AIB is planning to ditch the familiar Laser and Maestro card, replacing it with the Visa debit card from next year.

The bank announced the plans this morning, saying it would replace the debit cards in the second half of 2012.

The move will pave the way for the lender to introduce contactless payments for small transactions, which will allow Visa Debit holders to pay for purchases of €15 or under by holding their card over a reader at certain retail outlets.

There are additional security features in the new card that help prevent it from being used by unauthorised people. The card can only be used a certain number of times or for a certain value before a PIN is required.

AIB currently has about 1.4 million debit cards in circulation.

Earlier this month, Bank of Ireland said it planned to issue contactless Visa debit cards to its customers later this year. More than 20 million of the contactless debit cards are already being used in Europe.