Irish Laser Cards Accepted in Burtons, Edinburgh

Thundercracker

On a recent shopping trip I was suprised to get to the counter and discover a Laser logo plastered upon the sign that told shoppers what payment methods asides from cash the shop would allow you to barter with.

Thinking this was obviously a mistake (since nobody in Edinburgh had ever accepted my card before as anything more then an ATM card with a chip) I said I'd like to pay by Laser as I felt that through some strange loophole by refusing my payment method I could take the goods for free. Happy to help, the girl behind the counter took out the grey machine, not unfimilar to the one they have in Roches Stores - excuse me, Debenhams - and proceeded to insert my card and ask for my pin. Astonished, I entered the pin, and the payment was accepted.

Upon inspection of the receipt, I seen they had classed the card as Maestro and put the Issue No as 000, and although they didnt use any of the new Pink handsets I usually see in the UK, they were able to process my payment through the UK system in GBP. As well as that, I wasnt charged a comission, and the payment was taken from my account within a working day.

Therefore, my question is this, why the hell dont every UK retailer (or at least a % of them have the option of allowing Laser). Surely, if Burtons can do it, then any other clotheswear shop the same size - NEXT for example - can accept payment via Laser in the UK. It would be a lot safer for us travelling in the UK and would mean that we wouldnt have to withdraw cash all the time, and when we do that, the bank charge us!

Attol

That's strange... I've paid by laser in Finland and the UK without any issues on several occasions. Don't think I've ever been told I couldn't pay with it. I have a BOI one.

leex

Your card most likely has a Maestro stamp on back of it. I have 3 laser cards for 3 different banks - AIB, BOI, PTSB. Only the BOI one has a Maestro stamp.

http://www.maestrocard.com/uk/

lynchie

if ur card has maestro on the back of it, then u can use it in most stores in the UK and even further abroad.. I use my card in Glasgow all the time.

biko

Thundercracker wrote: »

Therefore, my question is this, why the hell dont every UK retailer (or at least a % of them have the option of allowing Laser). Surely, if Burtons can do it, then any other clotheswear shop the same size - NEXT for example - can accept payment via Laser in the UK. It would be a lot safer for us travelling in the UK and would mean that we wouldnt have to withdraw cash all the time, and when we do that, the bank charge us!

Laser is Irish, they've no reason to cater to foreign cards. Some places will accept Laser cards anyway, as a service.
Some places even accept American Express cards.

Pythia

I tried my luck with my BOI Laser in Portugal and it worked.

Pacifico

leex wrote: »

Your card most likely has a Maestro stamp on back of it. I have 3 laser cards for 3 different banks - AIB, BOI, PTSB. Only the BOI one has a Maestro stamp.

http://www.maestrocard.com/uk/

The new TSB laser cards come with the maestro stamp

mcaul

Every laser card that has the maestro / cirrus logo can be used in any retail outlet that accepts maestro / cirrus. However you must be present for the transaction & confirm by PIN. Therefore it cannot be accepted on internet or telephone transactions.

Sangre

You didn't use the 'laser' facility, that is exclusively and ROI service. You're laser card must have been Maestro enabled which allows you to use a debit card internationally.

Mint Sauce

Pythia wrote: »

I tried my luck with my BOI Laser in Portugal and it worked.

used mine in the UK, austria, and spain, has a Mastro function on it

mastro is the payment method for debit payments in europe and abroad, appears on laser cards here, similar cards in the UK (called LINK) have the mastro fuction, as does other handlers acros europe, think of it as mastercard/visa which are credit cards, mastro just being a debit card, and only works if the availble funds are in your bank

podge018

as has been said, no biggie, maestor acceptable basically everywhere.

The BIG shock is that you actually go to Edinburgh on a shopping trip. Great city and all, but the shopping is terrible. There's a reason all the locals go to Glasgow for their shopping.