He's just making stuff up. I still have debit cards from local CUs that work at WM and don't have chips on them. They are attached to a checking account in my name. Chip has nothing to do with whether a debit card is a "bank card" or not. In fact he's using the term "bank card" incorrectly so I will refrain from continuing the misuse of this word. If you want to try and make a distinction, it would be by whether the debit is non-reloadable or prepaid.