First Direct to switch to MasterCard Debit Cards

swaledale_one

greyteam1959 said:

And I have to ask......
Does it really matter ??

Actually it may make a difference to people that only have visa cards at the moment as it gives you the option to use mastercard for bigger purchases to get the much better chargeback conditions.

colsten

Highland76 said:

greyteam1959 said:

And I have to ask......
Does it really matter ??

Yes, it does. We're talking about Mastercard v Visa, not just the change of appearance. 

What's the big deal? I have both, VISA and Mastercard debit cards, obviously at different banks, and there's really no difference in principle, just in implementation by different banks (e.g. some offer online card management, but that's available for VISA or MC). I might be missing something exciting though, as I generally use credit cards (VISA and Mastercard) rather than debit cards. So please edify me.

Herbalus

Highland76 said:

greyteam1959 said:

And I have to ask......
Does it really matter ??

Yes, it does. We're talking about Mastercard v Visa, not just the change of appearance. 

Really? Could you elaborate? I have both types of card and can’t really say I notice any difference, hence my tongue in cheek posts about aesthetics.

I know some people enjoy card design chat much like some people like watching trains or talking about RAM. Each to their own really but as for real world difference for consumers, I can’t tell the difference.

wiseonesomeofthetime

+1 for noticing no significant difference in how I use the two card providers.

Migster

At work, our merchant fees are higher for Mastercard. Off the top of my head, I think we pay >20p more per transaction for Mastercard Debit v Visa Debit, so if the other banks follow Santander and First Direct it will cost us a lot of money.

MDMD

Migster said:

At work, our merchant fees are higher for Mastercard. Off the top of my head, I think we pay >20p more per transaction for Mastercard Debit v Visa Debit, so if the other banks follow Santander and First Direct it will cost us a lot of money.

That sounds like a fee levied by your merchant bank. The total fee appears to be made up of three items, an interchange fee (in this case this would go to first direct), a scheme fee (to MC or Visa) and a merchant service fee (to the merchant’s bank).

https://www.adelante.co.uk/downloads/Merchant_Fees_Quotation_Explained.pdf

The interchange fee is capped at 0.2% by law, the scheme fee appears to be very low (around 1p plus a small percentage)

https://www.paysafe.com/fileadmin/content/pdf/Interchange_and_Scheme_Fee_Guide.pdf
it looks like most of the large providers negotiate Merchant service fees with each shop separately.

Highland76

colsten said:

Highland76 said:

greyteam1959 said:

And I have to ask......
Does it really matter ??

Yes, it does. We're talking about Mastercard v Visa, not just the change of appearance. 

What's the big deal? I have both, VISA and Mastercard debit cards, obviously at different banks, and there's really no difference in principle, just in implementation by different banks (e.g. some offer online card management, but that's available for VISA or MC). I might be missing something exciting though, as I generally use credit cards (VISA and Mastercard) rather than debit cards. So please edify me.

The big deal is that whilst in UK places which accept cards generally accept both Visa & Mastercard, in some parts of the world you still come across some merchants which accept Visa or Mastercard only, so very useful to have a debit mastercard if you already have a debit visa card from another bank. Ditto for some overseas ATMs. Its not just aesthetics.

colsten

Highland76 said:

colsten said:

Highland76 said:

greyteam1959 said:

And I have to ask......
Does it really matter ??

Yes, it does. We're talking about Mastercard v Visa, not just the change of appearance. 

What's the big deal? I have both, VISA and Mastercard debit cards, obviously at different banks, and there's really no difference in principle, just in implementation by different banks (e.g. some offer online card management, but that's available for VISA or MC). I might be missing something exciting though, as I generally use credit cards (VISA and Mastercard) rather than debit cards. So please edify me.

The big deal is that whilst in UK places which accept cards generally accept both Visa & Mastercard, in some parts of the world you still come across some merchants which accept Visa or Mastercard only, so very useful to have a debit mastercard if you already have a debit visa card from another bank. Ditto for some overseas ATMs. Its not just aesthetics.

That really is not a big deal. When travelling, it’s always been a good idea to have at least two methods of payment with you, one being VISA and one being MC. Even in the UK it’s a good idea to have both, in case one of the networks goes down (rare but it’s happened before). This choice has existed for a long time, if predominantly for credit cards. Although I have had MC debit cards for some time, too.

AstonSmith

Migster said:

At work, our merchant fees are higher for Mastercard. Off the top of my head, I think we pay >20p more per transaction for Mastercard Debit v Visa Debit, so if the other banks follow Santander and First Direct it will cost us a lot of money.

That's quite interesting, at my workplace VISA debit is more expensive than Mastercard Credit. Mastercard Debit/Maestro are the cheapest.

London7766551

I assume HSBC will follow.