There are currently three ways that debit card transactions are processed: EFTPOS (also known as "online debit" or "PIN debit"), offline debit (also known as "signature debit"), and the Electronic Purse Card System. One physical card can include the functions of all three types, so that it can be used in a number of different circumstances.


title: Debit card

text: The 5 major debit card networks are UnionPay, American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa. Other card networks are STAR, JCB, Pulse etc. There are many types of debit cards, each accepted only within a particular country or region, for example Switch (now: Maestro) and Solo in the United Kingdom, Interac in Canada, Carte Bleue in France, EC electronic cash (formerly Eurocheque) in Germany, Bancomat/PagoBancomat in Italy, UnionPay in China, RuPay in India and EFTPOS cards in Australia and New Zealand. The need for cross-border compatibility and the advent of the euro recently led to many of these card networks (such as Switzerland's "EC direkt", Austria's "Bankomatkasse", and Switch in the United Kingdom) being re-branded with the internationally recognized Maestro logo, which is part of the Mastercard brand. Some debit cards are dual branded with the logo of the (former) national card as well as Maestro (for example, EC cards in Germany, Switch and Solo in the UK, Pinpas cards in the Netherlands, Bancontact cards in Belgium, etc.). The use of a debit card system allows operators to package their product more effectively while monitoring customer spending.


title: Debit card

text: Online debit cards require electronic authorization of every transaction and the debits are reflected in the user's account immediately. The transaction may be additionally secured with the personal identification number (PIN) authentication system; some online cards require such authentication for every transaction, essentially becoming enhanced automatic teller machine (ATM) cards.


title: Debit card

text: One difficulty with using online debit cards is the necessity of an electronic authorization device at the point of sale (POS) and sometimes also a separate PINpad to enter the PIN, although this is becoming commonplace for all card transactions in many countries.


title: Debit card

text: Overall, the online debit card is generally viewed as superior to the offline debit card because of its more secure authentication system and live status, which alleviates problems with processing lag on transactions that may only issue online debit cards. Some on-line debit systems are using the normal authentication processes of Internet banking to provide real-time online debit transactions.


title: Debit card

text: Smart-card-based electronic purse systems (in which value is stored on the card chip, not in an externally recorded account, so that machines accepting the card need no network connectivity) are in use throughout Europe since the mid-1990s, most notably in Germany (Geldkarte), Austria (Quick Wertkarte), the Netherlands (Chipknip), Belgium (Proton), Switzerland (CASH) and France (Moneo, which is usually carried by a debit card). In Austria and Germany, almost all current bank cards now include electronic purses, whereas the electronic purse has been recently phased out in the Netherlands.


title: Debit card

text: The primary market for prepaid debit cards has historically been unbanked people; that is, people who do not use banks or credit unions for their financial transactions.


title: Debit card

text: Advantages of prepaid debit cards include being safer than carrying cash, worldwide functionality due to Visa and MasterCard merchant acceptance, not having to worry about paying a credit card bill or going into debt, the opportunity for anyone over the age of 18 to apply and be accepted without checks on creditworthiness, and the option to deposit paychecks and government benefits directly onto the card for free. A newer advantage is use of EMV technology and even contactless functionality, which had previously been limited to bank debit cards and credit cards.


title: Debit card

text: Prepaid cards vary by the issuer company: key and niche financial players (sometimes collaborations between businesses); purpose of usage (transit card, beauty gift cards, travel card, health savings card, business, insurance, others); and regions.


title: Debit card

text: As of 2013, several city governments (including Oakland, California, and Chicago, Illinois) are now offering prepaid debit cards, either as part of a municipal ID card (for people such as illegal immigrants who are unable to obtain a state driver's license or DMV ID card) in the case of Oakland, or in conjunction with a prepaid transit pass (Chicago). These cards have been heavily criticized for their higher-than-average fees, including some (such as a flat fee added onto every purchase made with the card) that similar products offered by Green Dot and American Express do not have.


title: Debit card

text: The U.S. federal government uses prepaid debit cards to make benefits payments to people who do not have bank accounts. In 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department paired with Comerica Bank to offer the Direct Express Debit MasterCard prepaid debit card.


title: Debit card

text: In July 2013, the Association of Government Accountants released a report on government use of prepaid cards, concluding that such programs offer a number of advantages to governments and those who receive payments on a prepaid card rather than by check. The prepaid card programs benefit payments largely for cost savings they offer and provide easier access to cash for recipients, as well as increased security. The report also advises that governments should consider replacing any remaining cheque-based payments with prepaid card programs in order to realize substantial savings for taxpayers, as well as benefits for payees.


title: Debit card

text: In January 2016, the UK government introduced a requirement for banks to offer fee-free basic bank accounts for all, having a significant impact on the prepaid industry, including the departure of a number of firms.


title: Debit card

text: Plastic cards usually serve as identity documents, thus providing authentication. In combination with other assets that complement the data stored on the card, like PIN numbers, they also serve authorization purposes, most often as bank cards for allowing their holders to do financial transactions. While early and simpler cards feature only hard-to-imitate integrated photographs, security holograms, guillochés, or a magnetic strip on which few bytes of personal data could be stored, smart cards, i.e. those equipped with an electronic chip (storage, or RFID), nowadays serve as high-security active electronic documents that allow their holder to qualify for driving cars (drivers license card), receive medical treatment (health insurance cards), do banking and more.


title: Debit card

text: Plastic cards (standard size ID-1) come in various colors and finishings. The laminated mixture of various dyes, paper and plastics (so far mainly PVC and PVCA) and the integration with electronics makes them hard to recycle.


title: Debit card

text: In their January 2020 report, the International Card Manufacturers Association's (ICMA) indicates a production increase to a record-high of 37.1 billion cards and $27 billion revenue in 2019. Forecasts predicted market growth at a rate of 8.2% from 2021 to 2028, which was counteracted by losses through the Covid pandemic.


title: Debit card

text: Apart from "regular", i.e. non-electronic cards, there is considerable overlap between "chip-enabled", "digital" and "smart" cards, mostly for historical reasons in the development of the current fully equipped smart cards.


title: Debit card

text: Plastic cards may be printed with the following security-relevant features, some of them also containing personal information, others only serving as anti-forgery devices:


title: Debit card

text: Consumer protections vary, depending on the network used. Visa and MasterCard, for instance, prohibit minimum and maximum purchase sizes, surcharges, and arbitrary security procedures on the part of merchants. Merchants are usually charged higher transaction fees for credit transactions, since debit network transactions are less likely to be fraudulent. This may lead them to "steer" customers to debit transactions. Consumers disputing charges may find it easier to do so with a credit card, since the money will not immediately leave their control. Fraudulent charges on a debit card can also cause problems with a checking account because the money is withdrawn immediately and may thus result in an overdraft or bounced checks. In some cases debit card-issuing banks will promptly refund any disputed charges until the matter can be settled, and in some jurisdictions the consumer liability for unauthorized charges is the same for both debit and credit cards.


title: Debit card

text: In 2010 Bank of America announced that "it was doing away with overdraft fees for debit card purchases."


title: Debit card

text: In some countries, like India and Sweden, the consumer protection is the same regardless of the network used. Some banks set minimum and maximum purchase sizes, mostly for online-only cards. However, this has nothing to do with the card networks, but rather with the bank's judgement of the person's age and credit records. Any fees that the customers have to pay to the bank are the same regardless of whether the transaction is conducted as a credit or as a debit transaction, so there is no advantage for the customers to choose one transaction mode over another. Shops may add surcharges to the price of the goods or services in accordance with laws allowing them to do so. Banks consider the purchases as having been made at the moment when the card was swiped, regardless of when the purchase settlement was made. Regardless of which transaction type was used, the purchase may result in an overdraft because the money is considered to have left the account at the moment of the card swiping.


title: Debit card

text: According to Singapore local financial and banking laws and regulations, all Singapore issued credit card and debit card Visa or MasterCard swipe magnet strips are disabled by default if used outside of Singapore. The whole idea is to prevent fraudulent activities and the protection of the card holder. If customers want to use card swipe magnet strips aboard and internationally, they will have to activate and enable international card usage.


title: Debit card

text: Debit cards and secured credit cards are popular among college students who have not yet established a credit history. Debit cards may also be used by expatriate workers to send money home to their families holding an affiliated debit card.


title: Debit card

text: The consumer perceives a debit transaction as occurring in real time: the money is withdrawn from their account immediately after the authorization request from the merchant. In many countries, this is correct for online debit purchases. However, when a purchase is made using the "credit" (offline debit) option, the transaction merely places an authorization hold on the customer's account; funds are not actually withdrawn until the transaction is reconciled and hard-posted to the customer's account, usually a few days later. This is in contrast to a typical credit card transaction, in which, after a few days delay before the transaction is posted to the account, there is a further period of maybe a month before the consumer makes repayment.


title: Debit card

text: Because of this, in the case of an error by the merchant or issuer, a debit transaction may cause more serious problems (for example, overdraft/money not accessible/overdrawn account) than a credit card transaction (for example, credit not accessible due to be over one's credit limit). This is especially true in the United States, where check fraud is a crime in every state, but exceeding one's credit limit is not.


title: Debit card

text: Debit cards may also be used on the Internet, either with or without using a PIN. Internet transactions may be conducted in either online or offline mode. Shops accepting online-only cards are rare in some countries (such as Sweden), while they are common in other countries (such as the Netherlands). For a comparison, PayPal offers the customer to use an online-only Maestro card if the customer enters a Dutch address of residence, but not if the same customer enters a Swedish address of residence.


title: Debit card

text: Internet purchases can be authenticated by the consumer entering their PIN if the merchant has enabled a secure online PIN pad, in which case the transaction is conducted in debit mode. Otherwise, transactions may be conducted in either credit or debit mode (which is sometimes, but not always, indicated on the receipt), and this has nothing to do with whether the transaction was conducted in online or offline mode, since both credit and debit transactions may be conducted in both modes.


title: Debit card

text: In some countries, banks tend to levy a small fee for each debit card transaction. In other countries (for example, the UK) the merchants bear all the costs and customers are not charged. There are many people who routinely use debit cards for all transactions, no matter how small. Some (small) retailers refuse to accept debit cards for small transactions, where paying the transaction fee would absorb the profit margin on the sale, making the transaction uneconomic for the retailer.


title: Debit card

text: Some businesses do not accept card payments at all, even in an era with declining use of cash. This still happens for a variety of reasons, tax avoidance by small business included.


title: Debit card

text: In 2019, £35,000 million in tax revenue was lost in the United Kingdom due to cash-only payments. Many businesses such as, barber shops, fish & chip shops, Chinese takeaways, the black market, and even some building sites are known for cash-in-hand payments in the UK, meaning high amounts of money can be unaccounted for.


title: Debit card

text: The banks in Angola issue by official regulation only one brand of debit cards: Multicaixa, which is also the brand name of the one and only network of ATMs and POS terminals.


title: Debit card

text: ArCa (Armenian Card), a national system of debit (ArCa Debit and ArCa Classic) and credit (ArCa Gold, ArCa Business, ArCA Platinum, ArCa Affinity and ArCa Co-branded) cards popular in Armenia. Established in 2000 by 17 largest Armenian banks.


title: Debit card

text: Debit cards in Australia are called different names depending on the issuing bank: Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Keycard; Westpac Banking Corporation: Handycard; National Australia Bank: FlexiCard; ANZ Bank: Access card; Bendigo Bank: Easy Money card.


title: Debit card

text: A payment in Australia using a debit card is commonly called EFTPOS, which is very popular and has been operating there since the 1980s. EFTPOS-enabled cards are accepted at almost all swipe terminals able to accept credit cards, regardless of the bank that issued the card, including Maestro cards issued by foreign banks and formerly issued by the Commonwealth Bank, with most businesses accepting them, with 450,000 point of sale terminals.


title: Debit card

text: EFTPOS cards can also be used to deposit and withdraw cash over the counter at Australia Post outlets participating in Giro Post and withdrawals without purchase from certain major retailers, just as if the transaction was conducted at a bank branch, even if the bank branch is closed. Electronic transactions in Australia are generally processed via the Telstra Argent and Optus Transact Plus network—which has recently superseded the old Transcend network in the last few years. Most early keycards were only usable for EFTPOS and at ATM or bank branches, whilst the new debit card system works in the same way as a credit card, except it will only use funds in the specified bank account. This means that, among other advantages, the new system is suitable for electronic purchases without a delay of two to four days for bank-to-bank money transfers.


title: Debit card

text: Australia operates both electronic credit card transaction authorization and traditional EFTPOS debit card authorization systems, the difference between the two being that EFTPOS transactions are authorized by a personal identification number (PIN) while credit card transactions can additionally be authorized using a contactless payment mechanism (requiring a PIN for purchases over $200). If the user fails to enter the correct pin three times, the consequences range from the card being locked out for a minimum 24-hour period, a phone call or trip to the branch to reactivate with a new PIN, the card being cut up by the merchant, or in the case of an ATM, being kept inside the machine, both of which require a new card to be ordered.


title: Debit card

text: Generally credit card transaction costs are borne by the merchant with no fee applied to the end user (although a direct consumer surcharge of 0.5–3% is not uncommon) while EFTPOS transactions cost the consumer an applicable withdrawal fee charged by their bank.


title: Debit card

text: The introduction of Visa and MasterCard debit cards along with regulation in the settlement fees charged by the operators of both EFTPOS and credit cards by the Reserve Bank has seen a continuation in the increasing ubiquity of credit card use among Australians and a general decline in the profile of EFTPOS. However, the regulation of settlement fees also removed the ability of banks, who typically provide merchant services to retailers on behalf of Visa or MasterCard, from stopping those retailers charging extra fees to take payment by credit card instead of cash or EFTPOS.


title: Debit card

text: In Bahrain debit cards are under Benefit, the interbanking network for Bahrain. Benefit is also accepted in other countries though, mainly GCC, similar to the Saudi Payments Network and the Kuwaiti KNET.


title: Debit card

text: In Belgium, debit cards are widely accepted in most businesses, as well as in most hotels and restaurants. Smaller restaurants or small retailers often accept either; only debit cards or cash-only, but no credit cards. All Belgian banks provide debit cards when you open a bank account. Usually, it is free to use debit cards on national and EU ATMs even if they aren't owned by the issuing bank. Since 2019, a few banks charge a 50ct cost when using ATMs who are not owned by the issuing bank. The debit cards in Belgium are branded with the logo of the national Bancontact system and also with an international debit system, Maestro (for the moment there aren't any banks who issue the V-Pay or Visa Electron cards even if they are widely accepted), the Maestro system is used mostly for payments in other countries, but a few national card payment services use the Maestro system. Some banks also offer Visa and MasterCard debit cards but these are mostly online banks.


title: Debit card

text: In Brazil debit cards are called "cartão de débito" (singular) and became popular in 2008. In 2013, the 100 millionth Brazilian debit card was issued. Debit cards replaced cheques, common until the first decade of the 2000s.


title: Debit card

text: Today, the majority of the financial transactions (like shopping, etc.) are made using debit cards (and this system is quickly replacing cash payments). Nowadays, the majority of debit payments are processed using a card + pin combination, and almost every card comes with a chip to make transactions.


title: Debit card

text: The major debit card vendors in Brazil are Visa (with Electron cards), Mastercard (with Maestro cards), and Elo.


title: Debit card

text: In Bulgaria, debit cards are accepted in almost all stores and shops, as well as in most of the hotels and restaurants in the bigger cities. Smaller restaurants or small shops often accept cash only. All Bulgarian banks can provide debit cards when you open a bank account, for maintenance costs. The most common cards in Bulgaria are contactless (and Chip&PIN or Magnetic stripe and PIN) with the brands of Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit (the most common were Maestro and Visa Electron some years ago). All POS terminals and ATMs accept Visa, Visa Electron, Visa Debit, VPay, Mastercard, Debit Mastercard, Maestro and Bcard. Also some POS terminals and ATMs accept Discover, American Express, Diners Club, JCB and UnionPay. Almost all POS terminals in Bulgaria support contactless payments. Credit cards are also common in Bulgaria. Paying with smartphones/smartwatches at POS terminals is also getting common.


title: Debit card

text: Canada has a nationwide EFTPOS system, called Interac Direct Payment (IDP). Since being introduced in 1994, IDP has become the most popular payment method in the country. Previously, debit cards have been in use for ABM usage since the late 1970s, with credit unions in Saskatchewan and Alberta introducing the first card-based, networked ATMs beginning in June 1977. Debit cards, which could be used anywhere a credit card was accepted, were first introduced in Canada by Saskatchewan Credit Unions in 1982. In the early 1990s, pilot projects were conducted among Canada's six largest banks to gauge security, accuracy and feasibility of the Interac system. Slowly in the later half of the 1990s, it was estimated that approximately 50% of retailers offered Interac as a source of payment. Retailers, many small transaction retailers like coffee shops, resisted offering IDP to promote faster service. In 2009, 99% of retailers offer IDP as an alternative payment form.


title: Debit card

text: In Canada, the debit card is sometimes referred to as a "bank card". It is a client card issued by a bank that provides access to funds and other bank account transactions, such as transferring funds, checking balances, paying bills, etc., as well as point of purchase transactions connected on the Interac network. Since its national launch in 1994, Interac Direct Payment has become so widespread that, as of 2001, more transactions in Canada were completed using debit cards than cash. This popularity may be partially attributable to two main factors: the convenience of not having to carry cash, and the availability of automated bank machines (ABMs) and direct payment merchants on the network. Debit cards may be considered similar to stored-value cards in that they represent a finite amount of money owed by the card issuer to the holder. They are different in that stored-value cards are generally anonymous and are only usable at the issuer, while debit cards are generally associated with an individual's bank account and can be used anywhere on the Interac network.


title: Debit card

text: In Canada, the bank cards can be used at POS and ATMs. Interac Online has also been introduced in recent years allowing clients of most major Canadian banks to use their debit cards for online payment with certain merchants as well. Certain financial institutions also allow their clients to use their debit cards in the United States on the NYCE network. Several Canadian financial institutions that primarily offer VISA credit cards, including CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, and TD, also issue a Visa Debit card in addition to their Interac debit card, either through dual-network co-branded cards (CIBC, Scotia, and TD), or as a "virtual" card used alongside the customer's existing Interac debit card (RBC). This allows for customer to use Interlink for online, over-the-phone, and international transactions and Plus for international ATMs, since Interac isn't well supported in these situations.


title: Debit card

text: Consumers in Canada are protected under a voluntary code entered into by all providers of debit card services, The Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services (sometimes called the "Debit Card Code"). Adherence to the Code is overseen by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), which investigates consumer complaints.


title: Debit card

text: According to the FCAC website, revisions to the code that came into effect in 2005 put the onus on the financial institution to prove that a consumer was responsible for a disputed transaction, and also place a limit on the number of days that an account can be frozen during the financial institution's investigation of a transaction.


title: Debit card

text: Chile has an EFTPOS system called "Redcompra" (Purchase Network) which is currently used in at least 23,000 establishments throughout the country. Goods may be purchased using this system at most supermarkets, retail stores, pubs and restaurants in major urban centers. Chilean banks issue Maestro, Visa Electron and Visa Debit cards.


title: Debit card

text: Colombia has a system called Redeban-Multicolor and Credibanco Visa which are currently used in at least 23,000 establishments throughout the country. Goods may be purchased using this system at most supermarkets, retail stores, pubs and restaurants in major urban centers. Colombian debit cards are Maestro (pin), Visa Electron (pin), Visa Debit (as credit) and MasterCard-Debit (as credit).


title: Debit card

text: The Danish debit card Dankort is ubiquitous in Denmark. It was introduced on 1 September 1983, and despite the initial transactions being paper-based, the Dankort quickly won widespread acceptance. By 1985 the first EFTPOS terminals were introduced, and 1985 was also the year when the number of Dankort transactions first exceeded 1 million. Today Dankort is primarily issued as a Multicard combining the national Dankort with the more internationally recognized Visa (denoted simply as a "Visa/Dankort" card). In September 2008, 4 million cards had been issued, of which three million cards were Visa/Dankort cards. It is also possible to get a Visa Electron debit card and MasterCard.


title: Debit card

text: Most daily customer transactions are carried out with debit cards or online giro/electronic bill payment, although credit cards and cash are accepted. Checks are no longer used. Prior to European standardization, Finland had a national standard ("pankkikortti" = "bank card"). Physically, a "pankkikortti" was the same as an international credit card, and the same card imprinters and slips were used for "pankkikortti" and credit cards, but the cards were not accepted abroad. This has now been replaced by the Visa and MasterCard debit card systems, and Finnish cards can be used elsewhere in the European Union and the world.