Long-term viability of Maestro?

donal.hunt

So it looks like Maestro may be dead in the long-run... The current stance Mastercard has taken (as of the end of June 2009) suggests that a lot of online retailers are going to ditch support for Maestro payments as it's not worth their while supporting SecureCode. Mastercard are issuing $25,000 fines per calendar month to merchants who still offer Maestro payments but haven't implemented SecoreCode.

It also looks like a growing number of banks are ditching Maestro in favour of Visa Debit cards (not Electron for those of you who care). The main reason (and I'm guessing/putting 2+2 to get ~ 10) appears to be related to Mastercard's changes to the Terms and Conditions that say the issuing banks will become liable for certain types of fraud - the liability depends on how the card was authenticated. There is also the cost of the issuing banks to implement some of the bank end changes like SecureCode (they have to run a service that implements the authentication of cards for online merchants). The reason (and it's appears really short sighted) for the move to Visa Debit cards is that Visa haven't made the 3-D Secure protocol (the protocol SecureCode and "Verified by Visa" use) mandatory for online transactions yet and it gives the banks time.

AIB is the only Irish bank currently listed as supporting SecureCode and from talking to Ulster Bank they are moving to Visa Debit cards starting in September 2009 (rollout will take 12-18 months).


The most disturbing thing about this is that there has been no communication to customers (that I'm aware of; it may have been hidden in terms and conditions) about this and there appears that cardholders may be liable for some types of fraud as of 30 June 2009 (because the bank's haven't implemented SecureCode). It also appears that a lot of online retailers aren't aware of the changes in terms and conditions related to SecureCode and are now rushing to disable Maestro payments.

Not sure how this related to the situation in Ireland and if there is any effect on the use of Laser cards. Anyone know?

References:
Google kicks Maestro into touch
(also see the comments)
Offer Maestro payments? Have you Implemented SecureCode yet? If not you could be fined $25k pcm
Google checkout UK group: No longer accepting Maestro cards - why?
RBSworldplay.com: Cardholder Authentication Guide

BuffyBot

Will be no loss if Maestro kicks the bucket.

Visa Debit, or even Mastercard's own Mastercard Debit (which I believe Clydesdale/Yorkshire bank will start issuing soon) are much better alternatives.