So, now that they've started to switch 'Switch' into 'Maestro' does anyone know how widespread and useful Maestro really is?
The Maestro website claims that it can be used for online shopping but I haven't seen a single website that accepts it.
Is it like Visa Delta where you can use it like a 'normal' Visa card in places or on sites that accept Mastercard?
Yes. It is just the brand name for MasterCard's eftpos card. They are pushing it firstly as a cash machine card but it can be used for purchases and cash advances in the same way as any other eftpos card, like Switch.
Switch is just the British name for Maestro - Maestro is widely accepted on the continent, however, for whatever reason the banks decided that the British were so used to having everything different from the rest of the planet that they decided to call it Switch. Turn most Switch cards over and you will see the Maestro logo.
Surely this is nothing more than a simple re-branding of the Switch name.
Switch has always been usable at places that accept Maestro so I don't think there's going to be any change in the number if places the card can be used.
john and chris are right, it is merely a rebranding in the same way that we lost marathon to snickers, opal fruits to starbursts and jif to cif
:O)
In article , Stephen writes
I use my Switch at home, abroad, and online without problem - what's the difference?
I've even got the Maestro logo on the back of my Halifax Solo card, along with the Cirrus logo.
John
Mastercard International Runs Maestro.
It is its "debit" card brand (the equivilent for where Visa offers Visa Debit and Visa Electron)
Instead of Maestro, the names in the UK since launch have been "Switch" (for the "full" debit card) and Solo (for the "restricted" debit card)
Switch and Solo cards are therefore really just "Maestro" cards - so we've been able to use them around the world where the Maestro logo is displayed all along. Whats happenening is that Mastercard has announced its renaming Switch as "Maestro" so we're in line with the rest of europe (There has been no confirmation on whether Solo will survive or be renamed also)
Maestro logos are found in shops, whereas "Cirrus" (another Mastercard system) is found on Cash Machines - and works in a very similar way as "Link" in the UK (allows you to draw cash froma cash machine that is run by a bank other than your own)
So to summarise, in terms easy to understand....
Maestro = Switch/Solo and Cirrus = Link
Oh and the changeover DOES NOT effect your use of your card!!!
Hope that clarifies for you all
sas ~:O)
In message , Richard Faulkner writes
Wow, you've go a card reader ay home???
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