RBS to switch to Visa for Its Debit Cards

gt94sss2

Looks as if the RBS group is following HSBC in switching to Visa debit cards from Mastercard/Maestro:

Visa, raising the stakes in the battle for the fastest-growing segment of electronic payments, snatched Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's debit-card business in the U.S. and U.K. from rival MasterCard Inc. The move is a setback for MasterCard, which has long trailed Visa in debit cards and has been scrambling to attract new bank customers.

Royal Bank of Scotland is one of the largest debit-card issuers in the U.S. and U.K. Together with its NatWest unit, RBS ranked as the fifth-largest debit-card issuer in the U.K. last year with $48.5 billion of transaction volume, according to the Nilson Report, a Carpinteria, Calif., newsletter that tracks the payments industry.

In the U.S., RBS unit Citizens Financial Group ranked 10th last year with $11.5 billion of transaction volume, according to the newsletter. Citizens, a Providence, R.I., bank that has more than 1,600 branches in 13 states, was MasterCard's fourth-largest issuer.

The switch will begin in the middle of 2009 and will be "an improved service for our customers," an RBS spokeswoman said. RBS will continue to process credit-card transactions on MasterCard's network.

from here

Regards
Sunil

sutton111

i wonder if they will have visa electron instead of Solo or Visa Debit?

5pound

Will maestro become redundant at this rate? Looks as if all major banks will now have Visa debit cards, does this make a difference to you and me though?

dzug1

The difference it may make is that Maestro cards don't charge a 1.5% fee if you use them to get foreign currency - either here or overseas.

Many but not all visa cards do - it will depend on what RBS decide as their policy.

sutton111

nothing really unless you are a traveller. Going aboard outside europe VISA is more widely accepted.

gt94sss2

5pound wrote: »

Looks as if all major banks will now have Visa debit cards, does this make a difference to you and me though?

The big difference for most people will be that even though debit cards are not covered by the Consumer Credit Act - so you won't get your money back if the retailer goes broke - you do get better protection with Visa Debit cards.

This is because Visa have something called 'Visa Debit Chargeback' and any bank that issues a Visa debit card has to comply with the scheme. This means you can claim money back if the goods you buy are damaged, or the product or services are not delivered. There is also no limit on what you can claim. But you have to claim within 120 days of the date you expected the goods to be delivered or the firm going bust.

Maestro only offer a refund if you are a UK cardholder who ordered goods online from an overseas website and they don't arrive.

Regards
Sunil

YorkshireBoy

dzug1 wrote: »

...Maestro cards don't charge a 1.5% fee if you use them to get foreign currency...overseas.

FD appear to charge a 1.5% fee for overseas ATM withdrawals...

http://www.firstdirect.com/rates/charges.shtml

My Yorkshire Bank Maestro card also has similar charges (although I can't find an online link).

Did you have other banks' Maestro cards in mind?...or have I misunderstood?

Kavanne

Oh no but my Highline card looks beautiful with the Maestro logo. Visa's logo is ugly!!!

(Yes that is my ONLY concern about this).

dzug1

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

FD appear to charge a 1.5% fee for overseas ATM withdrawals...

http://www.firstdirect.com/rates/charges.shtml

My Yorkshire Bank Maestro card also has similar charges (although I can't find an online link).

Did you have other banks' Maestro cards in mind?...or have I misunderstood?

No you've not misunderstood - it looks as though I've inadvertently run together two different things:

use to get cash at a BdeC in the UK - no charge

use to get cash overseas - yes often a charge

Sorry for any confusion:o

natweststaffmember

That is quite bizarre first post considering we are actually in the process of transferring customers from VISA to MASTERCARD. I suspect that information may not be entirely correct. That is at odds as to what is happening currently. I guess I will watch with interest on this one.

Crinz

natweststaffmember wrote: »

That is quite bizarre first post considering we are actually in the process of transferring customers from VISA to MASTERCARD. I suspect that information may not be entirely correct. That is at odds as to what is happening currently. I guess I will watch with interest on this one.

We are also doing this but only with Credit Cards. All Halifax/Bank of Scotland cards are getting transferred to mastercard from visa.

bank cards are still under visa though


maybe same at natwest?