Before the advent of debit cards, ATM cards gave account holders at banks access to cash withdrawals from ATM machines, up to certain limits imposed by banks. Later, merchants began offering purchasers the option of using their ATM card to make purchases for everyday items and services in the same way as debit cards. But for the ATM cards the transactions are shown as withdrawals on the bank’s monthly statement, rather than a separate statement, as in the case of a debit card. Today, many banks offer both debit and ATM cards, while some banks offer only debit cards as an option.