NatWest Group to convert all retail and business debit cards to Mastercard

BrownTrout

[Deleted User] said:

BrownTrout said:

Oh for the days of access and switch..

I always associated these with low income accounts, but I seem to remember HSBC advanced using one of them if I am not going crazy.

[Deleted User] said:

BrownTrout said:

Oh for the days of access and switch..

I always associated these with low income accounts, but I seem to remember HSBC advanced using one of them if I am not going crazy.

No those accounts were those associate with Solo and Visa Electron cards....

callum9999

jackjones01 said:

callum9999 said:

jackjones01 said:

It may be cheaper for NatWest but I’ll be more expensive for retailers to process the transactions. But it does give the card tarts something to look forward to 😂

Visa and MasterCard have the same interchange fees. Which fee specifically are you referring to that MasterCard charges more for?

These ones:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-55796426

So you only mean EU retailers selling to customers with UK cards online?

I really don't think that market is remotely big enough to sustain a significantly better credit card reward scheme.

born_again

WillPS said:

born_again said:

WillPS said:

RBS used Mastercard Debit's forerunner Maestro until 2009/10ish - I wonder if they will be able to get going with the transition sooner than some of their rivals.

I would not think so..

It's a hell of a lot of background work to change systems (Visa & Mastercard use their own dedicated systems for many things such as chargebacks & cards actions) these have to be integrated into their own systems & tested. Procedures written for staff to follow etc. Can't share with other banks as each has their own systems.
Staff then have to get access to these systems & be trained on them. Then starts the process of slowly moving customers over from Visa to Mastercard. 
Can't do them all at once, just in case any system issues & the fact it is not possible to issue millions of cards so quickly.

I'm not expecting overnight, I was just suggesting that some of that system work might not be necessary if the Maestro integration exists in a dormant state still. My understanding is that the Mastercard Debit system is an evolution of the Maestro (Intl) system.

Of course, a lot happens in 10 years and to what extent what they had back then is still useful is anyone's guess.

Ha Ha...
Maestro & Mastercard are nothing like each other. Except they were from the same source.

Loved the Switch Maestro days. 3 Chargeback rights (non receipt of goods from overseas, not many of them, cancelled rec payment (needed proof retailer had cancelled) & a fraud one), so just about every call was "Sorry can't help" unlike now where there are so many chargeback rights.....

stclair

WillPS said:

RBS used Mastercard Debit's forerunner Maestro until 2009/10ish - I wonder if they will be able to get going with the transition sooner than some of their rivals.

I have noticed that MasterCard has been mentioned in the current account terms and conditions since November 2020 for NatWest, RBS and Ulster bank 

[Deleted User]

born_again said:

WillPS said:

RBS used Mastercard Debit's forerunner Maestro until 2009/10ish - I wonder if they will be able to get going with the transition sooner than some of their rivals.

I would not think so..

It's a hell of a lot of background work to change systems (Visa & Mastercard use their own dedicated systems for many things such as chargebacks & cards actions) these have to be integrated into their own systems & tested. Procedures written for staff to follow etc. Can't share with other banks as each has their own systems.
Staff then have to get access to these systems & be trained on them. Then starts the process of slowly moving customers over from Visa to Mastercard. 
Can't do them all at once, just in case any system issues & the fact it is not possible to issue millions of cards so quickly.

I doubt it will actually end up happening, for a start unlike in 2009 when changing to visa was a worthy thing due to maestro not being accepted widely abroad, changing to mastercard would offer customers very little additional benefit as both visa and mastercard are universally accepted.

There is also big complexity of the Natwest systems, where its 2 sister brands RBS and Ulster Bank run on a completely separate systems, if natwest make even the tineist mess of the switchover it could have disatoerous consequences and any savings the bank are making on the switchover would be lost from compensation payouts and fines imposed by the FCA.

TSB where planning on switching over a while back, however it seems to have ditched that idea due to its recent technical issues.

I dont think barclays will ever switch over to mastercard, although they have issued a few barclaycards under the mastercard brand they have all now switched to visa, I believe Barclaycard also issued an amex card at one point, until amex decided to end providing access to its payment platforms as they wanted to refocus on their direct comsumer relations.

Lightning360

Deleted_User said:

born_again said:

WillPS said:

RBS used Mastercard Debit's forerunner Maestro until 2009/10ish - I wonder if they will be able to get going with the transition sooner than some of their rivals.

I would not think so..

It's a hell of a lot of background work to change systems (Visa & Mastercard use their own dedicated systems for many things such as chargebacks & cards actions) these have to be integrated into their own systems & tested. Procedures written for staff to follow etc. Can't share with other banks as each has their own systems.
Staff then have to get access to these systems & be trained on them. Then starts the process of slowly moving customers over from Visa to Mastercard. 
Can't do them all at once, just in case any system issues & the fact it is not possible to issue millions of cards so quickly.

I doubt it will actually end up happening, for a start unlike in 2009 when changing to visa was a worthy thing due to maestro not being accepted widely abroad, changing to mastercard would offer customers very little additional benefit as both visa and mastercard are universally accepted.

There is also big complexity of the Natwest systems, where its 2 sister brands RBS and Ulster Bank run on a completely separate systems, if natwest make even the tineist mess of the switchover it could have disatoerous consequences and any savings the bank are making on the switchover would be lost from compensation payouts and fines imposed by the FCA.

TSB where planning on switching over a while back, however it seems to have ditched that idea due to its recent technical issues.

I dont think barclays will ever switch over to mastercard, although they have issued a few barclaycards under the mastercard brand they have all now switched to visa, I believe Barclaycard also issued an amex card at one point, until amex decided to end providing access to its payment platforms as they wanted to refocus on their direct comsumer relations.

Santander is currently switching over. They do have fewer customers but it shows switching over can be successful as there have been zero issues so far.

gt94sss2

Deleted_User said:

born_again said:

WillPS said:

RBS used 

I doubt it will actually end up happening, for a start unlike in 2009 when changing to visa was a worthy thing due to maestro not being accepted widely abroad, changing to mastercard would offer customers very little additional benefit as both visa and mastercard are universally accepted.

It's not for the benefit of customers. It's because the bank will have negotiated better terms for themselves with MasterCard.
It's quite common for banks to change providers every 10/15 years as they get better pricing from another provider.

Also banks owned Visa Europe but sold it a few years ago, weakening their business case for staying with Visa

WillPS

Deleted_User said:

born_again said:

WillPS said:

RBS used Mastercard Debit's forerunner Maestro until 2009/10ish - I wonder if they will be able to get going with the transition sooner than some of their rivals.

I would not think so..

It's a hell of a lot of background work to change systems (Visa & Mastercard use their own dedicated systems for many things such as chargebacks & cards actions) these have to be integrated into their own systems & tested. Procedures written for staff to follow etc. Can't share with other banks as each has their own systems.
Staff then have to get access to these systems & be trained on them. Then starts the process of slowly moving customers over from Visa to Mastercard. 
Can't do them all at once, just in case any system issues & the fact it is not possible to issue millions of cards so quickly.

There is also big complexity of the Natwest systems, where its 2 sister brands RBS and Ulster Bank run on a completely separate systems, if natwest make even the tineist mess of the switchover it could have disatoerous consequences and any savings the bank are making on the switchover would be lost from compensation payouts and fines imposed by the FCA.

TSB where planning on switching over a while back, however it seems to have ditched that idea due to its recent technical issues.

Presumably the complexity is no higher than it was in 2009. RBS, Ulster Bank NI and Natwest all run on the same platform, just different instances. Updates seem to be pushed out in parallel.

TSB were one of the first to take the Mastercard dollar, they binned it off after the hash they made of moving from Lloyds' to their parent's IT platform - presumably the experience spooked them from making further changes unless absolutely necessary.

stclair

WillPS said:

Deleted_User said:

born_again said:

WillPS said:

RBS used Mastercard Debit's forerunner Maestro until 2009/10ish - I wonder if they will be able to get going with the transition sooner than some of their rivals.

I would not think so..

It's a hell of a lot of background work to change systems (Visa & Mastercard use their own dedicated systems for many things such as chargebacks & cards actions) these have to be integrated into their own systems & tested. Procedures written for staff to follow etc. Can't share with other banks as each has their own systems.
Staff then have to get access to these systems & be trained on them. Then starts the process of slowly moving customers over from Visa to Mastercard. 
Can't do them all at once, just in case any system issues & the fact it is not possible to issue millions of cards so quickly.

There is also big complexity of the Natwest systems, where its 2 sister brands RBS and Ulster Bank run on a completely separate systems, if natwest make even the tineist mess of the switchover it could have disatoerous consequences and any savings the bank are making on the switchover would be lost from compensation payouts and fines imposed by the FCA.

TSB where planning on switching over a while back, however it seems to have ditched that idea due to its recent technical issues.

Presumably the complexity is no higher than it was in 2009. RBS, Ulster Bank NI and Natwest all run on the same platform, just different instances. Updates seem to be pushed out in parallel.

TSB were one of the first to take the Mastercard dollar, they binned it off after the hash they made of moving from Lloyds' to their parent's IT platform - presumably the experience spooked them from making further changes unless absolutely necessary.

They made some changes a while back so you could transact with each other which would have required some system changes.

jackjones01

Has there been any further developments on this it seems to have gone quiet?