Starling Bank to issue spare debit card for trusted shoppers

How does this differ from me handing over my high-street bank card incl PIN to a trusted friend for shopping on my behalf after me adjusting the deposit amount on the card account to a sufficient one in on-line banking?

Brilliant product. Kudos to Starling Bank. Although one whose compelling need is legalistic in nature.

Not sure how widely it's known that, according to payment card rules, debit card and credit card are not transferable. You can't authorize anyone to use your debit or credit card. The only way for Y to use X's card to shop in X's behalf is, if the bank has issued another, transferable, linked card to X, which X can legally handover to Y. This is what Starling Bank has done.

This is one of those payment card rules that's widely broken but rarely called out. Rarely, but not never, though. There was this recent case where a woman was unwell. She handed over her debit card to her husband to go to an ATM to withdraw cash. The currency notes got stuck, no money came out, but the account got debited. Woman seeks refund from bank. Bank plays back CCTV feed, says cardholder is woman, but man was using card, so there's illegal use of card, so bank is not liable for refund. The customer filed a lawsuit with consumer court but court found for the bank.