Need Maestro as my mastercards don't work in the Netherlands

unkel

On a recent visit to the Netherlands, I tried use my Irish (KBC) mastercard debit card for paying in several retail outlets, but it didn't work. My Revolut (also a mastercard debit card) didn't work either nor does my N26 mastercard debit card

A little googling and it appears that the vast majority of paypoints in the likes of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria only accept Maestro. I'm getting the impression that their system of electronic payments was in place decades ahead of our debit card systems and that people in those countries generally never had credit cards (mastercard / visa)

So how do I go about getting a (free of course) Irish (or otherwise) Maestro enabled card

Strange, I’m in Netherlands and Belgium regularly with work (and Germany but not as often) and never had an issue with my KBC credit card (MasterCard) or Revolut (visa) in any restaurant, bar or shop I used it in and I use credit card almost exclusively when traveling for work as it’s better for expense claims.

unkel

Yeah that's the thing. Credit cards are ok, but debit cards seem to be the problem (both visa and mastercard)

Did you try your cards in really small shops though? Chains of shops and serious restaurants seem to be able to take them all but the local chipper or chinese takeaway not so much

Damien360

I have used my personal debit card (visa) and Revolut (visa) card in Germany, Netherlands and Spain. And no issues with company credit card (visa) in any country. Some small businesses (coffee shops and the odd restaurant) in Germany wouldn't take any card as they refuse to pay the charges.

unkel

Interesting read. Maestro is owned by mastercard apparently:

Linky

It would be almost always credit card I’d use rather than debit card alright when traveling on business with an odd use of Revolut. Places I’d use it would vary, probably not in corner shops but in plenty of smaller non-chain restaurants, coffee shops/stands etc along with the bigger chains, trains, taxis etc.

banie01

Travel quite a bit and never had an issue using MasterCard or Visa in Europe.
Given that the N26 card is issued by a German bank, I'm at a loss to understand what caused his issue.

unkel

It's a mystery.

And the funny thing is that I'd just cancelled my ABN/AMRO (dutch) account after having been with them for over 40 years. I had no further need for the account which came with a Maestro debit card. Just cancelled because no need for it and it cost me €1.40 in monthly fees (I have never paid a cent for any fees on any of my Irish bank accounts). Turns out that looks like a big mistake

That Maestro card was accepted everywhere in NL and had done for many decades.

ED E

Would it be that you're doing debit transactions above 30E in smaller vendors? If they're not being cleared by the card provider real time they may be failing them for risk of later rejection.

Smaller outfits may not have their terminals online. I'd expect this to be the minority but sure the Germans sign cc receipts still....

unkel

Mostly transactions under €30 in smaller vendors. Not sure why you think there is a threshold of €30 anyway? Many systems I encountered were ancient as old as back in the 70s and 80s when people in Ireland did not have any cards and there were not yet any ATMs

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

unkel wrote: »

On a recent visit to the Netherlands, I tried use my Irish (KBC) mastercard debit card for paying in several retail outlets, but it didn't work. My Revolut (also a mastercard debit card) didn't work either nor does my N26 mastercard debit card

A little googling and it appears that the vast majority of paypoints in the likes of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria only accept Maestro. I'm getting the impression that their system of electronic payments was in place decades ahead of our debit card systems and that people in those countries generally never had credit cards (mastercard / visa)

So how do I go about getting a (free of course) Irish (or otherwise) Maestro enabled card

Germany is stuck in the dark ages when it comes to banking. It's embarrassing how bad it is.

Can you set up an AIB account for your foreign payments?

unkel

Nelson Jealous Munitions wrote: »

Germany is stuck in the dark ages when it comes to banking. It's embarrassing how bad it is.

I think it's the other way around. Ireland still uses cheques and other legacy payments. These were gone from the likes of Germany and the Netherlands about 40-50 years ago.

Those countries never even got to the next level of payment by reputation (credit cards) but moved straight on to real time payment by what you actually got (debit card, bank transfer)

No wonder Ireland miserably failed keeping its financial pants up and we had to call out the nannies to take over and fix us up and change our nappies :mad:

dotsman

unkel wrote: »

I think it's the other way around. Ireland still uses cheques and other legacy payments. These were gone from the likes of Germany and the Netherlands about 40-50 years ago.

Those countries never even got to the next level of payment by reputation (credit cards) but moved straight on to real time payment by what you actually got (debit card, bank transfer)

No wonder Ireland miserably failed keeping its financial pants up and we had to call out the nannies to take over and fix us up and change our nappies :mad:

For someone who didn't even know that Maestro was run by MasterCard, I think you really shouldn't comment

PS - Maestro is redundant (we had it here ages ago) and replaced by Visa Debit and MasterCard Debit.

PPS - Dutch and German banks are ridiculously old school in this regard. Maestro has been retired and replaced years ago throughout most of Europe, but they are very slow to upgrade.

PPPS - I don't know why you have 3 different MasterCard Debit cards. If you are carrying around multiple debit cards, then you should really have a mix of MasterCard and Visa. You should also have a credit card like most grown ups.

Yggr of Asgard

And in Germany you also have the Giro Card which is a solution by the German banks which might be cobranded with maestro or vpay but acts differently. When you pay you get asked if you want this transaction as direct debit or card payment and some retailers only take Giro card.

For the NL your option is only Dutch banks and most of them do charge as you know.

Reason is that the cost for maestro is so much cheaper than mastercard and visa.

dudara

MasterCard and Visa re fairly widely accepted, but a good few retailers (generally smaller ones) will only take the old local Maestro/Chipknip (spelling??) card. You get used to it and learn to always keep a bit of cash in your pocket for these locations.

It’s surprising that such a local and limited payment method is preferred over Visa/MasterCard. You’d think that retailers would take all options but the Maestro only option obviously is cheaper for them.

unkel

dudara wrote: »

MasterCard and Visa re fairly widely accepted, but a good few retailers (generally smaller ones) will only take the old local Maestro/Chipknip (spelling??) card. You get used to it and learn to always keep a bit of cash in your pocket for these locations.

Indeed. A lot of the time I have no cash on me and that came back to bite me. I had to find the nearest ATM, which was miles away. Most of them seem to have been removed in the Netherlands.

The J Stands for Jay

Mr.S wrote: »

When I asked for a visa debit card in Switzerland the bank looked at me with 8 heads.

I still remember AIB treating me like an idiot and telling me visa was only a credit card. At that stage, their First Trust business was issuing visa debit cards.

The J Stands for Jay

Mr.S wrote: »

I remember signing up to Halifax just for the Visa Debit card!

Sometimes it feels like a dream that they were giving higher interest on their current account than on savings accounts...

Amirani

unkel wrote: »

I think it's the other way around. Ireland still uses cheques and other legacy payments. These were gone from the likes of Germany and the Netherlands about 40-50 years ago.

Nope, the approach to electronic payments is far more archaic in Germany, and has been for a long time.

https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/finance/payments-why-germany-is-so-slow-on-the-global-road-toward-a-cashless-society/23712232.html?ticket=ST-4702868-WF7EFYbz22OPQoihSpcB-ap1

unkel

Fear of banks? Those Germans will probably switch to crypto soon then

Qrt

For what it’s worth, I’m fairly sure you can pay for Ryanair flights by bank transfer if you’re living in Germany. That’s how archaic they are.

This time last year I was living in Schleswig-Holstein, the local Aldi had just started to accept card payments. Every other shop had signs in the window (proudly) stating that they did not accept card payments.

Don’t even get me started on paying for buses and (local) trains...

Marcusm

unkel wrote: »

Indeed. A lot of the time I have no cash on me and that came back to bite me. I had to find the nearest ATM, which was miles away. Most of them seem to have been removed in the Netherlands.

Laser used to operate across the Maestro network for payments outside Ireland. Maestro is often cheaper for merchants as it’s a smaller transaction fee that mC debit and Visa Debit. All maestro transactions have to be approved by the issuing bank whereas there are often base limits before a MC or VIsa debit txn is passed back for authorisation.

It’s just no longer widely supported.

Marcusm

unkel wrote: »

Fear of banks? Those Germans will probably switch to crypto soon then

Not likely; as with switzerland there is a history of using large denomination notes for large purchases, TVs, furniture, even cars. Some countries have a (well founded) dislike of providing spending data to institutions and governments.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20190416-why-the-swiss-still-love-cash

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.dw.com/en/times-change-but-german-obsession-with-cash-endures/a-43718626