The first debit card, Connect, was introduced in 1987 by the British Barclays Bank. It was obviously not widely used at the time, and shop owners were reluctant to accept it (it required expensive terminals to be installed at service points), but ultimately it freed customers from the limitations imposed by the cheque system. Above all, it made it possible to pay from a personal account without having to take out an interest-bearing loan.
Today, it still happens that a separate debit card system operates within a single country; Switch in the United Kingdom is one example. There are also international varieties, including those well known in Poland—VISA Electron and MasterCard Maestro.
The differences between debit cards used to be significant (Visa in particular was generally regarded as “better,” also in terms of image), but today they are becoming blurred. In this respect, MasterCard and Maestro, Visa and Visa Electron can all essentially be used for the same purposes. Free ATMs can be found for all of them, and none will prevent you from withdrawing funds abroad. The charge for using an ATM in another country (resulting from currency conversion) depends not so much on the type of card as on the type of account you hold and the bank you use.
Contactless cards are becoming increasingly popular. Some people regard them as a controversial form of debit card. If stolen, they can cause problems: they do not require a PIN to use and, although limits are imposed on them (PLN 50), the limited amount can nevertheless be spent several times.
Sources:
https://www.comperia.pl/karta-debetowa.html
https://www.comperia.pl/karta-kredytowa-1101.html
https://www.comperia.pl/karta-plaska.html
(information: iza)