'bankcard' originates from English, specifically the words 'bank' and 'card', where 'bank' meant 'financial institution' (from the sense of a money-dealing bench) and 'card' meant 'a small flat piece of stiff material used for writing or printing'.

'bank' came into English via Old Italian 'banco' (meaning 'bench' used by moneylenders) and Middle English 'banke', while 'card' comes from Latin 'charta' via Old French 'carte'; the compound phrase 'bank card' (two words) later fused into the single word 'bankcard' to name a bank-issued payment or withdrawal card.

Initially the elements referred separately to a 'bench' (later 'financial institution') and a 'piece of card/paper'; over time the compound came to mean specifically 'a card issued by a bank for cash withdrawal or payment'.