Will that be credit, savings or super?

Cuscal and other issuers have been trying to interest industry super funds in Visa Debit cards since 2007 and it's interesting that the first industry fund to roll out a debit card is the one fund that keeps all its administration in house.

Vision Super's SuperVantage account with a Visa Debit card attached to it is not the first super account with debit card access (that honour belongs to ANZ/ING) but it is the first attempt at bolting on bank payments architecture to a stand-alone industry super fund.

"Not only do we self administer but we develop our own software as well, so we are trying to keep ahead," said Rob Brooks, chief executive of Vision Super.

"Perhaps it's because we haven't had to sit back and wait for others that we have been able to do this first, but I think you'll see a lot more cards coming online; I mean this is a great product.

"We are limiting the card access to our members over the age of 60 because it removes any tax complexities arising. Maybe in the future we will extend the offering to over 55s."

Since 2007, super for the over 60s has been essentially a tax-free environment with no limits to how much can be withdrawn. A super account with card access has been inevitable but there are surprisingly few yet to appear in the marketplace.

"We decided on Cuscal because after doing our due diligence we decided that we didn't want our card issuer to pop up in the marketplace as a competitor to us," said Brooks.

"So this account works within the super environment. Vision Super invests in a cash portfolio with Cuscal as the investor, but we keep a record of individually how much is owned by each individual member.

"There are minimum drawdown rules and we say to members if you don't manage that we will, in the month of June, ensure that money is put in your linked bank account. The same rules apply to everyone."

The minimum draw down rule is four per cent of the account balance at the beginning of the financial year for people under the age of 65.

 "We are about to start a big advertising campaign in News Limited papers and The Age but so far, before that, it is proving very popular with our 600 or so over 60 allocated pensioners.

"I think that one day in the future we will see the checkout person at the supermarket ask, 'Is that debit, credit or super?'" said Rob Brooks, optimistically.